Batman Returns, but he probably shouldn't have bothered

Rating: 4/10 (6 January 2015)

Batman Returns (well sort of) in the sequel to the 1989 smash hit. This feels much more like a Tim Burton project and much less like an actual Batman film. Batman is here of course, but he has a much more subdued role to play in proceedings and Returns likes to concentrate on its villains a lot more than it does on the caped crusader. It became infamous at the time due to many complaining about its violence and grim tone. Yet that's not the issue, the first film had a dark tone, as the problems lie with the storyline and the ideas the film tries to bring to life.
Story: The bizarre story features the Penguin, deformed and abandoned as a child, rise from the sewers and attempt to become mayor of Gotham with the help of shady businessman Max Shreck. Elsewhere, Catwoman is created after Shreck attempts to kill his secretary and she causes havoc around Gotham. It's up to Batman to find out their plans and stop them. The plot is all over the place and makes little sense. It doesn't make sense why the Penguin would want to be mayor and Catwoman has no motivation to do what see does. Batman just seems to be shoehorned into things as the villains are given no reason to be against him and he barely gets any screen time, again this is meant to be Batman 'Returns'.
Batman: Keaton returns and he's given very little to do here. His Batman is still enjoyably mysterious and brooding, even if he is too cruel. His Bruce Wayne is pretty dull and doesn't act like Wayne should, he's too awkward and not the charismatic playboy we should expect. There's not enough separation with both roles either, when he's Bruce he just acts like Batman without the mask. He doesn't get enough screen time to make a big impression and has no arch which just makes him feel wasted.
Villains: Danny DeVito plays the grotesque Penguin and he's nothing like the Penguin should be. It's just a bad character, he's just a freak and has none of the wit or charm needed for the role. We don't feel sorry for him and we don't care about his plight because the character is unsympathetic. DeVito gets into the role and looks ideal, but that's it. Michelle Pfeiffer is having fun as Catwoman and looks fantastic, but once again this isn't the true Catwoman. She isn't a thief and her interest in Batman seems like it was thrown in at the last minute. As said, her motivations make little sense and she just isn't that interesting to begin with. A disgruntled secretary who wants to try to get revenge on her boss, it's pretty weak for a Batman film.
Support: Christopher Walken is wasted as Shreck. He's a wonderful actor and could have been superb in a creepy role, but Shreck has no substance. If you took the character out then it wouldn't make much of a difference. Michael Gough is great again and is given a little more to do here which is nice. Pat Hingle is given even less to do than before and his Gordon is useless, he has about 4 lines and his relationship with Batman is non-existent.
Action: Burton isn't great at shooting action and it shows here. The opening fight scene is clumsy and just has Batman letting the Batmobile do all of the work. The little fights with Catwoman are pretty daft and the climax just has things exploding which gets dull. The issue is that Batman does a lot of un-Batman things here. He sets some guy on fire, plants a bomb on another and throws acid at Catwoman. It's very distracting and so out of place.
Music: Danny Elfman's score is easily one of the highlights of the film. It is a lot more subdued, brooding and darker than before with some wonderfully haunting melodies as well as some suitably upbeat stuff when needed. It perfectly fits the wintery, Gothic look that the film possesses. I'd go as far as to say that this is Elfman's best score.
Production: The best thing about the film is its look. The cinematography is truly spectacular. The sets look aptly gloomy and some of the building designs look great, especially Wayne Manor. The idea to set it at Christmas is also really clever as we get many beautifully atmospheric shots of snow falling and the wintery landscapes. The scene at the party with Bruce and Selina is done well too. Yet, similar to the following two films the writing gets silly. I don't want to hear Penguin spewing sexual puns like there's no tomorrow and Batman looks dumbfounded far too much (just look at his failure to save the Ice Princess). It too out of character and it's hard to know what the writers were thinking. There's no big set-pieces either here which harm the film. The opening with the Penguin as Moses is flat and nothing exciting happens in the climax.
Conclusion: At the end of the day Batman Returns is a very flawed film. It has good elements as the look it goes for is wonderful and the score is brilliant, but it has so many daft parts. People point the finger at Schumacher but there's a lot of campy stuff here. A lot of people claim that the film is too dark, but I think that's it just too strange and daft for its own good. Most of the acting is iffy, the plot makes no sense, the action is uninspired and Batman is just a background player in his own film. At least Forever knew it was light and ran with the idea, if this is a serious Batman interpretation then something is very wrong.