Flawed but intriguing sequel to the original (spoilers below)

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2002)

"Batman Returns" does not really follow as a sequel to "Batman", but stands as a flawed but nevertheless unique superhero movie that inspires in its audience pity and empathy, rather than comical loathing, for the villainous protagonists.
The plot is this: a horribly disfigured baby boy is born, amid screams of terror, to two rich snobs in Gotham City. Disgusted with their offspring, they abandon him, throwing the carriage-bound tot into a stream on a cold winter night. The carriage ends up in an abandoned penguin-house where the boy is found, and raised by penguins.
Thirty-three years later, the boy has grown into the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and has taken charge of a corrupt circus troupe, intent on taking his revenge on Gotham City. He secures the help of a wealthy industrialist Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), who in turn plans to manipulate the Penguin for his own ends.
When Max's bullied secretary, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), stumbles onto his scheming, he murders her. But Selina is mysteriously resurrected by cats, and is reborn into Catwoman, and becomes hell-bent on getting even with Shreck.
Standing in the way of all three of them is Batman (Micheal Keaton), Gotham's nocturnal protector who by day is a reclusive millionaire, Bruce Wayne.
Director Tim Burton was given more free rein with this movie than in "Batman" and in alot of this respects this works. The characterisations and plot are much deeper and stronger in this movie than in "Batman", the plot is less conventional, and the villains are doubly freakish.

The only possible flaw in this is an occasional lack of coherency in the story, where occasionally things don't quite follow one another in proper sequence, and when they do, you're not sure when they follow. For instance, does the Penguin plan his final attack on Gotham IMMEDIATELY after his first attack has failed? Selina reappears in Max's office two days after he has tried to kill her. Would this scene not have made more sense if it came the morning after he tried to kill her?
Other flaws include some poor editing in the action scenes and there are times when the person under the Bat cowl clearly ISN'T Keaton.
However, Burton compensates for these potentially crippling flaws with some broad narrative strokes, filming around striking sets and backdrops. These, along with a rich music score from Danny Elfman, create a wonderfully gloomy atmosphere. The result is more of a dark fairytale than "Batman", and it works very well.
Micheal Keaton is back, and continues his consistent performance as the melancholy, conflicted hero of the piece. Michelle Pfeiffer is sexy yet menacing as Catwoman, and her transformation is a highly charged dramatic moment. Once resurrected she stumbles, zombie-like, into her cosy apartment before coming alive in a rage to tear the place apart. There is a strong chemistry between Batman and Catwoman, and their relationship is perfect through it's doomed complexity.
An unrecognisable Danny DeVito evinces both loathing and a deep sense of sympathy from the audience as the Penguin, especially in the final moments. His fate is deserved but is tragically unavoidable. The real villain of the piece, Max Shreck, is well played by Christopher Walken, as he ruthlessly cajoles and manipulates the Penguin even as Catwoman eventually gets the better of him. Ironically, it his single deviance from an otherwise selfish nature that results in his downfall.
Burton didn't helm the final two Batman movies, but this is widely regarded as his definitive statement on the Caped Crusader. Whilst "Batman Returns" is certainly a flawed picture, it is possessed a wonderfully poetry in its story-telling, as well as an empathy for all it's characters. As such it stands as the best "Batman" movie of the series.