Nearly twenty years may have gone by but Tim Burton still feels a debt to one man for the success that was “Batman.” “Jack [Nicholson] was so good to me. He really helped me through ‘Batman’ completely. I was just a kid. Everybody was wondering how I got this job and he was just quietly supporting me. I’ll never forget that,” the visionary director recalled when I brought up the famed franchise.
When I told Burton that Nicholson had seemed almost upset about Heath Ledger taking over as the Joker in the upcoming film, the director laughed it off saying, “That’s what’s great about him. He could be not serious but he also could be serious. That’s what gives him an amazing quality as an actor and a person.”
But just because it’s laughs all around when it comes to Burton and Nicholson doesn’t mean the “Sweeney Todd” director doesn’t harbor some resentment over how his “Batman” films were treated.
“I was just always amazed that people used to rag on my movies,” he said. “Nobody really acknowledged the fact that ['Batman'] was slightly different at the time from other comic book movies. So lay off, will you? They would get on my case all the time and it’s still kind of that way today,” he said.
What do you think? Did Burton’s “Batman” never get its due? Or is Burton as mad as one of his maniacal creations? Sound off below.
Can't wait for Batman Anime and Dark Knight.
Like, if Batman had to fight Jack Skellington. That woulda been rad.
I was also surprised with Michael Keaton, his Batman was great too!
Keep up the good work Tim!
It's a shame that Jack is acting like a BIG BABY!
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---Batman Returns was why Burton didn't direct BF and maybe B&R wouldn't have turn out atrocious if he directed? But I have to say, if it weren't for B&R bombing, Batman would have stuck with camp, neon, rubber nipples and most importantly, no Batman Begins.
"Brokeback Batman" is indeed very clever and accurate. I think some are jealous they didn't think of it first. lol
If you can watch the dance numbers in charlie and the chocolate factory without feeling like youre going to vomit then something is seriously wrong with you.
Look, all you snot-rags who are dissing Burton, just wait...in 10 years, the new generation will be spitting all over your prescious Nolan Bat flicks for being crap! I'm just ahead of my time!
FIRST PLACE GOES TO: Tim Burton’s Batman which is 20th
Batman Forever is 73rd
Batman Returns is 95th
Batman Begins is 147th
LAST PLACE IS: Batman & Robin is 281st
Batman & Begins obviously beat Batman & Robin since Batman & Robin was total garbage and Tim Burton had NOTHING to do with it. But, Batman Forever has gotten an unjustified bad wrap since it was directed by Schumacher however, Burton was involved with that film and more people went to see it than Batman Begins.
I also, remember a whole lot of people praising Batman Forever after it came out. Don’t let Batman and Robin taint the reputation of Batman Forever since it was a great movie. I enjoyed Batman Forever better than Batman Begins and obviously based on the results so did the rest of the country since it made way more than Batman Begins.
I still get chills down my spine when I watch the intro to Batman Returns; The Penguin in his cradle floating down the dark sewers of Gotham, beautiful.
However, I am also very fond of Nolan's work, I really enjoyed Batman Begins, Nolan's casting was phenomenal, Christian Bale is an amazing actor and we all know how talented Morgan Freedman and Gary Oldman are, and who can deny the greatness of Cillian Murphy's portrayal of The Scarecrow?
I think Batman Forever gets a bad wrap, it was a good Batman film until they butchered it with unnecessary campness in the third act.
The Dark Knight (2008) looks very promising and I will be very interested to see how Ledger fairs as The Joker.
The issue we all should be very sore about is the fact that the Spider-Man films make more money at The Box Office than the Batman films.
THAT IS A TRADGEDY.
But I know you can feel discouraged in this line of work.
But I still LOVE HIM!!♥♥♥
Anyway, I would love to see Adam West returning as the Dark Knight and I'm not joking.