Comic books have been a favorite reading material not only for the children but even for the various adults as well. It is seen that these individuals spend countless hours reading various kinds of comic books depicting the adventures of different superheroes and their struggle to defeat the super-villains[1]. The popularity of these comic books gets manifested in the success as well as the revenue earned by the various movie adaptations of these comic books and more particularly the adventures of the superheroes depicted by them[2]. The movie Batman (1989) directed by Tim Burton is a very important one in this regard. The movie was based on the comic book which was called by the name of Batman itself and depicted the adventures of the vigilante superhero Batman against the homicide Joker[3]. The popularity as well as the craze that the movie got eventually led to the direction of more subsequent movies on the same superhero[4]. It is pertinent to note that even in the 21st century the popularity of Batman and also its villain Joker has not waned and they are still the idols of the majority of the children and even the adults as well. This annotated bibliography will undertake a discussion of the movie Batman (1989) which was one of the very first movies based on the comic book Batman and its various facets.
Sanna in this article highlights the manner in which an orphaned man of the city of Gotham undergoes the right kind of changes which helps him to become the superhero Batman. The movie belongs to the genre of action and adventure. In doing so, the author sheds valuable light on the entire movie itself and at the same time provides an overview of the story of the movie. Bruce Wayne, an orphaned millionaire who has witnessed the murder of his parents at a very young age has the inherent desire to stand the evils of the society[5]. To achieve this purpose he assumes the role of a vigilante and starts to clean the city by reducing the crime rate of the city. However, the real problem arises when a homicide killer who dresses up as a joker and also calls himself by the name of Joker emerges and threatens the security of the beloved city of Bruce Wayne[6]. The movie then goes on to narrate the way in which Batman finally defeats Joker ad regains calm as well as peace in the city of Gotham. The entire movie, starring famous actors like Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger and others is a complete adaptation of the comic book Batman and banked on the popularity of the comic book for its success[7]. The strength of the article can be said to be the fact that the article provides a clear as well as precise overview of the movie from an unbiased standpoint. The weakness of the article is the fact that the article fails to shed light on the various themes of the movie.
Fitch in the article discusses about the various themes of the movie Batman (1989) and also the literary traditions in which it is placed. For example, a passing analysis of the movie would make the viewers convinced that the theme of the movie is the fight of the good versus the evil and the ultimate victory of the good inspite of the initial setbacks[8]. However, a deeper analysis of the movie is likely to reveal various kinds of themes. For example, a close analysis of the movie suggests that the director has tried to present a dystopian world wherein the law and the police services are no longer effective and the people had to take the law and order in their own hands to make the city a better place to live in[9]. Furthermore, the theme of existentialism is also manifested in the movie through the character of the Joker[10]. For example, it is seen the Joker has literally as well as metaphorically lost his sense of reality and envisages the entire city of Gotham as a stage wherein he can display his theatrics. This becomes evident from the dialogues of Joker like “You Wanna Get Nuts? C’Mon, Let’s Get Nuts!!”[11].
In addition to this, the movie subtly also reveals the toll that the harsh reality of the present day world can take on the individuals and the resultant changes that they need to make to survive in this world. The lines of Joker become important to note in this regard where he says “You IDIOT! You made me. Remember? You dropped me into that vat of chemicals. That wasn’t easy to get over, and don’t think that I didn’t try” and “I’m only laughing on the outside / My smile is just skin deep / If you could see inside I’m really crying / You might join me for a weep”[12]. The strength of the article is the fact that the article sheds valuable light on the various important themes of the movie which is rarely done by the other authors. The weakness of the article can be said to be fact that the article analyses the major themes of the movie from the perspective of the character of the Joker rather than from the perspective of all the characters of the movie.
The author in this article discusses about the performance of the movie in both in terms of financial performance and also its success in terms of the Batman series of movies. This movie was the third Batman which was made and in comparison to the other ones this movie was a financial success[13]. The movie was produced by the production company “Warner Bros. Pictures” and the primary motive of the producers as well as the financers of the movie was to advance the brand of the Batman comics[14]. The author states that the movie received a significant amount of boost from the publication of the new comic volume of the Batman comics in the same year[15]. The movie was, thus, able to gain a substantial response from the audience right from the first day of its release and the producers were able to save a significant amount of the revenue because of the fact that the distribution of the movie was taken care of by the production company itself[16]. The author states that the movie by showing the triumph of good over evil was popular among the various Christian communities of the world[17]. The strength of the article can be said to be the fact that the article unlike the other ones which explore the themes of the movie under discussion here discusses about the various aspects of the movie from the perspective of Hollywood. The weakness of the article can be said to be the fact that article fails to discuss about the gratification that the movie provided to the audiences or its themes.
Walderzak in this article discusses about the various gratification factors which encouraged the audiences to watch the movie Batman and still encourages them to watch the various kinds of superhero movies. The movie by showing the triumph of good over evil reconfirmed the belief of the audiences on the concept of goodness[18]. Furthermore, another gratification factor for the audiences was the fact that they could not only sympathize but also empathize with the character of Batman which was portrayed in the movie[19]. These in short are some of the commercially aesthetic factors as well as emotional pleasures which made the movie a success. The movie, at the same time, has received much appreciation for the effectiveness with which it used sound and also visual effects. For example, it is seen that some of best moments of the movie are not only backed by brilliant visual but also by excellent sound effects[20].
Walderzak states that “’Batman’ is a triumph of design over story, style over substance – a great-looking movie with a plot you can’t care much about”[21]. Moreover, the movie under discussion here has not only been re-evaluated several times since the time of its initial composition in the year 1989 but also in the recent times a new trilogy of the movie has been released[22]. The author is of the viewpoint that this represents a major shift in the Hollywood industry since it is seen that the scripts of these movies have been drastically changed in the recent times to suit the taste of the modern audience[23]. This clearly indicates the commercialization which has entered into the Hollywood industry in the recent times. The strength of the article can be said to be the fact that the article through an analysis of the movie clearly indicates the change that the Hollywood industry has undergone in the recent times. However, the weakness of the article can be said to be fact that the article undertakes an analysis of the movie from the technical aspect and not from the thematic perspective.
To conclude, the various favorite comic books of the children and also the adults are being converted into motion pictures in the recent by the various production houses with the inherent desire to bank on the popularity of these comic books. However, at the same time, it is seen that the scripts of these movies differ widely from the original comic books because of the desire of the directors to make the kind of movies which would not only be as per the tastes of the people but would also make them commercially successful. This as a matter of fact is one of the most important trends which is seen within the Hollywood industry in the recent times and the above discussion clearly indicates this.
References
Batman (1989). 2018. Imdb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/.
Bellinger, Charles K. “The Joker Is Satan, and So Are We: Girard and The Dark Knight.” Journal of Religion & Film 13, no. 1 (2016): 5.
Bosch, Brandon. “Why So Serious: Threat, Authoritarianism, and Depictions of Crime, Law, and Order in Batman Films.” Criminology, Crim. Just. L & Soc’y 17 (2016): 37.
Clair, Robert St. “The Bomb in (and the Right to) the City: Batman, Argo, and Hollywood’s Revolutionary Crowds.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 7, no. 3 (2016).
Drushel, Bruce E. “Friends of Batman (And Dorothy).” Critical Articulations of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation (2014): 257.
Fitch, Alex. “Gotham City and the Gothic literary and architectural traditions.” Studies in Comics 8, no. 2 (2017): 205-225.
Hassler-Forest, Dan. “Superheroes and the law: Batman, Superman, and the “big Other”.” In Zizek and Law, pp. 113-130. Routledge, 2015.
Molina, Danielle K. “On Becoming Batman: An Ethnographic Examination of Hero Imagery in Early-Career Residential Life Emergency Management.” Journal of College & University Student Housing 42, no. 3 (2016).
Sanna, Antonio. “Batman: Gothic Conventions and Terror.” Popular Gothic (2015): 33.
Tim Burton’s Batman Has Everything Modern Superhero Films Are Missing. 2018. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/batman-1989-tim-burton-modern-superhero-films-movies-missing-a7333011.html.
Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
[1] Bosch, Brandon. “Why So Serious: Threat, Authoritarianism, and Depictions of Crime, Law, and Order in Batman Films.” Criminology, Crim. Just. L & Soc’y 17 (2016): 37.
[2] Drushel, Bruce E. “Friends of Batman (And Dorothy).” Critical Articulations of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation (2014): 257.
[3] “Tim Burton’s Batman Has Everything Modern Superhero Films Are Missing”. 2018. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/batman-1989-tim-burton-modern-superhero-films-movies-missing-a7333011.html.
[4] Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
[5] Sanna, Antonio. “Batman: Gothic Conventions and Terror.” Popular Gothic (2015): 33.
[6] Sanna, Antonio. “Batman: Gothic Conventions and Terror.” Popular Gothic (2015): 33.
[7] “Batman (1989)”. 2018. Imdb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/.
[8] Fitch, Alex. “Gotham City and the Gothic literary and architectural traditions.” Studies in Comics 8, no. 2 (2017): 205-225.
[9] Fitch, Alex. “Gotham City and the Gothic literary and architectural traditions.” Studies in Comics 8, no. 2 (2017): 205-225.
[10] “Tim Burton’s Batman Has Everything Modern Superhero Films Are Missing”. 2018. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/batman-1989-tim-burton-modern-superhero-films-movies-missing-a7333011.html.
[11] “Batman (1989)”. 2018. Imdb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/.
[12] “Batman (1989)”. 2018. Imdb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/.
[13] Clair, Robert St. “The Bomb in (and the Right to) the City: Batman, Argo, and Hollywood’s Revolutionary Crowds.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 7, no. 3 (2016).
[14] Clair, Robert St. “The Bomb in (and the Right to) the City: Batman, Argo, and Hollywood’s Revolutionary Crowds.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 7, no. 3 (2016).
[15] Clair, Robert St. “The Bomb in (and the Right to) the City: Batman, Argo, and Hollywood’s Revolutionary Crowds.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 7, no. 3 (2016).
[16] Drushel, Bruce E. “Friends of Batman (And Dorothy).” Critical Articulations of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation (2014): 257.
[17] Clair, Robert St. “The Bomb in (and the Right to) the City: Batman, Argo, and Hollywood’s Revolutionary Crowds.” International Journal of Žižek Studies 7, no. 3 (2016).
[18] Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
[19] Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
[20] “Tim Burton’s Batman Has Everything Modern Superhero Films Are Missing”. 2018. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/batman-1989-tim-burton-modern-superhero-films-movies-missing-a7333011.html.
[21] Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
[22] Bosch, Brandon. “Why So Serious: Threat, Authoritarianism, and Depictions of Crime, Law, and Order in Batman Films.” Criminology, Crim. Just. L & Soc’y 17 (2016): 37.
[23] Walderzak, Joseph. “Rebooting the Damsel: The Transformation of the Damsel Archetype in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman Films from 1978-2014.” Studies in the Fantastic 3, no. 1 (2016): 45-75.
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