Batman doesn't use guns, except for ones mounted on his vehicles. He's got no problem with those.

It was cut from the movie, but later he's seen climbing out of the hole.

He survived a direct punch to the face from Michael Keaton, you really think some TNT is going to stop him?

for real; best part.

The greatest thing the Burton movies did is dispel the curse of the Adam West "Batman" movie -- a great film in many ways, but it kind of wrecked Batman for the public. The Burton movies made the Dini / Timm cartoons possible, which resulted in new fans who were ready for an awesome movie Batman. Now we have that, and it's easier to appreciate the West movie.

But there's a good reason why superheroes need to have a code against killing: because if they don't, they are pretty much as scary as the people they're fighting. It's one thing to have a movie about a normal guy who is pushed into a situation he never imagined, and so has to fight his way out; but superheroes basically make a hobby of beating people up in their spare time, and the choice is entirely voluntary. That's more disturbing than comforting unless you make it absolutely clear the heroes have moral chops.

A code, sure, but killing can work. Go read the first couple of collections of "The Authority" before WildStorm got bought out by DC. It's basically a Justice League analogue where people with super powers are called in to stomp threats into a pasty red stain if that's what it takes to stop the body count from getting higher.

I mean, if a guy has super strength and socks a guy because that person is shooting up a bank, that guy is going to be lacking a head in short order.

Fair enough, killing can be made to work in a superhero setting. In Batman's case, though, it tends to create problems.

Even the age-old question of "shouldn't Batman just kill the Joker?" implies that he's the only person who has the opportunity. I tend to blame Gotham's notoriously bleeding-heart courts for never sentencing the Joker to death; it's their job. Just imagine the Willie Horton style ads in the DC universe.

The problem with the Burton Batman movies is that A) they are way too fucking dark and "edgy" without taking a firm stand on being serious and B) Burton has the movies dripping with atmosphere and set design and well composed shots, but can't do dick with action sequences which Burton disposes with as quickly as possible perhaps because he knows his limitations.