Misguided, decent sequel to Batman

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2005)

I can somewhat understand why this film is cherished so much. This film is the darkest installment of the Burton/Schumacher franchise. The movie has a star cast and Michelle Pfeiffer gives a memorable performance as exotic, seductive, but vile Catwoman. The great Danny Elfman music is all still there. Danny Devito and Christopher Walken bring decent comic relief in their roles as villains.
The movie suffers from a silly plot devices and rhetoric , which is ironic considering this is supposedly the "darkest, most serious" film in the franchise. Yes, its dark, but in a very superficial, stylish way. The film never aroused in emotion of despair or sympathy for any of the characters because it was filled with ridiculous premises. There is more violence in this film, unnecessary death, even some minor blood, but especially near the end, the violent conflicts never seemed to have a point.
The big problem with this movie is that its apparent Tim Burton wasn't sure where to take the character of Batman after the first film. Burton essentially focused on making fantastic Burtonized Gotham City and Burtonized villains. Whereas the first movie was somewhat realistic, gritty and a decent Batman film, this movie makes Gotham City more surreal and goth fairy-tail. Burton changes the origins and motivations of the two major villains (The Penguin and Catwoman) DRASTICALLY from their comic counterparts. The Penguin is changed from a deformed, calculating, crime boss into a genetically altered, naive, and angry mutant who lives in the sewers and never knew his parents (who are human). Catwoman's transformation and origin is almost as absurd. Their motivations are so dimensional, Catwoman is reduced to a simplistic poster boy for feminism.
The first half of the movie has a decent plot, but after a semi-climax, the movie spins out of control wrecklessly and nothing makes much sense. For all the flack Batman & Robin got for being campy, this movie has the Penguin......talking to and commanding an army of penguins with rockets on their back. I couldn't believe I was seeing this in a what some considers "the Best Batman movie of all time". There are too many convenient plot devices and inconsistencies throughout the ending. The other minor characters from the first film are gone or do little to almost nothing in this film.
Keaton's Batman is still good and convincing. What's bad though is that the film is even less about Batman waging a war on crime than the previous film, and more about angry, unloved, or ugly people (the hero and the villains) never finding happiness or love that they deserve. Burton definitely imprinted his artistic, fantastic, Gothic but dreary style throughout this film, for better or worse. Thus, this isn't really a superhero film, but a typical Gothic "nobody loves me, so I have to wreck havoc" film. Batman's dedication to fighting crime is ambiguous in this movie and I don't feel he becomes a stronger or a resolute character in the end.
The movie is decent, there are some good action scenes, and as said before Pfieffer is awesome and attractive in this film. Christopher Walken is sometimes funny and Danny Devito has some good scenes. I think the dark nature of the movie has successfully hid the fact that this movie is just as campy and silly as the next two sequels. In some aspects, Batman Forever is even better at somethings, such as characterizing Bruce Wayne. This film has little to no direction, point, and is more stylized art over substance.