Review of Batman Returns (1992) by Daniel Q — 26 Jul 2012

In the sequel to the sensational 1989, Tim Burton directed hit "Batman", we once again follow the life of Billionaire extravagant by day, crime fighter by night Bruce Wayne. Michael Keaton reprises his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Danny DeVito is casted as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

Summary:

The movie begins with a couple who conceives a child. The baby is apparently deformed and shows signs of aggressiveness, and violence. To fix this little "problem" the parents decide to drop him into a canal that leads to the dirty depths of the Gotham City sewers. For many years to come the baby survives and grows up surrounded by only misfits and penguins. This of course is the story of the Penguin. We also see a side story of a corporate tycoon played by the always great Christopher Walken, who throws his secretary out a window for snooping around in his private affairs. The secretary played by Michelle Pfeiffer somehow survives the 20 story high drop and is immediately surrounded by cats. For some reason Tim Burton thought this would convincingly explain why she then becomes Catwoman, as not other explanation is offered. The rest of the movie plays out as Batman attempts to fight the crime infested streets of Gotham that are being plagued by Christopher Walken, Penguin, and even Catwoman.

The Good:

This film is even darker and creepier then the first. That is a big plus as we know that every good Batman film must have dark surroundings. The sets and cinematography are as good as any Tim Burton film. Let's face it, Tim Bruton's forte is definitely in the visuals department.

The casting is just perfect! While I expressed my dissatisfaction with Michael Keaton physically not looking the part of Batman, it took me a second film to realize the truth. Michael Keaton is a great "Batman" but NOT a great "Bruce Wayne". Again I am only referring to physical appearances as I thought Keaton turns in another great performance as Wayne/Batman. Casting Danny Devito as the "Penguin" was almost as great a selection as Jack Nicholson as the "Joker"... almost! Christopher Walken was great and Michelle Pfeiffer was surprisingly perfect!! Her Catwoman was just dead on!

The Bad:

As mentioned earlier this film is a lot darker then the first. The problem with that arises when Burton attempts to compensate for the darkness by making the movie extremely silly. All the fight scenes are plagued with this BIG and disappointing problem. As a matter of fact some of the scenes are so silly that it makes the movie seem childish! Now how can a movie this dark and brooding possibly be childish! This is by far the movies biggest flaw.

My next BIG problem with the film is TOO MUCH BAD GUYS, TOO LITTLE BATMAN! Batman's character is not developed in the least bit in this sequel. That to me is unforgivable! The movies title is "Batman Returns" NOT "Batman's Enemies Return". We see Batman movies for ... Batman! In this film we are constantly shown what the bad guys are up to and what they are scheming. Only occasionally we get a cut scene of Batman in his home watching it all unfold on the news. Then every once in a while Batman goes out fights a couple bad guys and then.... boom more scenes of the villains. It feels like the villains are the stars of the movie. This was hugely disappointing as the movie leaves you wanting more Batman!

Overall:

The second and final Tim Burton directed "Batman" fixes a lot of the mishaps from the first film, however, it also ruins a lot of the things he got right! The film interchanges from somewhat clever to shamelessly silly. The darker atmosphere adds to the movie but the lack of Batman takes away from it. It still has enough good qualities, most notably the visuals, to satisfy Batman fans and make it a GOOD movie. It just sadly lacked enough to keep it from being a GREAT movie.