Batman Returns (1992)

Man if I thought Batman was a strange movie... I did not see Batman Returns.

This is part 2 of my new Batman series as I go through all the Batman movies made since 1989.

And what can I say about Tim Burton's Batman Returns?

I'll rephrase what I said before that Batman was dark but 80's dark. I now take that back and say that Batman is not dark, its Burton Dark. And Batman Returns takes that to a whole new level. This movie looks like the live action version of Nightmare Before Christmas... with Batman. In fact, in many places, Batman looks like he is out of place in this movie.

Part of the reason people didn't think this movie was as good as the first one was due to the incredibly dark storyline and dark overtones.

Now I like dark movies, however, this movie is just... weird...

There's so much that I can say is so strange about this movie. For one, Burton really likes his clowns. I don't quite get why but he does.

This was probably the part everyone figured out this movie was going to be weird

A combination of the clowns, Catwoman, the Penguin, Christopher Walken and Danny Elfman, this movie is just a whole level of odd. I cannot stress how many "What the fuck"moments are in this movie.

The movie starts out with a couple abandoning a baby in the sewers. This baby eventually is... raised by penguins, I'm not making this up. This baby turns out being the infamous Penguin, played by Danny Devito. He eventually comes to the surface and is able to charm Gotham with his sad story, all hiding a criminal organization with the help of a businessman Max Schreck, played by Christopher Walken, who wants the Penguin to run for Mayor and help his shady business dealings. All the while, Selina Kyle works for Mr. Schreck as a clumsy, introverted secretary. After a deathly fall, she is revived... by cats? And becomes Catwoman. Batman must stop their plans to further their crime but they have other plans in mind.

You may notice that Batman really isn't in that plot very much. The truth is he's not. The story mainly focuses on Oswald Cobblepot and Catwoman much more than the first movie ever focused on the Joker's origin. Like I said before, this movie is very much Tim Burton's world with Batman just put into it. They try to squeeze in the romance between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne and a little bit about how Catwoman and Batman are "the same" but its shoe horned in at the end very quickly.

Casting: The cast of this movie is actually spectacular... for the kind of movie it is.

Michael Keaton returns as Batman and there's not much I can say about him. Frankly anybody could have played Batman in this movie because he's barely in it. He doesn't strike me as a businessman, or a billionaire, he's just Michael Keaton. As Batman, I guess I can say there was an improvement. The costume looked a little bit better and there were less scenes of him just walking around like a stiff board.  Strangely enough, Batman and the police have a good relationship in this movie. Commissioner Gordon actually depends on Batman in many cases. I thought it was strange that Bruce Wayne has a bat symbol shine into Wayne Manor, wouldn't that be a little suspicious?

Michelle Pfeiffer is Selina Kyle, a clumsy, frankly depressing secretary who discovers some shady info on her boss. Her boss tries to kill her by throwing her out a window. She's thought to be dead but she's magically survives and goes completely bananas. There's no explanation, no reason she turns all crazy, she just does. She paints her entire apartment black for some reason and makes a leather costume for her to roam around in trying to find a way to destroy her boss, Batman, anybody who gets in her way. Like I said before, there's a romance between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle that is very forced. But Michelle Pfeiffer gives the movie a lot of those What the Fuck moments. I've mentioned a few already like the random mental breakdown or the getting resurrected by cat power but then there's the moments she acts like a cat. She almost eats a bird, she starts licking herself saying she's cleaning herself. Her split personality is so odd that you just have to ask... what the flying fuck is going on?

Then there's Christopher Walken. He plays Max Schreck, a business man in Gotham. The name and character is suppose to spoof a German actor. Why? I don't know, I guess it was an inside joke on the part of the writer.

Now apart of me says, of course, Christopher Walken is perfect for a Tim Burton movie. And then I look at this and again its a "what the fuck?" The hair, the makeup, the outfit, it just looks strange. Other than that, I thought he did an alright job. I didn't actually know Walken was in this movie when I first started watching it and after watching it... I still am not sure if Christopher Walken was actually in that movie. He's a very forgettable character. At one point he just disappears for a good half hour. Not a bad performance, just forgettable.

And then there's Oswald Cobblepott, or the Penguin.

Played by Danny Devito, the Penguin is kind of a tragic story of a disfigured baby who is abandoned by his parents and grows up in the sewers... by penguins. (only Tim Burton) Well by manipulating the people of Gotham, he becomes the "golden boy" and decides to run for mayor by the influence of the corrupt Max Schreck. The Penguin runs a gang of rogue circus performers and creates unrest in Gotham.

The strange thing is, there is suppose to be a sense of sympathy towards this character. You're suppose to feel bad for him and the strange thing is, you kind of do, even after he kidnaps all the first borns of Gotham, even after he bites a guy's nose off. In a weird way you do and in a weird way you really don't.

Danny Devito does a really good job at making the Penguin a menacing villain but giving him a relatable edge to him. I actually really liked Penguin. Yeah he and Catwoman lead the charge in the WTF moments, like how he likes raw fish, and actually was raised by penguins but in a weird way, the Penguin was a tragic figure.

The movie really didn't focus on any more characters beyond those four. Alfred of course returned but was still the butler. Commissioner Gordon had a very small role and any other character I have already forgotten about and its only been about an hour since I finished the movie.

Overall, I understand why Tim Burton was kicked off the next Batman movies. The studios wanted to take Batman in a different direction. Although that direction is not the direction I think they should have gone, Tim Burton was just getting weird with this franchise and he needed to be taken off.

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Tim Burton personally. He has accomplished a lot more than I have in my life. But his style is not the style needed for the Batman universe. I want to eventually review a Tim Burton movie I did like but I don't think Batman and Burton mix. Do I think he did a better job than Schumacher? Yes I do, but that doesn't negate the fact that I am a grown man and I probably will have nightmares from this Batman movie. And that's not suppose to happen. Some people have said this movie blends Superheroes with Noir and I just don't see that. Noir takes its inspiration from morally gray characters and Batman may be a dark character but he in no way is morally gray in this movie. He is the clear cut good guy and nothing really takes away from that notion. However, I did notice in this movie and in the first one, Batman does kill people. Maybe not directly but he gives a bomb to a clown, throws him in a hole and walks away when he blows up. Just another example of how this movie just gave me this reaction.

So what did you think of Batman Returns? Did you like it? Do you like Tim Burton with the Batman films? Let me know.