How does Tim Burton have a career after 'Batman'?
Now, I've made it no secret that I'm a gigantic nerd--I write fantasy stories, roleplay often, wear glasses, have zero aptitude for sports, and have a boarderline unhealthy obsession with superheroes. My nerdom is probably rooted in my childhood spent watching the likes of Spiderman and X-men on TV every afternoon--and also Fantastic Four and Captain Planet, but I really hate the former and don't remember the latter. However, my oldest and fondest memories are of Bruce Timm's 'Batman the Animated Series'. That's how I really became smitten by the concept of superheroes, and that's how I fell in love with Gotham and Batman. I mean, who wouldn't? Aside from Paul Dini's writting being the tops, Batman himself is a very aluring figure--much more so than any other superheroes. After all, he's just a man, like you or I(in the sense of being a normal human, of course, and not the sense of having a penis, which I do not). He does what he feels is right, and not always what the law says is--not like that damn boyscout Superman(though, here I will concede I was quite taken by Bruce Timm's 'Superman' as well, because--really--Timm can do no wrong for me in the world of DC superheroes).
Understandably, I was quite excited when the Dark Knight came out--partially because the Watchmen trailer would be airing before it, but also because it looked to be quite amazing, and I'm a huge sucker for Batman, as well as for the Joker and Two Face. So, I waited in line for the midnight showing, full LedgerJoker makeup on (by the way, this is how I know my town has a dishearteningly low population of nerds--my brother and I were the only ones in makeup), and I sat down and waited eagerly for the movie. After the Watchmen trailer, I cheered (and was once again the only one to do so). And then, I watched the movie.
It was amazing. Absolutely. Everything. I've seen it three times already and plan to see it at least one more (damn being broke!). Later, I read some reviews for it, and found myself a tad bit disgruntled. It's not that I think everyone should worship the movie like I do--I've never been the sort to automatically shoot down contrary oppinnions just because they were contrary. If there are valid reasons for what you think, I'm fine with it, and--though I can't think of any valid complaint against The Dark Knight--that philosophy of mine carries over to amazing Batman movies. But I saw people who argued that Ledger's Joker was too 'evil' (Gods, how I hate that word! THAT IS NOT A VALID WORD--STOP USING IT!) and not 'insane' enough. And I saw people who said that Nickleson's Joker was much crazier, and truer to the source material.
Now, I had never seen all of the 1989 'Batman', except, mayhap, when I was little. I could remember trying to watch it some times, and just not following it at all. So, I broke out the old-timey Batman DVD and watched it with my brother.
How the *hell* did Burton get another job directing after that? I mean, really? It was awful! People call 'Batman' dark, but it's got all the campiness of the Adam West Batman, and none of the charm. It's like the 60's Batman if Cesar Ramero had agreed to shave his mustache and they'd set it at night. All the time is wasted on the origin of the Joker, but it's never explained how Bruce Wayne got from being upset about his parents' murders to stalking criminals at night in the guise of a giant bat. There's no coherent plot, either--no wonder I never could follow it. Jack falls into some acid, his face is stuck with a grin, he taints some cosmetics with Joker Venom... And then, what? He decides to be some sort of... artist? With dead people? (Alright, sounds like something the Joker would do, but where's the *joke*?) ...and then he throws money around, tries to turn people against Batman, and dances with a photographer on top of a decrepit cathedral. ...and Batman kills him--and a whole bunch of henchmen--without care. Batman doesn't kill. The Joker doesn't get smitten with random blonde photographers. Scratch that--just 'The Joker doesn't get smitten'. Ever. No exceptions.
Where were the motives? The deep psychological implications? Nickleson's Joker is but a clown. There's no reason he's doing that stuff. There's no joke. There's not even a plot. And, with the exception of, perhaps, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?", there's not even good writting. How can anyone even like this movie, much less think it superior to the Dark Knight?
"How about a magic trick?" That's something the Joker would say, or do. "Madness is like gravity." That's something the Joker would believe. Something he does believe, in fact. I mean, look at Alan Moore's 'The Killing Joke' and you try to tell me that the Joker created by Nolan and given life by Heath Ledger isn't dead true to his source material. In 'The Killing Joke', the Joker kidnaps Comissioner Gordon and paralizes his daughter, just because. He takes Gordon to an abandoned circus and tortures him, shows him pictures of Barbara laying, dying and naked, on the floor of his home. He tries to make him snap because once upon a time, in a memory that even the Joker knows might only be a delusion, he had a really bad day and *he* snapped. He's a madman, but he believes we all are just one bad day away from being the same as him.
That's something clear about him in 'The Dark Knight'. It's no where to be seen in 'Batman'. Granted, 'The Killing Joke' had not yet been written, it was hardly the only comic ever to show what makes the Joker tick.
"Madness is like gravity. As you know, all it takes is a little push."