Saturday, April 29, 2006

Batman

I was flipping channels the other day and saw that Batman was on. I had never seen the first one so I decided to sit down and watch it. In the original, Batman is played
by Michael Keaton. Kim Basinger plays a photographer, Vicki Vale, who is trying to get pictures of the six foot bat and Jack Nicholson plays the bad guy, the Joker, who enjoys stirring up trouble in Gotham City. Vale attends a party at Bruce Wayne's house when she first arrives in Gotham. At first meeting Wayne does not tell her who he is, but she finds out eventually. Wayne leads a double life, being a society member throwing parties during the day and a crime fighting bat at night. Nobody knows that he is Batman except for his butler, Alfred, but in the end Vale begins to catch on. Grissom is the crime boss in Goham twhose men have been terrorizing the city at night. Nicholson is Grissom's go to guy until he gets dropped in a vat of chemicals and is reinvented as the Joker. Grissom is dead and The Joker takes his place as the leader of the goons. The 200th anniversary of the city is coming up and the mayor is planning a huge celebration. Unfortuantely the crime in the city is out of control so the mayor decides to call off the parade. Unbeknownst to the mayor, the Joker has evil plans of his own for the Bicentennial. He throws a parade with poison filled balloons and the residents of Gotham start dropping like flies. Of course, Batman comes to the rescue by taking the balloons and letting them float away. During the parade, The Joker gets ahold of Vale and kidnaps her. He does not kill her but he wants to have her. He says to her that they will be Beauty and the Beast and the she would be the beast. Once again, Batman comes to the rescue and saves her. The Joker's men try and rescue him, but Batman is too good for them and the Joker falls to his death. At the press confence after the Joker dies, the mayor says that the streets of Gotham are free of crime, but if in the future anything happes, Batman will be back; it is set up so that sequels can be made. The last scene is Vale being picked up by Alfred. He tells her that Mr. Wayne is going to be late, and she says that she expected that implying that she knows he is Batman.

While I was watching the movie I started to get disappointed because there was no Batmobile, but it shows up about half way through the movie. All of his gadgets for fighting crime are fantastic regardless of how unrealistis they are. If I was ever in trouble, I would want Batman to come to my rescue. I am glad that I watched this film because it is the original, and Jack Nicholson does an incredible job as The Joker. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for this role.

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