The Glory of Gotham

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2000)

Tim Burton directs yet another astonishing film in which the Dark Knight protects the city he claims as his own. The set design is once again gloriously dark and its night canvas sets the tone. Michael Keaton reprises the role only he is careful enough to understand and brings the mental, emotional and brilliant character to life. Danny DeVito does an extraordinary job as Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer as the Catwoman. Christopher Walken plays his character well, he just gets in the way sometimes. Micheal Gough portrays Alfred Pennyworth with astounding praise and sarcasm, and Pat Hingle's Commissioner Gorden was not put to it's full potential, but is reasonable instead. The plot is dark and almost too twisted, even for us, but yet we understand that this is the way the Batman is to be portrayed, a dark shadow of a necessary evil. And despite what Joel Schumacher says about the first three films of Bruce Wayne being a whiny "whoa is me, my parents are dead", there is no mention of Bruce's parents anywhere in this film. (After all Joel, we dealt with that in the first film, YOU were the one who brought it back in the third, and by the way, the death of Bruce Wayne's parents is the driving force of Batman, if he forgets about his parents, he fails to be the Batman) You'd think people would research these things! But oh Tim Burton did!!! His artistic genius prevails yet again, and so does this masterpiece!