Worse than the first solely due to the lack of Jack Nicholson's 'Joker.'

Rating: 5/10 (19 March 2018)

'Batman Returns (1992)' is worse than its predecessor solely for its lack of Jack Nicholson's 'Joker', who was perhaps the only part of the first flick that provided any actual interest or entertainment. His presence is keenly missed as the replacement villain simply spews saliva and waxes lyrical about his penguin parentage and other misfortune, a weirdly wishy-washy waste of an iconic villain who's usually dapper exterior would've fit much better with the 'running for major' plot he's placed into here. It's also actually this film that starts to take the nose-dive into camp curiosity, something furthered exponentially by its neon-infused follow-up 'Batman Forever', as there are just too many oddly out-of-touch elements to cohesively gel with the originally Gothic yet relatively grounded take that this universe prided itself on, elements not just limited to the bile-brewing buzzard as you'd expect. The piece is still just as dull as before, but sadly also lacks the interesting punch of its clown prince of crime. 5/10