“Remember… * SSSSS * yyyyou… * SSSSS * are my number one… * SSSSS * guyyyyyy…!”
“Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
“Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”
If there’s one thing the ’89 BATMAN (and Jack Nicholson’s Joker, in particular) has in abundance, it’s some scandalously memorable quotes. My favorite - - the most outrageous of all - - regards the Joker’s stated aim to freak out the stiff, uptight denizens of Gotham with his loony, free-wheeling homicidal antics. The line, of course, goes…
Now, it was quite a few years before little Tommy P. finally understood what an enema was, but it always, at all times, sounded cool.
Times will change and there have been better Batman movies, but the ’89 will always have a special place in my cold, black heart. So, I greatly appreciate the handful of sly nods that BATMAN BEGINS dropped to the movie. The most obvious, of course, is when Bats smashes down into Falconi’s limo, pulls him up for a real close face-to-face and growls…
“I’m Batman.”
I was disappointed, however, that my favorite line wasn’t referenced -- until I realized later that it actually was in there. I’ve been sharing this observation privately for years, but now, Comic Vine has given me a national lectern. The line isreferenced, and it’s a major part of the plot, even though it’s never actually said aloud.
Stick with me here. I promise, it works…
Close your eyes. Breath deep. Think back to summer '05. Recall Ra’s al Ghul’s master plan. He wanted to cleanse Gotham City of evil, right? And how did he want do that? He poured the Scarecrow’s fear toxin into the city’s water supply and then activated that special, microwave-emitting machine which promptly vaporized all the water in Gotham’s sewer system, so much as to even blow out all its manholes.
Think about that again.
Picture Gotham as a creature. Al Ghul forcibly blew out all the fluidfrom its bowels.
What does that sound like?
--Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia Comics. Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this March - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.
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