Batman Returns

Starring: Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken
Directed by: Tim Burton
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama
1992

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Batman (Michael Keaton) faces his greatest challenge when a shady businessman (Christopher Walken) tries to get the diabolical Penguin (Danny DeVito) elected as the mayor of Gotham City. While he battles the public's misguided perception of the Penguin, he must also contend with the mysterious Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is determined to bring him down.

Review:

Tim: After Tim Burton's excllent Batman, he came back down to earth with the sequel. The first film was such a dark, brooding movie that perfectly embodied what we expect from the Dark Knight. This film, however, begins the descent into cartoonish silliness that would later completely destroy this franchise. This movie does have major flaws, but it is still a good movie. As we'll see, there are quite a few strengths to go along with its weaknesses.

One of the major flaws is that the movie just doesn't feel very effective. I love the idea of having the Penguin as the villain, but let's be honest here- he is not the most believable bad guy. I never bought his circus freak henchmen, and all of the scenes involving them are just too over-the-top. All their attacks on Gotham just seemed ridiculous. I also had a hard time buying the Penguin's ability to control the actual, live penguins that worked for him. This is never explained very well. Plus, the second villain is Catwoman. I love this character, but again, it is hard to buy a woman who dies, and is licked by cats (or whatever it was) and immediately has feline superpowers. Both the villains were hard to buy.

In the film's defense, both of these performances are top notch. Danny DeVito is practically unrecognizable as the Penguin. He was perfect for the part. He is disgusting, foul, and yet, you can almost buy that everyday Gotham citizens bought into his story. He is a bit over-the-top, yes, but he is also fairly enjoyable. Michelle Pfeiffer is incredible. Her performance as Catwoman is one of the all time great comic book movie performances. She took Catwoman and made her believable. I was amazed that when I watched this character, I disliked her because she was a villain, yet at the same time, I was rooting for her. This is exactly what the movie wanted to happen, and this is completely due to Michelle Pfeiffer. She and Michael Keaton get along well together.

Speaking of Keaton, he is once again quite good as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I don't think the script was as strong as the first one. He simply doesn't have as much to do, and his performance suffered because of this. While this film does cement his status as the Batman-to-beat, it is a bit of a step down from the previous film. I also want to mention the addition of Christopher Walken to the cast. He is such a weird, strange guy, and I thought he fit perfectly well into this movie.

While Batman Returns is not a great movie, I still enjoyed it. I even like how Tim Burton explained away the absence of Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale (with Pfeiffer, I hardly missed Basinger at all). I also like some of the action sequences, although a bit hard to believe, the film's conclusion is pretty exciting. This is a good movie, but a far cry from the much superior original Batman. Still, compared to the movies to come, this one remains one of the best.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Batman, Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, Superman, Catwoman, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight