Behind the black cowl, Gotham City superhero Batman is really millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), who turned to crimefighting after his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. The only person to share Waynes secret is faithful butler Alfred (Michael Gough). The principal villain in Batman is The Joker (Jack Nicholson) whod been mob torpedo Jack Napier before he was horribly disfigured in a vat of acid. The Jokers plan to destroy Batman and gain control of Gotham City is manifold. First he distributes a line of booby-trapped cosmetics, then he goes on a destruction spree in the Gotham Art Museum while the music of Prince blasts away in the background, and finally he orchestrates an all-out campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Gothamites, hoping to turn them against the Cowled One. Meanwhile, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) becomes the love of Batmans life-which of course plays right into the Jokers hands. Photographed by Roger Pratt, designed by Anton Furst, and scored by Tim Burtons favorite composer Danny Elfman, Batman was a monstrous box-office hit, making $100 million in the first ten days of release--$82,800,000 in North America alone. Incidentally, Billy Dee Williams comparatively small role as DA Harvey Dent was originally designed to set up the sequel, wherein Dent was to convert into master criminal Two-Face; but by the time the producers got around to that character in 1995s Batman Forever, Two-Face was played by Tommy Lee Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide