How seriously does "Batman" mean to be taken? That's the question.

Not very, I suspect. But it wasn't until late in the film that I realized just how broad it was meant to be.

Oh, Jack Nicholson is a psychotic's psychotic as The Joker. And Jack Pa-lance seems to be doing a characterization of himself as a mob boss in early scenes.

But that could have just been Nicholson and Palance, after all.

Toward the climax, however, there is a quick set-piece that gives it all away: As Batman in his bat-plane is buzzing Gotham City he takes a moment to veer the plane upward, swooping into the circle of a full moon against a black sky, and the combination of the moon and the outline of the bat-plane creates the "Batman" logo for a few seconds.

Who said this new version of "Batman" would eschew camp?

But I'm not complaining, you understand. After all, how seriously can the audience take a guy who runs around in a black, bulletproof bat-suit and has all kinds of, as the Joker puts it, "wonderful toys"?

The story begins with Batman (Michael Keaton), a mysterious character known only to criminals and police, trying to help thwart a crime wave in Gotham City, which seems to be in a strange time warp combining the future with the '30s.

As the film progresses we learn that Batman is the crime-fighting disguise adapted by millionaire Bruce Wayne, who was traumatized as a child and seeks revenge on the criminal element as a result.

Eventually he will be responsible for hood Jack Napier (Nicholson) falling into a vat of acid, which will shape his face into a hideous smile, turn his skin white and his hair green, prompting him to adopt the name "The Joker" as he intensifies crime in Gotham.

The result is Batman vs. Joker in a battle to the death. Or to the sequel, if the film makes money.

Some of the plotting is in questionable taste — product-tampering is the main source of mayhem to the public, and the Joker gleefully defaces great art. But the movie is loaded with flash and flourish and boasts a hair-raising climax.

As for the performances, Nicholson does indeed blow everybody else off the screen. Sometimes it seems this movie should be called "Joker" instead of "Batman." He's scary, funny and fills the big screen with demented personality. (A friend suggested Nicholson's "The Shining" character would be frightened by the Joker.)