Penguin (Danny DeVito), leader of a criminal organization of circus freaks, rises out of the sewers for his own purposes, but industrialist Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) has other plans for him. Shreck’s secretary, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) discovers part of his scheme, and Shreck kills her. But she returns from the dead as Catwoman. Penguin and Catwoman have one thing in common: their desire to kill Batman (Michael Keaton).
Batman was the most Tim Burton-y of Tim Burton films; I couldn’t imagine him going further. He did. Batman Returns is a dark fantasy where art deco meets circus freak and the 1920s, ‘50s, and ‘90s are merged into a Never-Never Land. This isn’t our world or one this side of a nervous breakdown. Gotham City is more lovely, if your tastes run to the eerie, and more fantastic. Wayne Manner is a haunted house. Danny DeVito’s Penguin is a grotesque monster for those who love a carnival and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman breathes sex and insanity. There’s a lot to love.
But as a whole, more is less. The sheer weird spectacle gets a bit tiring and there is too much going on. Three villains was at least one villain too many. Catwoman and Penguin each could have carried the film. With too many stories to tell, none got the focus it needed and Batman became a supporting player in his own film. The relationships are the victims. A lot more could have been done with Bruce and Selina vs Batman and Catwoman. More meaning could have been given to the Penguin’s quest for acceptance and vengeance. Everything falls apart at the end, when even the sense of dreams fails. I don’t mind penguins with missiles (though monstrous penguins would have fit better), but I shouldn’t have been left asking how they got loaded up so quickly. It remains a beautiful film and the second best for the Dark Knight, but I could have used a bit less, to get more.
Batman Returns followed Batman (1989) and was followed by Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). The character was rebooted into Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). And he has been again rebooted into Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman first appeared on the big screen in a pair of 1940s serials. He returned in 1966 in Batman: The Movie.
I have ranked the eight theatrical portrayals of Batman.