I actually don't know if I agree with the usual criticism that Batman '89 is more of a Joker movie. I was even watching it just last night and thinking that the criticism doesn't really hold water. No, Batman in costume doesn't feature for a lot of the early portions of the film... But Bruce Wayne, once he appears, does actually share a more than comparable amount of screen-time.
I think the reason some people tend to write off '89 as a Joker film, is because the Joker is inevitably a vehicle for very fun, very extreme, very 'out there' performances, and the actor starring opposite feels similarly obligated to be equally as understated, earnest and subdued in the Bruce Wayne/Batman role. Thus, the latter role, for some, doesn't tend to make as much of an impact on remain as firmly embedded in people's minds as the Joker role.
People don't like to acknowledge it as much, but Bale suffers much the same indignity in TDK. People never talk about Batman first when it comes to The Dark Knight. It's the Joker first and Batman (or even Two-Face) a very distant second. And that's despite Bale having far more screen-time than Ledger, and not just a comparable amount such is the case with Keaton and Nicholson. You'll also notice that Batman doesn't feature for a lot of the early parts of The Dark Knight Rises, either. And yet people rarely call that a Bane movie. It's just the popularity of the Joker character imo. That's the issue.
On the subject of '89, it's actually pretty clever, the way they hold back on Batman in the first film. It's very cleverly structured imo. They hold back in order to preserve the mystery and intrigue surrounding Bruce Wayne and how he came to be so troubled, and then once the Joker is introduced and established as a huge threat to the city, they finally inject Batman's origin into the mix and retroactively tie the two together as mortal enemies, thus providing a surprisingly intimate and emotional core to their struggle, while simultaneously serving as a great twist/shock reveal. If you prioritise it as a comic book adaptation first and a film second, then yeah, I can see that not being as satisfying an approach for some fans. But I love it. I voted '89.
