Slower and darker than the original, but Tim Burton is still the master of the comic-book-movie genre.

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 1998)

There have been four Batman movies, and only the original was a great movie. The sad thing is: Batman is one of the coolest heros ever, and the movies could have all been outstanding. In Batman Returns, the villains triple up to replace the brilliant Jack Nicholson. So we get Catwoman, Penguin, and stock villain Christopher Walken taking Gotham City by storm and never really seeming all that dangerous. Batman shows up, of course, never really seeming all that impressive. Tim Burton is not great at creating action sequences, but he makes up for it with a very cool look for the sets, the costumes, and the film itself. The movie is mildly exciting at best, but it's beginning to look like a classic next to Joel Shumacker's mediocre Batman Forever and ridiculous Batman and Robin.