Dark Undertones

Rating: 9/10 (14 March 2002)

While not as good as the first film, Batman Return(1992) is way better than the last two when the series became dumb and dumber. Deals with childhood traumas, and adult angst that results from feelings of alienination during childhood years. Not one of the main characters were blessed with happy memories of their childhood, and each has their own alter-ego to fight this traumatic pain. The opening scene is an example of this idea, and one which leads to the main theme of the movie.

Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman becomes more melencoly, more saddened by unhappy childhood memories, and saddled with a feeling of loneliness. Danny Devito is a disappointing followup as a villain after the flamboyant performance of Jack Nicholson in Batman(1989). Michelle Pfeiffer is both sexy and hard edged in the role of Catwoman, which is her most complex and ambiouous. When Tim Burton did the Batman films they were very good, and had some provocative ideas about childhood memories, and the feelings of being an outsider.

I would have to see a director's cut of this sequel as I feel that some scenes look as if they were trimmed, and maybe there were good scenes cut from the film to fit a PG-13 rating. Scenes, which feels trimmed are the erotic games of cat and mouse between Batman and Catwoman. Films based on comics are more interesting when good and evil become a grey matter where nothing is certain, and the architecture stands with a moody broodish quality. Christopher Walken plays his usual sarcastic evil villain, and plays it with a dark coldness that is a trademark of a Walken villain.