A Dark, screaming Mayhem !

Rating: 4/10 (10 January 2016)

I liked Tim Burton's style. It's dark, funny and his characters have a certain charming quality about them. Yet, 89 minutes into Batman Returns and I'm having serious second thoughts.
May be because this is not something we've come to associate with Batman or may be it's the effect of Nolan's masterpieces, Batman Returns simply doesn't work for me. Instead of characters, we're bombarded with ghastly caricatures. Story resembles an out-of- control bandwagon and the sets are outlandish. It might come out as a dark work of art to some but for all it's managed to give me is a mind- boggling headache.
Danny Devito had potential but he's been reduced to a whiny, childish mess. For Michelle Pfeiffer, i've just one word - Terrible. Not that I would associate Catwoman with colorful wondergirl stuff but in fleshing out her character to remember the feline fiend, the writers seem to have gone a mile ahead of overboard. Right from the costume, makeup to the portrayal of the character, every single thing is just nuisance. Christopher Walken's Max Shreck seems a confused soul rather than the shrewd businessman he's supposed to be. Bruce & Alfred try to save Gotham in the midst of all this grotesqueness, just as Michael Keaton & Gough try to save Batman Returns from becoming a complete mess.
The movie simply did not work for me.