The Last Truly Great Batman Film

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2013)

Only three years after Batman, Tim Burton and Michael Keaton returned to provide the same entertainment on a level nearly as grand as the first.
Joining the great Keaton are Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken, all three playing new additions to his rogues gallery. DeVito plays the grotesque Penguin, a rejected freak who rises from the sewers of Gotham City, and Michelle Pfeiffer plays Catwoman, deadly as she is lovely, seeking revenge on her boss Max Schreck, a corrupt businessman played by Walken.
The great thing about the villains is how they all mirror Batman in certain ways, all adding up to a vibe similar to A Christmas Carol. The Penguin is like the Ghost of Christmas Past, an orphaned man that had extremely rich parents, just like Batman. Catwoman is like the Ghost of Christmas Present, like Batman she leads a double life, but goes to more major extremes. Max Schreck is the Ghost of Christmas Future, a corrupt and powerful businessman who takes out those who get in his way, the path Batman is heading down. Batman himself is not unlike Scrooge, sitting alone as Bruce Wayne in his gloomy mansion and waiting to become Batman again.
Keaton and Pfeiffer have a lot of great chemistry, the two had previously dated in real life, and it's clear what a positive effect it had on their performances in the film. DeVito is great as the Penguin, slimy and evil, his physical appearance perfectly suits his personality. The character of Max Schreck is interesting, wearing a more metaphorical mask than Batman and Catwoman, and it's interesting to see a corrupt businessman have such a major impact on the more fantastical characters like Batman, Catwoman, and the Penguin.
Danny Elfman's score of the film is as great as the first, if perhaps not more so. Bo Welch's designs aren't quite on the level of Anton Furst's, but still very impressive, the production design remains atmospheric and really sells what a dark and grimy place Gotham is. Daniel Waters' script is full of humor and clever darkness, no surprise from the man who wrote Heathers, this film has an endless number of great quotes.
I do not feel any of the other Batman films have again risen to the grand level of Tim Burton's two films, and I doubt another one ever will. Lightning already struck twice, it's unlikely to strike a third time.