History YMMV / Batman1989

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Even people who like the film will admit that this is essentially "The Joker Movie, Also Featuring Batman". YMMV on whether or not this is a good thing.

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]], real name [[MeaningfulName Jack Napier]], is an [[AxCrazy insane, sadistic]] criminal. Murdering the young Bruce Wayne's parents, Jack is only stopped from killing the boy himself when his partner warns him the cops are approaching. After being transformed into the Joker, Jack goes on to kill the mob boss who betrayed him, before killing the other Mafia higher ups to take over the Gotham syndicate. Using [[DeadlyGas Smylex]] mixed in with everyday products, Jack causes a string of deaths of unsuspecting innocents. Jack also [[DomesticAbuse abuses his girlfriend]], Alicia Hunt, disfiguring and eventually killing her, before trying to seduce Vicki Vale immediately after her death. Taking advantage of Gotham's 200th anniversary parade, Jack tries to gas the gathered civilians with Smylex to amuse himself and takes out his frustration over Batman stopping his plans by killing his loyal second-in-command.

** Campiness. It wasn't quite as bad here due to the seriously-taken plot and the characters, but it was still a film where the Joker pulled off comedic heists, the Batwing had giant scissors, and the final fight is between a guy dressed as a giant bat and a gangster clown.

* AwardSnub: Anton Furst during his acceptance speech chided the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy]] for not nominating Creator/JackNicholson's role as The Joker. Became HilariousInHindsight 19 years later, when Creator/HeathLedger won a posthumous one for the same role in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Followed by Creator/JoaquinPhoenix winning Best Actor for ''Film/Joker2019'' 11 years later! For that matter, Music/DannyElfman's score wasn't nominated or Prince's "Scandalous!" (probably because it was played at the tail end of the credits though).

* HarsherInHindsight: Alicia seems rather like a proto-''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'', indeed, Harley was likely inspired by her as she was created just 3 years later, including the Joker disfiguring her ForTheEvulz, and her falling out a window (he claims she jumped out herself, but could be lying).

* WTHCastingAgency: Michael Keaton so thoroughly proved the naysayers wrong that, in hindsight, it's hard to remember just how bizarre casting a famously mild, unimposing comedic actor as a grim, Frank Miller-inspired version of Batman seemed at the time. Thousands of fans wrote letters to Creator/WarnerBrothers protesting the choice before the movie's release, and Keaton himself initially thought that his being cast for the part meant that the film would be taking its cues from the TV series.

* JerkassWoobie:
** Alicia is a somewhat vain gangsters {{Moll}} but she didn't deserve to be disfigured and then discarded and probably murdered by a man its implied she really loved.
** The mugger who Batman rather brutally hangs out the window, considering that he'd shown some guilt about his partner threatening a kid.

* CompleteMonster: The Joker, real name [[MeaningfulName Jack Napier]], is an [[AxCrazy insane, sadistic]] criminal. Murdering the young Bruce Wayne's parents, Jack is only stopped from killing the boy himself when his partner warns him the cops are approaching. After being transformed into the Joker, Jack goes on to kill the mob boss who betrayed him, before killing the other Mafia higher ups to take over the Gotham syndicate. Using [[DeadlyGas Smylex]] mixed in with everyday products, Jack causes a string of deaths of unsuspecting innocents. Jack also [[DomesticAbuse abuses his girlfriend]], Alicia Hunt, disfiguring and eventually killing her, before trying to seduce Vicki Vale immediately after her death. Taking advantage of Gotham's 200th anniversary parade, Jack tries to gas the gathered civilians with Smylex to amuse himself and takes out his frustration over Batman stopping his plans by killing his loyal second-in-command.

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesTheJoker The Joker]], real name [[MeaningfulName Jack Napier]], is an [[AxCrazy insane, sadistic]] criminal. Murdering the young Bruce Wayne's parents, Jack is only stopped from killing the boy himself when his partner warns him the cops are approaching. After being transformed into the Joker, Jack goes on to kill the mob boss who betrayed him, before killing the other Mafia higher ups to take over the Gotham syndicate. Using [[DeadlyGas Smylex]] mixed in with everyday products, Jack causes a string of deaths of unsuspecting innocents. Jack also [[DomesticAbuse abuses his girlfriend]], Alicia Hunt, disfiguring and eventually killing her, before trying to seduce Vicki Vale immediately after her death. Taking advantage of Gotham's 200th anniversary parade, Jack tries to gas the gathered civilians with Smylex to amuse himself and takes out his frustration over Batman stopping his plans by killing his loyal second-in-command.

** Jack Napiers mysterious partner in the mugging flashback, who seems shocked by the murder.

** Jack Palance had earlier starred in the spaghetti western ''The Mercenary'', where he's also killed by someone dressed as a clown.

** Jack Napier killing Bruce's parents as opposed to Joe Chill. Some like this change and think it adds [[ItsPersonal a more personal level to the Batman/Joker dynamic]]. Others, like [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], dislike it for effectively turning Batman's arc into a revenge story against one man, as opposed to crime as a whole as symbolized by a faceless mugger.

*** Also very {{Narm}}-worthy is a close up of Batman having a freaked out OhCrap look on his face when the thug has him in a headlock just before he ''really'' gets down to business. It's not pretty... nor is it as frightening as it's meant to be. And it's hard to take the Ray Charles thug seriously when he's grunting and panting like a dog in heat.

* MoralEventHorizon: It's not a question of whether ComicBook/TheJoker crosses it, but when. Perhaps the most agreed crossing point is [[spoiler:killing Thomas and Martha Wayne when he was younger, leaving behind a traumatized 8 year-old Bruce Wayne]]. It's the only Joker's murder that is played seriously, with no levity of retribution (like with the mobsters) or dark humor (like with the Smilex product poisoning). And once Batman realizes that the Joker is the man [[spoiler:who killed his parents]], he goes from seeing the Joker as a public menace he unwittingly created to the devil of his nightmares that needs to be killed.

* MoralEventHorizon: As with his [[Film/TheDarkKnight just-as-famous-if-not-moreso counterpart]], it's not a question of whether ComicBook/TheJoker crosses it, but when. Perhaps the most likely crossing point is [[spoiler:killing Thomas and Martha Wayne when he was younger]]. As for the first crossing point to be shown? Tougher to pinpoint; there's killing off countless Gothamites with his Smilex gas, or [[spoiler: killing EnsembleDarkHorse Bob]] if you liked him. It could be argued that, for the characters in the movie at least, the Joker at first appears to be a sort of BullyHunter, since at first he stalks and murders only ruthless mobsters - [[AssholeVictim guys whom all the decent people of Gotham want to see dead]], but whom not even Batman will bring himself to kill (which, yes, in that context would make the Joker more heroic than Batman!). Only with his gassing of the news broadcast does the Joker move on to killing innocent people.

** Jack Palace had earlier starred in the spaghetti western ''The Mercenary'', where he's also killed by someone dressed as a clown.

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!!The 1989 Prince album:
* HarsherInHindsight: "The Future" and its anti-drug message, given how Prince died.
-->''I would rather drink six razor blades.''

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!!The Burton-Schumacher series as a whole:
* HilariousInHindsight: Schumacher originally planned for the Scarecrow to be among the villains for a fifth film. But Warner cancelled the project after the failure of ''Batman & Robin''... only for the [[Film/BatmanBegins next theatrical Batman film]] to feature the Scarecrow neverthless.
* HarsherInHindsight: Warner screwing up a franchise only for being considered too family-unfriendly? Surely [[Creator/CartoonNetwork one of its subsidiaries]] [[WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain won't do the same]].

* CanonDiscontinuity: DC is set to release a comic book series set in the films' world and telling the events after ''Batman Returns''. Howver, instead of adapting the Schumacher films, the comics will feature a story closer to Burton's original vision (througth still taking a few diversions such as incluiding [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond The Jokerz]]), effectively rendering the Schumacher movies non-canon.

** Because of the thickness of the rubber mask, Michael Keaton was unable to turn his head. Thus, whenever Batman has to look around, he has to move his entire body, which ends up looking incredibly silly.

* CanonDiscontinuity: DC is set to release a comic book series set in the films' world and tellingbthe events after ''Batman Returns''. Howver, instead of adapting the Schumacher films, the comics will feature a story closer to Burton's original vision (througth still taking a few diversions such as incluiding [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond The Jokerz]]), effectively rendering the Schumacher movies non-canon.

!!The Burton-Schumacher series asa whole:

-->''I would rather drink six razor blades.''

* CreatorsPet: A common criticism is that Creator/TimBurton seemed more interested in making a Joker movie than he did a Batman one.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Joker's right-hand man, Bob. He doesn't get very many lines in the movie, and is shot by Joker when Batman steals his balloons, but still manages to leave a lasting impression.

* MisaimedFandom: In an extremely rare case where a ''henchman'' received one, we have Bob the Goon, depicted here almost as Jack Napier's/The Joker's HeterosexualLifePartner and a sort of proto-Harley Quinn. Fans of the movie will often mention how much they love Bob, which is pretty strange as he doesn't do much that's noteworthy and in fact (except for Alicia) is the ''least'' dangerous member of the Joker's gang. It must be the look, as Bob ''does'' look like he could be [[CoolLoser the world's hippest slacker]]. Even portrayer Tracey Walter himself became enamored with the character, remarking in an interview that Bob's enthusiasm really shines through: "He admired what the Joker stood for." As if the Joker were ever anything more than a delusional psychopath, not to mention that [[spoiler: Bob is ''[[BadBoss executed]]'' because (or in spite of) his loyalty.]]