A Nutshell Review: Batman Returns

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2005)

Batman Returns premiered 3 years after the first Batman, bringing back the Burton-Keaton team. The villains, although the spotlight is on both The Penguin and Catwoman, included a character created just for the sequel - Max Shreck, played by Christopher Walken, a corrupt mall chain owner bent on owning all of Gotham's electrical power.
While the narrative managed to bring all 3 villains into the fold nicely, I felt that things could have been better if the focus was still kept on the main Bat villains. Since the villains again are the spotlight, I'll cover them first.
Tim Burton's prints were everywhere in the creation of this version of the Penguin - a freak of nature, condemned to living in the sewers of Gotham while planning for his grand comeback to the real world, aided by Max Shreck. Again, the costume and makeup were until heavy wraps, and it was reported that Danny DeVito kept in character most of the time, hoping to beat his friend Jack Nicholson on the impact that this character could have on audiences. The Penguin's origin is one filled with, and ended in, tragedy. I remembered when this film came out, parents were up in arms against one of the scenes showing the Penguin spewing bile.
Catwoman was changed too, as Frank Miller's Year One Selina Kyle was a hooker, which won't go down well with kids in audiences. Although some plot elements were not plausible, like Selina falling from a great height and brought to life by cats, the delivery was stylish, and Michelle Pfieffer oozed sensuality, vulnerability, yet tough as cookies, spunky attitude to Selina / Catwoman. The transformation scene with her making her own slinky costume and guzzling lots of milk was my favourite, and who could forget that kitty lick on the rooftop? Hot! (Not to mention that the costume was coming off and splitting along its seams as the movie progressed...) Credit to Burton though, while re-creating the villains origin, he kept iconic elements for each character intact, like the Top Hat, eye-glass, cigarette (on a holder), and gimmicky umbrellas for the Penguin, and Catwoman's whip and claws, although the narrative did not provide logical explanations on how she's trained on it (since she's a mousy secretary). Who cares though.
Batman had a new costume with a proper logo. The look was sleeker, with chameleon-like abs. No qualms here though, as we know Batman has different costumes for separate occasions in the comics. Michael Keaton actually looked comfortable in the role. But still, the Batman killed. And that's a big no-no.
With regards to the exploration of Bruce Wayne's love life, and falling for the villainess, this is my favourite amongst the 4 movies. Batman Returns had a strongest love story compared to the rest. The affections Bruce had for Selina even made him contemplate the notion (horrors!) of revealing his identity, and thoughts about giving up the mantle of the bat, just to be with her. (Ok, I know, in Batman Forever, he contemplated that too... more on that later) The theme of Duality took centerstage, as we saw all characters leading double lives, having to put on facades in the public, concealing their deepest darkest secrets and desires. The struggle with duality brought on a whole new meaning to the love lives of Bruce and Selina as well, and their revelation to each other on the dancefloor to the tune of Siouxee and the Banshees' Face to Face, and their reaction thereafter, was one of my favourite scenes in the movie.
We began to see a glimmer of a strong partnership between Batman and Gordon in the film's beginning, but again, this was not exploited further. Given the plot, Gotham's Finest turned on the Batman, and it was fun to see him escape from the law.
More toys were introduced (we still don't see where Batman gets his wonderful toys), and we saw the usage of the Bat-Glider (the stiffening of his cape), the good IL Batmobile being transformed into the Bat-missile, as well as the Bat-skiboat. The Penguin even had a mini-batmobile built, as well as a huge yellow Duck truck.
Danny Elfman continued to score the movie, and brought in dark and separate themes for both The Penguin and Catwoman. The theme for Batman remained the same, though tweaked to highlight the movie's Christmassy setting. Only "Face to Face" made it into the soundtrack. No Prince or other artistes putting in music for this one.
As a direct continuation from the first movie, we saw the use of the Bat-Signal. My gripe? Heck, Bruce Wayne is at home at night? He's the Batman, and on any night, he should be out there kicking the underworld's rear. He's proactive, obsessive, and obviously shouldn't have the Bat-Sginals mirrored in the rooftops of Wayne Manor.
Batman Returns ended on a sad note, though with a flicker of hope that the Catwoman was still somewhere, somehow. Immediately after this movie, with Michelle Pfieffer's success in her role, word was out that a Catwoman spin-off might be in the works. Alas, what materialized was the disastrous Halle Berry effort.
Many deemed this movie too dark, but in my opinion, this is one of the better Bat movies in terms of delivery, plot, and character motivation. It's unfortunate though, that this did not turn in expected returns at the box office.