Solidly Entertaining, If A Notch Below The Original

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2017)

After Tim Burton's 1989 Batman effort proved to be one of the biggest superhero films of all-time, the director wrestled more editorial/creative control away from the Warner Bros. studio heads. What results is a sequel effort that is closest to Burton's unique (i.e. odd) vision of film-making, but still works due to some iconic imagery and acting performances.
For a basic overview, "Batman Returns" sees two new villains introduced to Gotham City: the mysterious sewer-dwelling Penguin (Danny DeVito) who seemingly just wants to find his long-lost parents (but also may have more nefarious goals in mind) and the frazzled secretary Selena Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer), who is harangued by her boss to the point of mental breakdown and the creation of Catwoman. The villains form an uneasy truce due to a common "enemy" in the way of their plans: Batman (Michael Keaton). Concurrent with the superhero business, Gotham mega-mogul Max Schreck (Christopher Walken) hatches a nuclear power plant scheme that involves the super-trio in various ways. Further complicating matters? Bruce's romantic entanglement with Selena.
Despite featuring the same director (Burton), this film feels very different from its predecessor. Whereas that movie was very much grounded in reality (Nicholson's Joker is basically a mob boss, the death of Bruce Wayne's parents is central to the plot, etc.), this one is much more of a gothic fantasy. Penguin is a literal monster, Catwoman is deliciously over-the-top, and even Batman gets more wise-cracks in than usual. It's almost as if Burton figures the character-building material is over and thus pushes straight ahead into fantasy.
Another aspect of "Batman Returns" which also strikes me as odd is how many aesthetic changes (and mostly for the worst, I would argue) are made from the '89 original to this one. Wayne Manor and the Batcave are completely different, the Batsuit and Batmobile also see slight design changes, and the overall tone is just a lot less serious (much more tongue-in-cheek type humor). I don't know why Burton or WB felt compelled to change around so many elements that made the first one so iconic.
Fortunately, the film is able to overcome nearly all of these weaknesses due in large part to its iconic villain performances. DeVito's Penguin is genuinely creepy, and all in all largely too spooky for any children who may be watching (a big part of the reason why the franchise went in the flashy Schumacher direction after this). I'm not sure a better representation of a freakish Penguin could ever be created. Pfieffer, while a bit hurt by the odd Kyle character, also portrays Catwoman adeptly. The stitch-based Catsuit is iconic for its visual and sexual aesthetics, and Pfieffer's exuberance both serious and comic is hilariously fun to watch.
Also a strong suit of this film is the cinematography. Despite being filmed almost entirely on the WB lot, some of the shots set up some truly remarkable visuals. I'm thinking here of Peguin's lair at the Gotham Zoo and Selena's apartment. In this case, the shift from gritty reality to fantasy may have actually helped, as it allowed for a wilder visual style that really worked here.
Overall, "Batman Returns" is a solid sequel to the blockbuster original. It often gets a bad rap due to its darker tone/feel, but considering the two vastly inferior films that succeeded it I'll take "dark" any day of the week. The only reason I give it a slight star reduction (9 to 8) from '89 is because of what I can only term a bit too much of "Burton strangeness". Despite feeling constrained by the studio in making the first one, that reigning-in might have actually helped Burton come to a more coherent product. Here, Burton is free-wheeling in his vision all the way through. More of it "hits" than "misses", but it still isn't quite to the bar the franchise had previously set.