My favorite Batman movie.

Rating: Null/10 (16 August 2002)

Back when this movie came out in 1992, I was infatuated with it. I had the videogames based off of it, the McDonald's toys off of it, the action figures from the film, even books and magazines that gave every inch and detail on how every inch and detail of this movie was made. I knew this movie inside and out and loved every frame of this motion picture. Kinda funny that I didn't see it until two years after it was released.
I was eight years old at the time and my parents deemed it too dark and gothic for me (I agree, it's too dark for the young kids). But by the time I saw this movie, all two years of anxious, obsessive waiting, it was like seeing the gates of Heaven, and getting a free pass inside. It made me a permanent Batman fan (of course the animated series helped a lot too), a permanent Tim Burton fan, and a permanent fan of any woman who dressed in that Catwoman suit.
I don't consider this movie a sequel, because the only connection I can find with the previous Batman live action film, is the references to Vicky Vale, Batman's girl in the first film, and the SWEET Batmobile comes along for the ride. Of course the wonderful Danny Elfman score is still there. Gotham City is vibrant with the twisted vision of Tim Burton, and looks different than the first movie. The Batcave looks different, and Gotham itself looks different. It's like a cross between your dream world and your nightmare.
The plot is comic book fun, with the story of The Penguin using the press to elevate his star status, and use the ruse of running for Mayor to plot to take all of Gotham's first born sons with the help of his band of criminal circus rejects. When those plans are foiled, he just releases an army of penguins, from his abandoned zoo hideout, armed with rockets to blow up a huge chunk of Gotham (It's what I'd do if I was a Penguin man). The side story is that of Selena Kyle's transformation into a good girl into The Catwoman an insane tool of vengance and sassy chaos, and Batman who finds a soft spot for her. All of this is flavored with tons of humor that prove the film is having fun with itself, and you should too.
DeVito is the only person who I could think of to play a crazy, cranky, horny, disgusting Penguin man. Keaton is an excellent Batman/Bruce Wayne, even though he still doesn't look the part of Bruce to me. A good pack of people have Princess Leia in a bikini in Return of the Jedi as their favorite moment in a movie with a femme fatale. Well not me, Michelle Phieffer in the black leather (or vinyl or latex, whatever it was) Catwoman suit will forever be the role that made me stand up and say "I love women!" She was perfect at acting first like a goodie two-shoes, then an insane woman, who runs around part time as a sex-kitten psychopath, bent on killing the man who killed her. And of course Michael Gough returns as the perfect Alfred.
This movie to this day is one of my favorite films, and will always be my favorite Batman movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Batman and/or fun, imaginative movies.