Batman Returns A Decent Sequel But With Flaws

Rating: 6/10 (27 March 2010)

Batman Returns is a decent sequel but with some of the same flaws that were in the first one by Tim Burton. I re-watched the original and this one after seeing writer/director Christopher Nolan's take on the popular comic book character with Batman Begins and the Dark Knight which are so much better than Burton's no offense. Director Tim Burton does an okay job making this sequel but some problems weigh it down which I'll get into later. Michael Keaton reprises the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman whose decent as the character but he isn't as good as Christian Bale in my opinion. He wasn't able to bring the presence Bale brought to the character. Keaton however does what he can with what very little he was given. Danny Devito had a little more to work with as The Penguin and he's okay despite shouting a lot of his lines. DeVito is a good actor but this isn't his best performance. It maybe because I just don't find the Penguin that interesting of a villain but DeVito still turns in a solid performance none the less as the short grotesque and deformed enemy of the Dark Knight. Michelle Pffiefer fared much better as Selina Kyle/Catwoman turning in a solid performance as the dangerous femme fatale. Burton probably should have chosen just one of them to be the villain for this film because their story arcs felt rushed at times because Pfieffer does an impressive job with her role. Well done. Christopher Walken does his best as Max Shreck a psychotic businessman who helps The Penguin run for mayor. Walken sort disappears for much of the second half only to reappear for the third act but he's okay in the role. The rest of the cast are so-so but none of them are memorable. Michael Gough as Alfred and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon have what amounts to a few extended appearances which is disappointing because their characters could've been handled much better. They both do what their roles require I guess though. The action sequences are well executed but none of them are exciting or intense as the ones in Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. The dialog was once again cheesy at times and many characters like Harvey Dent for one aren't even in it or mentioned making their appearances in the first one seem totally pointless. Like Burton's first Batman one of the biggest problems is that this sequel seemed to focus mainly on the Penguin and Catwoman instead of the title character himself especially in the first hour. Keaton doesn't even show up until over 12 minutes into the film. He makes a brief extended appearance with very little dialog for an action sequence and then his character disappears until almost 40 minutes into the movie since most of the beginning centers on The Penguin and Selina Kyle's Catwoman. For a while it seemed Keaton has a cameo in his own movie which didn't help in the long run. After that initial first 40 minutes luckily he's in it more but Keaton seemed to get cheated out of some more much needed development and screen time again. I didn't realize just how little these films actually focused on the Dark Knight until I decided to recently re-watch them. It's always not a good idea to focus more on the villains than the main character because he's the one the audience is going to care about. I thought this problem was solved with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight because at least those films focused much more on Bruce Wayne/Batman especially Begins. The Dark Knight felt like an ensemble piece and by the end I think Bale got just as much screen time as the late Heath Ledger, Aaron Echkhart, and Gary Oldman. That film focused on the four of them evenly giving all four actors plenty of moments to develop their characters and shine. Overall Batman Returns isn't that bad of a sequel it just could have been better. I recommend Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to any fan of the comic book character because both films are entertaining fast paced action crime dramas and worth the time to watch. Batman Returns had potential to be a good sequel only it ended up being somewhat of a letdown compared to Nolan's two superior films on the Cape Crusader. Yeah it has some cool action, a little dark humor, and solid performances by the cast (Keaton, Devito, and especially Pfeiffer) but I just wish the film itself was a lot better than it turned out to be. I'd chose Nolan's two Batman movies any day over this one.