You could say it was groundbreaking at the time. Provided a strong contrast with the brightly colored Superman movies. It was all shot inside a studio under the visual direction of Burton and his design and lighting collaborators.
Batman comic book fans were not all in agreement on how it was visually executed. All that “dark mood” treatment apparently wasn’t for everybody.
I was just ecstatic when I heard there was going to be a movie since Superman and Batman were two of my top five superhero characters.
When I first saw the costume, the car and art design featured on Premiere Magazine I was instantly hooked. At that time, “dark” worked baby. :)