Batman Review: Tim Burton's Game-Changing Comic Book Movie Puts Most Modern Superhero Blockbusters To Shame

When Tim Burton was approached to direct a Batman movie, the most ubiquitous image of the Caped Crusader in pop culture was Adam West’s gloriously campy TV show from the 1960s. But by then, comics like The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke had pushed back against that colorful, lighthearted portrayal of the character and gone back to the dark, gritty roots of Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s original vision. Burton set out to inject some of that Frank Miller/Alan Moore grimness into the character without sacrificing any of the fun, and he couldn’t have done a better job.