Lucy O’ Brien for IGN:
Ultimately, it was Burton’s faithfulness to the spirit of the comic book material that proved to be ’89 Batman’s most endearing legacy. While it didn’t immediately lift comic book movies to the lofty position they enjoy today – there were a couple of devastating fumbles before Bryan Singer caught the ball with X-Men in 2000 and ran with it – Burton was the first to prove that digging into pre-existing comic book properties in earnest could prove incredibly fruitful.
It’s an influence that can be felt today more than ever.