A coldly intimate film.

Rating: 7/10 (8 October 2006)

Tim Burton followed up 1989's 'Batman' with Edward Scissorhands (1990) and elements of the latter film are evident in 'Batman Returns', namely the wintery feel and characters unusually formed since birth (Edward and The Penguin respectively- by comparison the first Batman film shows that The Joker and Batman were created in adulthood). Even the pastel pink houses of Edward Scissorhands seem mirrored in the pink interior of Selina Kyle's (Michelle Pfeiffer's) apartment but with a difference-this is the suburbanite bubblegum pink of the mid 1980s, when Madonna was actually a 'True Blue' conservative (a Thatcherite 'Material Girl'. What first attracted her to the millionaire Bruce Wayne? Well, Catwoman doesn't actually know that Bruce is a millionaire. It's never hinted at but perhaps it's actually sweet Selina (so interested in company records) who has more money-minded intentions. As Catwoman, she has now moved on to Madonna's 'Erotica' phase of the early 90s.
The Gotham City of Batman Returns feels, possibly unintentionally, like a small to medium sized city, as opposed to the towering skyscrapers and cathedral of the first film. The architecture of Batman Returns is reminiscent of modernist architecture from the 1930s and the austere lettering of the 'Shreck' building is like the graphic design from that time.
Whereas the first film had the engaging Knox and various other side characters, Batman Returns is very much concentrated on the 3 villains. Commissioner Gordon and butler Alfred have just brief appearances. The assortment of circus-like goons (who are Batman's only real foes) give a carnival-like look to some of the film, slightly alike to Tim Burton's next film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The best of Danny Elfman's score is re-used from the first film and the other songs do not form the centrepiece to scenes, unlike the way that Prince's did in the first film.
Despite Jack Nicholson being widely though to have stolen all the scenes in the first Batman film (he should do if he was paid 50 million dollars), the warm, dry wit of Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne shone through and memorably stood up to the Joker in the scene in Vicky Vale's apartment where he demands of The Joker: 'Do you want to get nuts? Come on- let's get nuts!' In Batman Returns, so little time is given to the Bruce Wayne character that the Wayne/Kyle romance appears to be little more than a speed date. Even Batman doesn't have many memorable encounters with any of the villains. I can't remember him laying a hand on The Penguin or Max Shreck, instead opting to flirtatiously fight with Catwoman. (After Selina Kyle is found looking through company records and admits to Shreck that she knows of his plans to drain away rather, than provide power to, Gotham City pushes her through a window, causing her to hit her head and be bitten by various cats, after which she feels compelled to rebel against her mousy image and dress up in tight fitting black leather). However, no good reason is hinted at why Catwoman has taken a dislike to Batman other than perhaps envy.
There are fewer memorable set pieces than the first film, where The Joker used a hand buzzer to kill a gang member, sunk a quill in to another's neck and gassed an entire art gallery (and later attempted to do the same to the main street in the city). Instead, The Penguin's tricks all come from his umbrella, apart from when he injures somebody by biting their nose. The giant rubber duck on wheels climbing steps in Ice World, before later crashing, was a surreal high-point though, almost a nod towards the supposedly camp 1960s series that was actually sometimes quite scarily surreal with its tilted camera angles.
In the tradition of Frankenstein (and Edward Scissorhands), it seems that Burton wanted to give each of his 'monsters' a positive side. Shreck is shown as willing to sacrifice himself to save his beloved son Chip (a chip off the old block) and vice versa. The Penguin was brought up in a sewer and, therefore, we feel sorry for him for that. Arguably one of the most moving scenes out of either Batman film is when he is laid to rest by the penguins he lived with.
Batman Returns can't top the set pieces, the witticisms or the scale of the first film (I'm sure it wasn't meant to) but anybody primarily looking for a quirky, coldly intimate film with great costumes and striking design will give this film the even higher score of 8 or even 9 out of 10 that it arguably deserves.