On this model of the acquainted story, the Joker is Jack Napier, a second-in-command mob man arrange by his boss and a corrupt political official. He is despatched into Axis Chemical substances to scrub up damning proof of mob exercise however is double-crossed. Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) tries to take him alive whereas Batman exhibits as much as assist. They struggle, and oops, Jack falls off the catwalk right into a vat of chemical substances, which bleach his pores and skin, change his hair to inexperienced, and corrective surgical procedure later provides Joker his rictus smile. 

It can’t be overstated how ridiculous but additionally very good Nicholson’s efficiency is. He is a clown right here and there, and he is very humorous, however he by no means stops being sinister. You all the time count on him to kill Vicki Vale, despite the fact that the movie’s ranking. It is not as darkish as later motion pictures like “The Darkish Knight” and “Joker” would take the character, but it surely was undoubtedly darkish for the time. Keaton holds his personal completely beside Nicholson’s tour-de-force efficiency. 

The entire thing looks like a darkish fairytale. An enormous a part of that is because of Burton’s visible aesthetic. The Gotham Metropolis of “Batman” is sort of cartoonish, however a cartoon like those that come out of your nightmares. Every little thing appears darker however nonetheless shiny in a means that appears designed to distract the town’s denizens from realizing how screwed they’re by crime.