The better of the Batman franchise...

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2003)

Batman Returns is the better movie of the Batman franchise for one reason only - the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer, in my book, is the best actress I've seen and will no doubt continue to be my all time fave for many years. I'll go as crazy as the other reviewer who said she should have gotten an Oscar nom. She does everything right. From her lines to the way she portrays the character. Yeah, so what, Batman isn't your conventional Oscar type movie but hey, the first one was nominated so why didn't anything from this get a nod?
If it were nomainated the only category Batman Returns deserved to get a nomination for was for Best Actress. Pfeiffer is sensational as Selina/Catwoman and I've yet to find any other role of hers as enjoyable and flamboyant as this (even though I must say I loved her much more in The Fabulous Baker Boys).
The film itself, is okay. I only like it for the director and the female lead. I am just as big a fan of Burton as I am Pfeiffer. His movies, to me, have always been interesting and I love dark. He is one of a kind. But there is something that sells short in this movie and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. Let's excluded the amazing greatness that is Michelle Pfeiffer for a second and get a basic grip on the film itself: Penguin (Danny De Vito) is wanting to find out more about his human life and why his parents dumped him into the river when he was just a tot. He gets involved with business tycoon Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), an evil greedy man who has his heart set on owning everything in Gotham and together they devise a way for Penguin to become Mayor and for Shreck to make his power plant the most successful asset in Gotham. Unluckily for him, his dowdy secretary Selina Kyle (Pfeiffer) susses him out and he quickly disposes of her - pushing her out a VERY high window only to have her be revived by cats and create the personna of Catwoman. Then thrown in Batman (Michael Keaton) to save the day, get involved with both sides of Catwoman and that's that.
Maybe the bit that sells short is the character of the Penguin. He is so grotesque and generally horrible. Shreck is just nasty nasty, the typical Walken villian. There isn't one decent villian in this except Catwoman (even though she's REALLY screwed up in the head after her 'death') and she is really on level terms with Jack Nicholson's Joker from the original.
Many feel the original Batman to be the best. Maybe so. Maybe it's cos of Nicholson's presence and well, you can't beat originals! But I firmly believe this to be the better Batman film. Batman Forever I felt was mediocre (Jim Carrey was the film's only saving grace just like many of those who disliked Returns say Pfeiffer is this one's saviour), and Batman & Robin was one dire peace of film with the only good part being Clooney making a much sexier Batman than Keaton. However, Keaton PLAYS the better Batman and always will do.
All in all I think you should see this film just for Pfeiffer alone! That's what makes it so darned good!