Campy nonsense

Rating: 4/10 (22 July 2015)

I think Tim Burton's BATMAN movies have dated really badly since their release. I disliked the first film so much so that I never got around to watching this sequel until now, by which time I've been spoilt by the Christian Bale movies. Burton's movies are a cross between the campy tone of the 1960s TV series and the dark seriousness of the Nolan trilogy, but they fall down on both counts.
BATMAN RETURNS comes across as a surreal comedy more than anything. That's the only way you can explain the ultra-poor acting of Michelle Pfeiffer as the silliest Catwoman ever; I think even Halle Berry was better than this. Pfeiffer's acting is so grating and hammy that I'm surprised she wasn't nominated for a Razzie award. Danny DeVito is better; he's hammy, yes, but his costume is a character in itself and I think Burgess Meredith would have been proud.
Elsewhere, we have a sprawling plot focused around massive set-pieces but a general feel of padding/sleepwalking in between the noisy bits. Keaton's Batman is a bore, overshadowed by the flamboyant villains. Christopher Walken's here, but he gives exactly the same performance as he did in A VIEW TO A KILL, so if you've seen that film you don't need to bother with him in this one. BATMAN RETURNS as a whole has a silly, set-bound, anything-goes style feel to it and you get the impression that Burton's heart wasn't really in it. You know what? Mine wasn't either...