In two versions of the comic hero Batman, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan tackle the vibe of the portrayed story and its characters quite differently, the biggest differences being the vibe the movies give off as a whole, and the characters themselves, who differ from their counterparts dramatically.

In Burton’s Batman of 1989, we are exposed to a Gotham quite like its natural, goth setting it has in the comic books. You have the dark shadow of a city filled with corruption and crime. The officials claim bankruptcy amongst each other and even have to consider postponing the city’s 200th anniversary, an act disputed by one government official and the next. This is all very accurate to the comics, and as a loyalist to the comics I respect Burton following its storyline. Much like the new Batman franchise, during Gotham’s time of despair, a ridiculous joker named Jack, once a crook for the most powerful man, Grimace, takes advantage of the situation at large, drowning Gotham’s people with greed and feigned chances of opportunity. Regardless of the law, the joker is trying to break the people of Gotham, and eventually he succeeds. The people, swallowed in their greed, applaud the joker for his service of donating money, forgetting that the joker is responsible for the deaths of several men and women. To me, this aspect of the movie is completely unrealistic with a society in present day America. No one rejoices at the power of a villain who has killed innocent people. I happened to find the Joker to be a complete joke, no pun intended. The classic Joker in the comics is feared and is thought to be the most wicked villain alive. The Joker in Burton’s film is a Jack-in-a-box. Throughout the whole movie, I couldn’t help but want to either laugh with or at him.

Concerning Batman himself, I find the portrayed hero to be a stiff clone, perhaps only somewhat resembling him. His behavior doesn’t show a confident and collected man with groundbreaking plans, but rather a curious and confused boxer dressed up as the Caped Crusader. As for Vicki, Bruce Wayne’s love interest, there is almost no chemistry between them to speak of . It is difficult trying to see any emotion conveyed between Bruce to Vicki. All I can recall is that his mouth was open more than 72% of the time while he talked to her, always gazing at other objects in the room awkwardly. The chemistry between these two are terrible. Bruce and his faithful butler, Alfred, seem to constantly be babbling about how special Vicki is. But what was so special? After a first awkward date together, the two spend the night together in what seems like like a typical one night stand, realistically, for any woman or man. My least favorite aspect of this movie was the very repetitive soundtrack, the Batman theme was playing to fill any void of space. I can scarcely recall any moments of tension in the whole movie. And  the Joker is basically a ridiculous Prince-loving dancing groupie.

In Nolan’s Batman franchise, everything is portrayed in a setting of the darkest city in America, loaded to the brim with crime and corruption, with people who are constantly getting their hopes up that a hero might save them. The hero in these movies does the character of Batman complete justice: he’s witty; he’s physically adept at facing most enemies; his plans spark moments of captivation that leave you raising your eyebrows in admiration. This is the real Batman. As Bruce Wayne, the billionaire has effortless charm and independent power to do anything as an individual; and he uses this power for good. Bruce Wayne is constantly tied between living the life of a hero and pursuing a life with his love interest, Rachel. However, he can only choose one life. And as the situation in Gotham grows worse with the arrival of the Joker, Batman must defeat the villain while keeping his identity a secret to keep everyone, including Rachel, safe. Although the events in the storyline don’t perfectly match the comic books, Nolan has created his own version of Batman. And, in my opinion, that earns the respect of any comic loyalist. Nolan has set the stage for what I’d consider to be the absolute best Batman franchise yet.

We mustn’t forget the brilliant performance Heath Ledger impressed audiences around the world as the Joker, the twisted, seemingly insane, wicked and cunning supervillain that every superhero needs. Where 1989’s Joker was all laughs,  Ledger’s Joker is dangerous and chaotic. The final clash between both superhero and supervillain, although short lived, is entertaining, and we hear the last words of the Joker as he hangs upside down, who claims that people will unconditionally seek chaos, regardless of a ringleader. “All they need is a little push!” He shrieks, laughing frantically.

To say both Burton’s and Nolan’s films were not entertaining would be untrue. But overall, it is 2008’s Dark Knight that earns my favor over the 1989 installment of Batman.