Rumours of a giant bat are terrorizing the criminals of Gotham City. The police deny it's existence, so photojournalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), and a reporter (Robert Wuhl) investigate, leading to the mansion of eccentric millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton). Meanwhile, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson, in one of his most flamboyant performances) is set up by mob boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) over a girl - leading to a conflict from which Napier emerges as the scarred and demented Joker...

Tim Burton's take on the Batman Comic completely foregoes the high camp of the earlier TV series and '66 film with Adam West, which, considering Joel Schumacher's more recent takes, can only be a good thing. Dark, brooding and psychological, this is not a kids' film at all. Everything about the film is huge, from Anton Furst's breathtaking, oscar-winning production design to Danny Elfman's epic, thrillingly grand score.

Of all the superheroes, Batman is one of the most interesting. He has no superpowers, but is an ordinary man, who is propelled by the inner turmoil and emotional rage that stems from witnessing the murder of his parents, becoming an unhinged vigilante, armed with enough gadgets to make Q turn green with envy. He's always wearing a mask, whether it's the actual one of Batman, or the metaphorical one of Bruce Wayne's self-enforced loneliness, the real person compulsively hidden away inside (a theme that would be expanded upon in Burton's own, arguably superior sequel, Batman Returns, 1992). Batman and The Joker are presented as flip sides of the same coin. Each created the other, and the film eventually loses all pretence of plot to throw the two against each other in a lengthy show-down.

There are drawbacks, however. The plot is wafer-thin, the songs by Prince seriously undercut the mood, and a pre-L.A. Confidential Basinger is merely adequate. Burton didn't have anywhere near the amount of creative control as he did in Returns (although this does make it rather more accessible for those who aren't die-hard fans of the director), and action sequences are not his strongest suit (although they are more exciting than those in Returns).

Fortunately, like all Burton films, it is filled with moments to cherish, be it the fight in the bell-tower set to a waltz, the Joker pulling an impossibly long gun out of his trousers, the Bat-Wing silhouetted against the moon, or the final image of Batman, with the Bat signal blazing in the sky.