Jasonic's Favorites: Batman Returns
Hello and good evening, Internet!
Having reviewed the first Batman with Michael Keaton a few months back, I figured it was only fitting I review the second and last Batman film to star him, Batman Returns. Since it's a week until Christmas at the time of me posting this, I also thought it would be fitting to review a movie with a Christmas aesthetic. Whether it's considered a Christmas movie depends who you ask, but for what it is, I might just call it my favorite "not a Christmas movie" Christmas movie.
Released in 1992, Batman Returns was one of the most divisive movies of its time. Whereas the first movie had a dark, gothic Tim Burton flare and was appropriate enough for most kids old enough to handle it, Tim Burton got much more creative input on this project to a point where everything about it was darker, more sexual, and outright disturbing compared to its predecessor. It really gave a sense of what lurked within the psyche of the famed director and, while it seemed okay on the surface, the biggest outrage against this movie was from the parents who took their kids to see it. It was even promoted to young children through McDonald's Happy Meal toys, the promotion of which was ultimately pulled after the film's release. The initial backlash against this film eventually led to this franchise getting restructured and Tim Burton taking a backseat in the following movie, but that's a story we'll get to another time. In the meantime, it is worth noting that since its release, Batman Returns has been reassessed as an actually good movie, one of the best Batman films even, due to its darker tone, deeper characters and themes, special effects, and somber ending, many of those elements being a reflection of other model sequels like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. As a sequel, Batman Returns does have excellent nuance in that regard, but as a standalone film, does it live up to all it's cracked up to be? Let's examine this "not a Christmas movie" Christmas movie and find out what makes or breaks Batman Returns.
*SPOILERS for a 31 year old movie!*
The main story picks up a while after the events of Batman during the Christmas season. Following a prologue showing the abandonment of Oswald Cobblepot -- later known as the "Penguin" (Danny DeVito) -- he becomes an outcast from society as part of the Red Triangle gang or a circus full of freaks. Upon attacking and kidnapping wealthy industrialist, Max Schreck (Christopher Walken), Penguin attempts to expose the latter's corruption and murderous lies before Schreck strikes a deal with the Penguin to reimplement him into society along with Gotham's elite. Meanwhile, Schreck's meek secretary woman, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), tries to expose Schreck's corrupted power plant plans only to be thrown out a window yet she survives and suffers a psychotic breakdown while transforming herself into the iconic Catwoman. Penguin and Catwoman's escapades get them into conflict with Batman (Michael Keaton) who, as Bruce Wayne, gets into a relationship with Ms. Kyle, the two unaware of each other's secret identities. Seeing Batman as a thorn in both their sides, Catwoman and Penguin team up behind everyone's back to frame Batman for their crimes against the city of Gotham during their Christmas tree-lighting. With Batman framed and the city turning against him, Bruce implements several clever tricks to get everyone to turn against Cobblepot instead, causing him to initiate his contingency plans. With everyone on different sides by the end, Gotham will ultimately never be the same.
As a sequel to an already successful film, one can probably tell by that plot summary alone that everything is more complex in terms of both story and thematic elements. Like Batman before it, much of the plot is initiated by the villain of the week as opposed to Batman himself also with the added addition of another costumed vigilante who teams up with them temporarily. On top of that, one of the biggest driving forces of this plot is the addition of the original character created specifically for this continuity, Max Schreck. Tempting as it is to make jokes about the Shrek films with his name, I'll refrain from that and say that much of his character is an excellent representation of corruption and duality in this world. He is loved by the people for his public persona and the good things he promises he'll do, but is secretly dastardly, playing everything for his own selfish gain and silencing all who try to expose him. In this sense, he is a dark reflection of Bruce Wayne/Batman whose public persona in this is loved, but reserved and quietly prides himself for being a freak as his alter ego. Penguin also displays significant duality by being just like Schreck and gaining public approval while clearly longing to embrace is inhumanity, which he does by the end when the city turns against him. In addition, Catwoman is virtually the same as Batman, a costumed vigilante driven by her trauma of nearly being killed, although her goal is revenge against Schreck as opposed to justice. All this culminates neatly by the end with Selina being too different and far gone that she gets her revenge against Schreck all while the Penguin dies a lonely death in the place he called home in the Gotham Zoo's Arctic World.
As with the majority of Batman films, the acting in this is one of the major selling points for how iconic it is. Michael Keaton exuberates the same Batman energy he had in the previous movie with his stiff turnings in the suit, cheeky one liners, and clever methods of killing thugs -- even though Batman doesn't traditionally kill, but that's a topic for elsewhere. Sadly, this would be the last time we saw Michael Keaton in the role until the recent The Flash movie where he finally reprised it -- I have yet to see it and will hopefully do so at some point. Danny DeVito is also one of the most unique takes on the Penguin to date; his grainy voice does justice for an insane take on a traditionally sane Batman villain and his animalistic mannerisms such as eating raw fish and making repetitious grunts when getting his bearings does wonders for bringing to life the monstrous nature of this version of the Penguin. The returning actors of Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon also do a good job at capturing their characters even if the latter isn't given much to do in the grand scheme of things. The real highlight, however, is the iconic performance of Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/Catwoman; to date, this is the most extravagant, psychotic, and arguably most developed take on Catwoman ever to grace live action. Her starting out a shy, meek, barely talkative secretary to Max Schreck demonstrates her submissiveness before her near death experience causes her to psychotically break down, destroy her apartment, and gain confidence in her role as a vengeful vigilante. Her sexual display of dominance towards characters like Penguin and Batman show that she is no longer willing to be used, but rather use men for her own gain. This ties in neatly with the other themes or sexuality and misogyny, which are shown in how much the men are willing to control Ms. Kyle before she deviates and chooses her own path all the way to the end.
As with the previous installment, Danny Elfman returns (no pun intended) to do the score and he certainly ups the ante after what he displayed before. The opening credits reuses the original Batman theme, but in a less triumphant context because rather than an opening sequence showing the Batman logo from all angles, it is now a montage showing Penguin's baby carriage traveling along the sewers until arriving in the Gotham Zoo's Arctic World to be greeted by the penguins that would later become his minions. As someone who sympathizes with abandonment and death, Elfman created Penguin's themes heard throughout the movie with sympathetic instruments and vocals to invoke viewer's feelings of pity toward this version of the Penguin. As interesting of an approach as that is, I find myself understanding Penguin's mindset even though this version of the character is a complete monster who tried to kill all first-born sons in Gotham a la the Moses story in the Bible -- note the parallels between that and the opening sequence also -- and later destroy all of Gotham. Catwoman's songs in the Cat Suite are also full of creepy strings, symbolizing her psychotic breakdown as she comes to terms with her new identity. There are also various points in the story where any time Batman or Bruce Wayne does something of significance, a portion of the Batman theme swells to signify his heroic entrances and duties, something of which now reminds me of the times I have more recently watched Batman: The Animated Series, which opens with a Danny Elfman-composed theme similar to the main Batman theme. All that said, the soundtrack is a blast and is a testament to how strongly Tim Burton and Danny Elfman have worked together in the past.
The costuming and special effects of this movie are also something to write home about. Batman maintains the same batsuit as before, its stiff aesthetic allowing Michael Keaton to invoke his otherworldly Batman movements as he moves and fights. Catwoman, on the other hand, is a skintight catsuit that Selina stitched together on screen for the sake of appearing "yummier", the suit barely staying together at the seams. As the film progresses, more stitches come loose, displaying Catwoman's hasty attempts to keep herself together until by the end she's in pieces upon confronting Max Schreck. The real highlight of this movie's costuming and makeup, however, is Danny DeVito's Penguin; he has the most applied makeup of everybody with his face being painted entirely white, his lips and teeth colored black, his hair in a greasy, stringy mess, and his suit being in an unkempt state for most of the film. That said, they did a good job of making Danny DeVito look grossly animalistic to a point where you virtually can't recognize him as a person. As far as special effects, however, this film carries over the same Gotham aesthetic that made the first movie so iconic, but now it's in snow; the matte paintings of the Gotham wideshots are now blanketed in snow, giving it a magical Christmas aesthetic despite not being a magical Christmas movie. There are also minor uses of CGI in its early days, two cases of which I could make out with some of the alleycats approaching the downed Selina, and the shield around the Batmobile to keep it concealed closing and later opening. It was a fun little thing I didn't notice upon my first viewing that I was excited to learn about and see after the fact. I might even say that I was blown away by this movie more on my now second viewing than I was the first.
As someone reviewing this movie in the modern day, I do believe that it's better than many people originally made it out to be. It's got a great story and theming that ties in with the movie's other aspects, great acting, awesome and interesting choices of music, and great costuming and special effects much of which were revolutionary for the time. As much as I like this movie now, I could almost see my younger self enjoying it too and maybe even having some kind of awakening to Catwoman in her leather suit. Jokes and hypothetical scenarios aside, I am with many now in saying this is a stellar film and deserves a chance whether you're a Batman fan or not. As one of the best and arguably darkest Batman movies of the last century, I was originally saddened to hear that it's sequels didn't reflect its quality, but eventually they brought Batman back around for another shot and being the dark and gritty media it's meant to be. That said, I give this movie an A- and recommend it as a Batman movie, a "not a Christmas movie" Christmas movie, and a movie in general.
Thank you all for reading and I'll see you in the next review!
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