Excellent Burton movie, poor bat film...

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2002)

I'm still genuinely shocked to find people that prefer the next two films in the franchise over this one. While certainly not as appealing as the original, Batman Returns doesn't deserve the stereo-type it's been stuck with. There are two very strong reasons to see this film: the visuals and the music score. Both are gorgeous. Director Tim Burton and composer Danny Elflman are in top form. It's those damn screenwriters who sucked all the potential out of this film. For starters, we've got too many characters competing for precious screen time. Am I the only one that feels a little cheated by the Max Shreck character? Weren't Catwoman and the Penguin supposed to be the villains in this film? Instead, this boring guy steals the 'main villain' credit. There was also a huge backlash over this film being too dark. Let me be the first to support the decision to change the Penguin's origin and demeanor. As Burton himself said, some little guy in a tuxedo just would not have worked. There's also been criticism that as a bad guy, you just felt sorry for the penguin... you didn't fear him. I found this added a whole other layer to the film. Believe me, it was intentional. Batman and the Penguin were of the same ilk. So-called "freaks" from the same background who walked different paths. What made one go one way and the other another? Could it just as easily have been the other way around? Far more interesting than typical maniacal villain b.s. We have Catwoman and Shreck to fit that stereo-type. My biggest complaint about the script is that because of all the new villains, Batman gets even less screen time in this installment than he did in the first film. This is not a Batman film. He is secondary to the bad guys. A trait that has cursed all the bat-films to date. For anyone who's curious, track down the original screenplay Sam Hamm wrote simply titled 'Batman II'. Take a peek at what could have been. Bottom line: the film looks great, it's the story that drags it down. From what I've come to understand: fans of Burton like the movie, fans of Batman despise it.