Batman Returns

Review by Jason Gaston

 

With Batman eating up the box office bucks, it was only a matter of time before Warner Brothers began begging Burton for a sequel and, soon, not one but two members of Batman's rouges gallery would become reinvented for the modern age in Batman Returns.

This time, it would be the sultry Catwoman and the waddling Penguin. With Michael Keaton returning as the Caped Crusader, Michelle Pfeiffer took on the role of Catwoman and Danny DeVito, another actor with comic roots, took on the Penguin.

This time around, Tim Burton was given more control and the movie, as a result, got even weirder. Still, the world of Batman and Gotham City was weird to begin with, so it's a perfect fit of content and director.

Now, the Penguin... a deformed man and abandoned child of Gotham aristocrats resurfaces in Gotham City. Immediately manipulating the people to trust him, he runs for mayor... a race that will lead Gotham to doom if he wins. On the other side of town, Selina Kyle, secretary to Max Shreck, finds out a little too much about her employer's shady business dealings and is summarily dismissed... right out the window of a skyscraper. Miraculously surviving the fall, she is psychologically scarred and assumes the sexy guise of Catwoman... hell bent on destroying Shreck and all his holdings no matter who she has to go through to do it.

Batman Returns is even darker, more moody, and more atmospheric than the first. Taking placing during Christmastime, the white snow and holiday fare contrasts beautifully with the Dark Knight and company. It's an unpopular position to be sure, but I consider this film superior to its forbearer. Pfeiffer and DeVito are just amazing in this movie.

Batman Returns also has an element of tragedy to it that Batman lacked. At some points, you actually feel sorry not only for Batman, but for Catwoman and, yes, even the Penguin. This is a stylish offering in the franchise and much too underrated for my tastes.