Batman Returns (1992)

Warner Brothers

If Burton’s first Batman was a dark comedy like Beetlejuice, then Batman Returns borrows the tone from its surrounding films. Batman Returns is a dark fairytale like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas; unless I’m just making a connection because it’s set around Christmas. Intentional or not, I always thought that the winter setting of Batman Returns is what made it so unique.

Just like the last Batman movie, this puts much of its focus on the two villains, the Catwoman and Penguin; especially Penguin. I don’t know the origin of the Penguin from the comics but it seems like Burton actually took the name literally! He was born into a rich family, though they kept him inside of a box because of his freakish nature, and then dumped him into the river…where he would be raised by a flock of penguins. I didn’t know sewers could house a population of penguins, though it’s later revealed that the drainage systems in Gotham are connected to the exhibits at the city zoo. Too bad they couldn’t have used the character of Killer Croc for a future sequel. The other villain is the Catwoman, who becomes that character after falling into a truck full of kitty litter and uses one of her “9 lives.” It’s a good thing she fell into kitty litter because a truck of something else could mean she’d have a worse alter ego. Both the Catwoman and Penguin are similar to Batman, in that they are portrayed as social misfits, unlike the Joker who was bright, colorful, and even a bit flamboyant. Joker and Batman were light and dark, but three similar characters in Batman Returns made this a much darker movie than the first. I guess you could say the movie was lightened up a bit with the presence of Christopher Walken, who even wears a turban. I always get a laugh out of that.

The cast chosen to play these characters is pretty entertaining. Michael Keaton, Michael Gough, and Pat Hingle are back from the first, and joined by Danny Devito as Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck. I knew that Burton must be a fan of classic monster movies because of the way Batman stalked criminals and this confirms it because Max Shreck was the actor who played Nosferatu; a vampire movie from the silent era. Like I said before, this movie is less comical than the previous Batman movie, with exception to some brief moments from Christopher Walken. The disappointing part of these Burton Batman movies is that they sort of turn Bruce Wayne into nothing more than a guy who sulks around his mansion waiting for the Bat Signal so he can spring into action; though I still wish Keaton would’ve continued in the role. I like Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance the most as she has a wild transformation from timid secretary to a sexed up criminal.

Batman Returns was my favorite of these 80’s/90’s Batman movies and after rewatching it, it remains in the top spot. It’s not really a “true” portrayal of Batman but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.