Batman Returns

Overview

Batman Returns (1992)
Production Company: Warner Bros
Producers: Denise DiNovi, Tim Burton
Screenplay: Daniel Waters, story by Daniel Waters and Sam Hamm, based on Bob Kane's Batman characters
Camera: Stefan Czapsky
Music: Danny Elfman
Production Designer: Bo Welch
Cast: Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Danny de Vito (Penguin), Michelle Pfeiffer (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Christopher Walken (Max Shreck), Michael Gough (Alfred), Paul Reubens (Penguin's Father)
Running time: 126 minutes

Gotham City is plagued by a gang led by The Penguin, a disfigured man who was thrown into the sewer by his parents and then raised by penguins in the deserted zoo. Max Shreck, a businessman with plans to suck all the energy out of Gotham City, uses the Penguin as a candidate for mayor in his bid for power over Gotham. Selina Kyle, Shreck's mousy secretary, is thrown out the window when she accidentally discovers his nefarious plans, and is transformed into Catwoman. While Catwoman and Batman battle each other on the rooftops of the city, Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne fall in love. After a series of confrontations Batman is finally able to reveal the Penguin and his evil agenda. Batman and Catwoman discover each other's true identity and Catwoman kills Shreck, only to disappear into the night. Batman and Catwoman each remain alone in the end.

Far less coherent and old-fashioned than the original Batman, the sequel is darker, less compromizing and more stylized. Without letting plot or logic get in the way, Batman Returns presents an autonomous universe where the sun never breaks through the shadows of darkness, and where the main characters vent their schizofrenia by dressing up like animals and slugging it out, usually at great height. The succession of confrontations that passes for storyline holds many of the familiar Burton trademarks: the stylized environment more than ever creates a cartoon world that is not based on conventions of realism, but takes a few elements from reality and exaggerates them way out of proportion. The construction of the film world has been meticulous, with every scene shot on sound stages to enhance the feeling of a microcosm where every element is in key with the rest. This seems to have been a wise decision in comparison with Batman, in which exteriors and normal newsroom scenes were mixed in with the highly sylized shots of the streets of Gotham City. Because of this, half of the original film seemed to be taking place in a "normal", semi-realistic world, which did not mix well with the cartoon world of the rest of the movie. Batman Returns was criticized for being "too dark" at the time of its release, especially since its marketing was tied in with childrens' meals at McDonald's. Many found the film too disturbing, dark and overtly sexual for children. Bo Welch's gothic architecture is more grim and more impressice than that of Anton Furst, and the main characters are more obviously portrayed as lonely outsiders than in the original.