Tim Burton Returns to Gotham

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2010)

Tim Burton's second adventure in Gotham City is another impressive film, but it doesn't seem to carry the same weight as the original. I loved that he brought back Michael Keaton and Michael Gough, and the casting for the film's new villains were well-thought, but the film had a couple flaws that weakened the overall experience in my opinion. In the second adventure, it's Christmas-time in Gotham and the city has been plagued with sightings of a mysterious Pengiun-man from the sewers. The Penguin soon reveals himself to the citizens and, with support from local corrupt businessman Max Shreck, begins a bid for mayor of the city. Meanwhile, Shreck's meek secretary Selina Kyle adopts the persona of Catwoman when a near-death experience spurs her into action to change her life and bring down those who've made her miserable.
Just as in the first film, the casting and production design are the greatest parts of the movie. Michael Keaton continues to prove he was a great choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman, though it seems we don't get nearly as much of him in the film this time around. With two villains to explore (three, if you include Shreck), Bruce loses a good deal of screen time to developing the new characters. This is my primary complaint with all comic-based films that attempt to include multiple villains: you spend so much time building up and introducing these new characters that it bogs down the story and it feels uneven. The primary focus of the film is the Penguin and his plot to become mayor (and an additional evil plan involving Gotham's children that he prepares for throughout the movie and watches it fall apart in less than a minute of screen time). Danny DeVito was absolutely perfect as the Penguin and he is what really makes this film enjoyable for me. Michelle Pfeiffer makes a hot Catwoman, but she ends up playing second fiddle to Penguin; still, she's given enough development in her scenes to make a tragic character who's torn between her two lifestyles. Corrupt CEO Max Shreck is played by Christopher Walken, and we all know that man can do no wrong.
The film's weaknesses come in the form of the the execution of the story. While BATMAN managed to avoid it for the most part, BATMAN RETURNS jumps right in with a bit of camp I'd hoped we'd left in the past: themed henchmen. Right from the start, we're exposed to Penguin's thugs...the Red Triangle Circus gang. So, to match Penguin's circus sideshow vibe, we have henchmen ranging from the organ grinder with the monkey to the ringmaster. It reeked of the corniness of the 1960's series and put a damper on the noir feeling evoked by the first film. There are also plot holes that I can't help but nitpick each time I watch the movie, such as how Penguin and his crew got ahold of such detailed plans for the Batmobile for their plan to blackmail the hero. And, since I'm on the topic of camp, I found it hard to suspend my belief for the Penguin's final plan (his "army"). Seriously...did the franchise need to resort to something so corny so soon?
Despite it's descent into the camp of the 60s that paved the way for the Schumacher sequels to take it too far, I don't hate this film. I love the characters enough to forgive some plot issues and, while it isn't as strong as the first, it's still a great Batman film. I would've been interested to see where Burton would've wanted to take the series from here but I'm glad he got out before the series too a turn for the worse (BATMAN AND ROBIN, anyone?).