33 years after being thrown in a sewer by his high society parents, Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin (Danny DeVito) has been raised by sewer penguins and now runs a gang of former circus performers called the Red Triangle Gang. Unscrupulous business man Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) is pushing Gotham City to build a power plant which in actuality is a capacitor that will syphon off energy from Gotham. When Schreck's put-upon secretary Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) discovers Schreck's plan, Schreck throws her off a building, but she survives and suffering a psychotic break takes on the alias of Catwoman intent on taking revenge on Schreck. The Penguin having amassed a collection of blackmail materials regarding Schreck orchestrates a plan to attain power and prestiege in Gotham with Schreck's help, and while most of Gotham is sold on the image of Penguin Schreck has helped sell, Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) is not and believes Penguin is connected to the Red Triangle Gang terrorizing Gotham. As Bruce investigates as Batman he crosses paths with Catwoman who unbeknownst to him is his love interest Selina Kyle.
Following the smash success of 1989's Batman, Warner Bros. Was eager to get a sequel from the same creative team. Burton filmed the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Edward Scissorhands and was hesitant on doing a sequel to Batman, but Warner Bros. Enticed Burton back with more creative control than the first film. While original Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm had written an early draft involving The Penguin and Catwoman searching Gotham for hidden treasure, Burton hired Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters having been impressed by his work. The movie was critically successful as well as commercially so but the box office was a significant sum less than the previous film making $150 million less. Audiences were also not as receptive to the film with a massive parental backlash against the violence and sexualization of Catwoman that resulted in McDonalds ending its Happy Meal promotional tie-in with the film. To this day Batman Returns is a divisive entry in the movie with some appreciating it's bold, dark and bitterly ironic leanings while others call it a shapeless mess of a movie with lack of focus or direction. For me Batman Returns is a mess, but it's an ambitious mess.
Regardless of what your feelings are on the movie as a whole, Batman Returns isn't a rehash sequel. From it's Christmas setting to its freakshow antagonists seldom a moment goes by in Batman Returns without some kind of visually magnetic oddity or "wait a minute, what!?" moment that it's pretty much guaranteed you'll stay engaged in the film. The production design has some unique elements such as The Penguins abandoned Zoo hideout but Gotham feels a lot smaller and emptier this time around with most of the action set around Gotham Square where the city's Christmas tree is situated and the surrounding streets when we do see them are strangely empty. Despite the first film having half the budget of Returns, Gotham felt like a living breathing metropolis with lots of bustling activity and there's not all that much of that here. With that said, despite clearly being a set it's a very well dressed set and they get some solid if goofy usage from it.
The story of Batman Returns is both weirdly engaging and pretty boring. Max Schreck is arguably the primary antagonist in this film and despite being played by Christopher Walken his plan of building a capacitor disguised as a power plant to syphon Gotham's power grid doesn't make much sense and it's pretty underwhelming. Danny DeVito is well cast as the Penguin and despite being under several layers of make-up and prosthetics DeVito is giving his all to the performance. Batman Returns is largely responsible for the impression of Penguin as a gross rotund freak in comparison to his original intention being a gangster who was a send-up of high society "gentlemen". There's very little of The Penguin's "high society" attitude on display with a minor subplot of Penguin running for mayor probably about as close as we get to it while the rest of the time Penguin runs around in a filth and sweat stained onesy snarling through black teeth like a mixture of a overgrown baby and a rabid beast. The Penguin is odd in this movie, the movie plays his story of abandonment for tragedy and pathos, and yet he's also a sneering perverted, sadist who we're supposed to root against leaving the character in this weird limbo where he's too pathetic to hate but he's also too hateful to be sympathetic. Selina Kyle/Catwoman is no longer a thief and is instead the mousey, overburdened secretary whose character type will serve as trope in several Superhero movies after this one. According to Daniel Waters "Sam Hamm went back to the way comic books in general treat women, like fetishy sexual fantasy. I wanted to start off just at the lowest point in society, a very beaten down secretary"...certainly big words for a guy whose script plays up the sexuality of Catwoman with emphasized Dominatrix BDSM overtones. If you're going to make a statement like that maybe don't do so while also approaching the character in a way that's only slightly less sexualized than when Frank Miller turned her into a literal prostitute in Batman: Year One.
You've probably noticed I haven't spoken much about Batman in this review of Batman Returns. Well that's because Batman is pretty much a secondary character. In terms of importance placed on characters it probably goes The Penguin, Catwoman, Schreck, and then Bruce Wayne/Batman. Since Batman avenged his parents murder by killing Joker in the last movie, Burton clearly has no idea what to do with him so Batman just goes around doing what he does because it's what he's supposed to do. Most of the initial focus of the movie is on the freakshow antagonists (and Max Schreck) with Batman really only making borderline cameo appearances in the first hour. Eventually the movie does incorporate him some more with Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle starting a relationship with neither knowing the other is Batman or Catwoman respectively and it's a solid set-up for a conflict that the movie drags its heels in getting to. Batman Returns is a Batman movie made by someone who considers Batman the least interesting character in the film. Yes an action movie is only as good as it's villains, but that doesn't mean you scale back the hero to the barest possible minimum.
Batman Returns has moments of brilliance in it and as a viewing experience with its twisted take on Christmas and macabre depressing imagery it's guaranteed you'll remember it. The movie's main antagonist of Max Schreck isn't interesting and the lack of Batman in place of focus on the villains is frusturating. But the performances by DeVito, Pfeiffer, and even Keaton despite reduced presence are still strong enough to make an engaging product. I can't say I liked it, but I will remember it and didn't hate it so do with that what you will.
Following the smash success of 1989's Batman, Warner Bros. Was eager to get a sequel from the same creative team. Burton filmed the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Edward Scissorhands and was hesitant on doing a sequel to Batman, but Warner Bros. Enticed Burton back with more creative control than the first film. While original Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm had written an early draft involving The Penguin and Catwoman searching Gotham for hidden treasure, Burton hired Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters having been impressed by his work. The movie was critically successful as well as commercially so but the box office was a significant sum less than the previous film making $150 million less. Audiences were also not as receptive to the film with a massive parental backlash against the violence and sexualization of Catwoman that resulted in McDonalds ending its Happy Meal promotional tie-in with the film. To this day Batman Returns is a divisive entry in the movie with some appreciating it's bold, dark and bitterly ironic leanings while others call it a shapeless mess of a movie with lack of focus or direction. For me Batman Returns is a mess, but it's an ambitious mess.
Regardless of what your feelings are on the movie as a whole, Batman Returns isn't a rehash sequel. From it's Christmas setting to its freakshow antagonists seldom a moment goes by in Batman Returns without some kind of visually magnetic oddity or "wait a minute, what!?" moment that it's pretty much guaranteed you'll stay engaged in the film. The production design has some unique elements such as The Penguins abandoned Zoo hideout but Gotham feels a lot smaller and emptier this time around with most of the action set around Gotham Square where the city's Christmas tree is situated and the surrounding streets when we do see them are strangely empty. Despite the first film having half the budget of Returns, Gotham felt like a living breathing metropolis with lots of bustling activity and there's not all that much of that here. With that said, despite clearly being a set it's a very well dressed set and they get some solid if goofy usage from it.
The story of Batman Returns is both weirdly engaging and pretty boring. Max Schreck is arguably the primary antagonist in this film and despite being played by Christopher Walken his plan of building a capacitor disguised as a power plant to syphon Gotham's power grid doesn't make much sense and it's pretty underwhelming. Danny DeVito is well cast as the Penguin and despite being under several layers of make-up and prosthetics DeVito is giving his all to the performance. Batman Returns is largely responsible for the impression of Penguin as a gross rotund freak in comparison to his original intention being a gangster who was a send-up of high society "gentlemen". There's very little of The Penguin's "high society" attitude on display with a minor subplot of Penguin running for mayor probably about as close as we get to it while the rest of the time Penguin runs around in a filth and sweat stained onesy snarling through black teeth like a mixture of a overgrown baby and a rabid beast. The Penguin is odd in this movie, the movie plays his story of abandonment for tragedy and pathos, and yet he's also a sneering perverted, sadist who we're supposed to root against leaving the character in this weird limbo where he's too pathetic to hate but he's also too hateful to be sympathetic. Selina Kyle/Catwoman is no longer a thief and is instead the mousey, overburdened secretary whose character type will serve as trope in several Superhero movies after this one. According to Daniel Waters "Sam Hamm went back to the way comic books in general treat women, like fetishy sexual fantasy. I wanted to start off just at the lowest point in society, a very beaten down secretary"...certainly big words for a guy whose script plays up the sexuality of Catwoman with emphasized Dominatrix BDSM overtones. If you're going to make a statement like that maybe don't do so while also approaching the character in a way that's only slightly less sexualized than when Frank Miller turned her into a literal prostitute in Batman: Year One.
You've probably noticed I haven't spoken much about Batman in this review of Batman Returns. Well that's because Batman is pretty much a secondary character. In terms of importance placed on characters it probably goes The Penguin, Catwoman, Schreck, and then Bruce Wayne/Batman. Since Batman avenged his parents murder by killing Joker in the last movie, Burton clearly has no idea what to do with him so Batman just goes around doing what he does because it's what he's supposed to do. Most of the initial focus of the movie is on the freakshow antagonists (and Max Schreck) with Batman really only making borderline cameo appearances in the first hour. Eventually the movie does incorporate him some more with Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle starting a relationship with neither knowing the other is Batman or Catwoman respectively and it's a solid set-up for a conflict that the movie drags its heels in getting to. Batman Returns is a Batman movie made by someone who considers Batman the least interesting character in the film. Yes an action movie is only as good as it's villains, but that doesn't mean you scale back the hero to the barest possible minimum.
Batman Returns has moments of brilliance in it and as a viewing experience with its twisted take on Christmas and macabre depressing imagery it's guaranteed you'll remember it. The movie's main antagonist of Max Schreck isn't interesting and the lack of Batman in place of focus on the villains is frusturating. But the performances by DeVito, Pfeiffer, and even Keaton despite reduced presence are still strong enough to make an engaging product. I can't say I liked it, but I will remember it and didn't hate it so do with that what you will.