Alright! Today I'm reviewing the 1992 sequel to 1989's Batman, once again directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton's charming young murderer and his sassy butler. Joining the cast this go-around is Danny DeVito's weirdly sexualized Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as himself.
This is first and foremost a very Tim Burton movie. It's far more reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice than Batman. Here gothic undertones, pale individuals with large hair, and weird sexually charged scenes are more the center than the title character, who only has 36 minutes of screentime. As those things become the focus and the work becomes more evidently Burton, the appeal of the Batman is lost.
The aforementioned 36 minutes of screentime is one of the movie's biggest faults. Michael Keaton's Batman is extraordinarily charismatic and underutilized in both of his movies, unfortunately. I aways wanted more screentime for the guy who I'm seeing the movie for. I'm not seeing it for Catwoman or Penguin, as interesting as those characters are. I'm here for Batman. And lack of Batman is a dealbreaker.
Speaking of those two, those are the characters that keep you interested in the movie. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman is probably the best live-action Catwoman, hitting a consistent balance of legitimately funny as Selina Kyle and seriously disturbed as her costumed counterpart. Funny enough, the "messy hair and glasses and loser secretary" tactic was revived by DC for Wonder Woman 1984's Cheetah. The difference here is that Seline Kyle is legitimately funny and could pass for an interesting character in both dualities.
The Penguin, however, was interesting. On one hand, Danny DeVito does the role well and the appearance of Penguin revolutionized how the character would be portrayed by comics and The Animated Series for years to come. On the other hand, the demented and disfigured psychopath raised by penguins is a far cry from the comics' respected mob boss.
But the thing that disconcerted me above all else in regards to this movie was the weird unnecessarily sexualized and violent tone throughout. There's a heavy sexual undertone that haunts the movie, and it's not about playboy Bruce Wayne, it's about the deformed and designed to be disgusting Penguin. Scenes where he gropes a young woman, explicitly talks to Catwoman, and in general, has a very strange vibe about him designed to make parents uncomfortable.
The movie is also weirdly violent in the way only early PG-13 could pull off. While not constant, disturbing and graphic violence (Such as noses being bitten off) feel out of place in an otherwise fantastical and nonviolent drama about the political intricacies of the mayor. The disturbing content doesn't really accentuate so much as it does detract.
But the questionable content is made at least a bit better by a killer opening and fantastic soundtrack. Danny Elfman is the saving grace of the movie, and his orchestra is the true savior of Gotham. Speaking of which, that's probably what the movie missed the most out on. Even its predecessor was mostly a war for Gotham's soul, and nearly every other Batman movie since Batman Begins has at least contained elements of that.
Batman Returns misses out on the drive of Batman with his reduced screentime. The movie isn't really a battle for the soul of Gotham, it's a movie about the Penguin's quest for power and how some random Bat-fellow messes that up for him. It loses the drive of Batman's heroism amidst the glamor and spectacle of the villainy.
Overall, I give Batman Returns 7/10. "Torn between being a Batman movie and a Burton movie, Batman Returns straddles the line as best as it can with pretty good results."
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