A worthy sequel

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2016)

Tim Burton delivered once again with this second great installment in his Batman film series, that would unfortunately be ruined by Joel Schumacher when he took over for the next two installments. But let's forget about that and let's focus on Batman Returns.
Everything that was good about the first movie remains here. Michael Keaton delivers an even better performance as Batman than he did in the first film, and it helps that this time he gets more screen time and we delve deeper into his psychosis once his complicated lover/enemy relationship with Selina Kyle/Catwoman comes into play. Michael Gough also remains perfectly cast as Alfred and Gotham City still oozes atmosphere.
As for the new additions, Michelle Pfeiffer is perfect as Catwoman, perfectly capturing her seductive, brutal and (for this movies purpose) slightly psychotic personality. Christopher Walken is also a worthy addition as ruthless tycoon Max Shreck, making what could have been a campy character into a cool, sinister and collective one.
Danny DeVito as the Penguin is the one aspect of this film I'm torn on. While DeVito gives a memorably fantastic performance, and this version of the Penguin makes for a great character in any other film, he isn't really the Penguin from the comics, and this as usual reeks of Tim Burton's habit of changing source material to suit his own themes (see also, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Despite all of this, Devito does shine throughout and his sympathetic, vile character does enough to make you forget the differences from the source material.
Another problem is that the script does feel a bit overcrowded at points and it does feel like the script could possibly do without the addition of Shreck.
Nevertheless, this a sequel that isn't quite as good as the first installment, but still great nonetheless.