BATMAN RETURNS (1992)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
I've had mixed feelings towards "Batman Returns" since I first saw it in theaters in 1992. It is a nightmare fantasy of epic proportions with almost too little story, too many characters, and not much fun. Tim Burton made an extreme and freakish Burton film, not a Batman film, and that may be the underlying problem.
The nocturnal Batman/Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) is back, but this time he is fighting a literal circus of freaks. There are skull masked freaks, the late Vincent Schiavelli as a leader of the circus, and they all shoot at crowds and creating havoc and anarchy but to what cost and for what purpose? It turns out the Penguin (Danny DeVito) is creating havoc from 300 feet below Gotham City. He knows a thing or two about the corrupt Max Schreck (Christopher Walken), a towering businessman who hopes to usurp Gotham's power source to build a power plant, and is trying to keep secret his leakage of toxic waste in the sewers of the city. To keep Penguin quiet, Max helps the fish man find his parents who neglected him and promises to elect him as the Mayor of Gotham.
We are also introduced to the ditsy Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is killed by Max for having discovered his dastardly plans. She is resurrected by a bunch of cats and becomes Catwoman. Best scene has her destroying her neon sign in her apartment where it reads: "Hell here."
"Batman Returns" is missing one crucial element - Batman and his alter-ego, Bruce Wayne. They both appear in the film but more as an afterthought. The disgusting Penguin and the sexual tease of Catwoman steal the show, and all of Batman's thunder. By the end of the film, you are left wondering what Batman's purpose was, aside from proving he was a freak in the world of Burtonesque freaks in Gotham.
There are a few delights in "Batman Returns." Michelle Pfeiffer is possibly the tastiest choice to play Catwoman ever, and her dual personality is evoked with wit and dramatic punch (a shame that a sole feature film with Pfeiffer's feline character never materialized). Danny DeVito is both fearsome and loathsome to watch as the Penguin - a character of pity and bad puns. As good as DeVito is in the part, it is no match for Jack Nicholson's Joker from the first Batman film.
The movie has creative production design, some stellar noirish cinematography (every shot is subterranean and nocturnal) and fantastic special-effects. But the movie is joyless, frenetic and, occasionally, a chore to sit through. For every scene that magnetizes and dazzles (Batman fighting Catwoman,Walken and DeVito discussing politics, the instrumental of "Super Freak" playing at a costumed ball), there are inert scenes of various explosions, the repetitive use of that Duck mobile (why is that in a Batman movie?) and some cruel violence that will put off even hardcore fans of The Dark Knight graphic novels (the Penguin biting a man's nose that gushes blood hardly elicits a wicked smile, just nausea). "Batman Returns" has some flashes of brilliance but it is anemic and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. As lavish a production as it is, I am not sure that is what Tim Burton intended.
