Batman Returns

Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the second installment of Warner Bros. initial *Batman* film series, with Michael Keaton reprising the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film, produced by Denise Di Novi and Burton, also stars Danny DeVito as the Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as corrupt businessman Max Shreck. In *Batman Returns*, Batman must prevent the Penguin from killing all of Gotham City's firstborn sons, while dealing with Catwoman, who seeks vengeance against Max Shreck, a corrupt tycoon who seeks to bring Gotham City under his control.

## Plot

In the prologue, socialites Tucker and Esther Cobblepot give birth to a deformed baby boy, Oswald. Disgusted by his appearance and wild demeanor, they confine the baby to a cage and ultimately throw him into the sewer, where he is discovered by a family of penguins at Gotham Zoo.

Thirty-three years later, millionaire Max Shreck proposes to build a power plant to supply Gotham City with energy, though he is opposed by the city mayor. During Shreck's speech, Gotham is attacked by a disgraced former circus troupe, the Red Triangle Gang. Despite the efforts of Batman to stop the violence, Shreck is abducted and taken to the sewer, where he meets Oswald Cobblepot, the gang's secret leader now known as the Penguin. The Penguin blackmails Shreck with evidence of his corporate crimes into helping him return to the surface, and he accepts. Meanwhile, Shreck's secretary, Selina Kyle, discovers the true purpose of Shreck's power plant to drain Gotham of its energy and bring the city under Shreck's control. Shreck pushes her out of a window to silence her, but she survives the fall and vows revenge, taking up the mantle of Catwoman.

The Penguin makes his presence known by "rescuing" the Mayor's baby from a staged kidnapping attempt, and requests to be allowed into the Hall of Records to find his parents. Batman's alter-ego, Bruce Wayne, voices his suspicions about the Penguin's true motives, and investigates his background and connection to the Red Triangle Gang. During a meeting with Shreck, Wayne meets Kyle and the two become attracted to one another. In order to remove his enemies, Shreck pushes for the Penguin to run for mayor and discredit the current mayor by having the Red Triangle Gang wreak havoc on the city. Batman intervenes and meets Catwoman as she attempts to sabotage one of Shreck's businesses; she escapes, but is injured and swears revenge on Batman by allying with the Penguin to frame him for an undiscussed crime.

As Wayne and Kyle begin a romantic relationship, the Penguin abducts Gotham's Ice Princess and kills her, framing Batman for the act, at the same time sabotaging his Batmobile to rampage throughout Gotham (until Batman disconnects the controlling device), and ends his partnership with Catwoman, who didn't anticipate the murder, when she rejects his advances; he attempts to kill her with one of his flying umbrellas, but she survives after falling into a greenhouse. During the chase, Batman records the Penguin's disparaging remarks about the people of Gotham and later plays them during his next speech, destroying his image and forcing him to retreat to the sewer, where he reveals his plan to abduct and kill all of Gotham's firstborn sons as revenge for what his parents did to him. At a charity ball hosted by Shreck, Wayne and Kyle meet and discover each other's secret identities. The Penguin appears and reveals his plan, intending to take Shreck's son, Chip, with him, but Shreck gives himself up in his son's stead.

Batman foils the kidnappings and heads for the Penguin's lair. The Penguin attempts to have his army of penguins bomb the city and kill everyone in Gotham, though Batman and his butler, Alfred, jam the signal and order the penguins to head back to the sewer. Batman arrives and confronts the Penguin. In the ensuing fight, the Penguin falls through a window into the sewer's toxic water. Shreck escapes but is confronted by Catwoman, who intends to kill him. Batman pleads for Kyle to stop, unmasking himself in the process. Shreck draws a gun and shoots Wayne, and then shoots Kyle multiple times, but she survives and electrocutes herself and Shreck with a stun gun. Wayne, who was wearing body armour, finds Shreck's remains but Kyle is nowhere to be found. The Penguin emerges from the water, but eventually dies from his injuries and from the toxic sewage, and his penguin family lay his body to rest in the water. In the aftermath, as Alfred drives him home, Wayne sees Kyle's silhouette in an alley but only finds her cat, who he decides to take home with him. The Bat-Signal appears in the sky as Catwoman, who survived, watches.

## Cast

* Michael Keaton as Batman
* Danny DeVito as Penguin
* Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman
* Christopher Walken as Max Shreck
* Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
* Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon
* Michael Murphy as The Mayor
* Vincent Schiavelli as The Organ Grinder
* Andrew Bryniarski as Chip Shreck
* Cristi Conaway as The Ice Princess
* Rick Zumwalt as The Tattooed Strongman
* Anna Katarina as The Poodle Lady
* Paul Reubens as The Penguin's Father
* Diane Salinger as The Penguin's Mother (Esther Cobblepot)

## Sequels

Batman Returns was followed by two sequels: Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997)