[slade]

LemJe: I agree that the architecture of Gotham was a bit over the top, but it worked for me, because 1) everything in the movie was a bit over the top, which makes since because, 2) it's based on a comic book.

Batman remains one of my favorite comic book movies (granted, this is coming from someone who has read about 5 comics in his entire life).

I love the dark feel to the entire picture. While Keaton wasn't perfect, I thought he did a good job of being a brooding character who was disturbed by his past (as mentioned by others above).

Jack Nicholson was fabulous as the Joker. And, I liked Jack Palance as well, even though his part was small.

All the characters, in fact, from William Hootkins as Eckhardt to Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon were very believable to me. And, to echo aintnosin, "Michael Gough is Alfred". It's Burton's character treatments in both Batman and Batman Returns that make these intriguing movies for me.

Add to that the dark surreal setting of Gotham and the mythos of Batman himself and both of these films are winners for me (Batman moreso than Returns).