We’re a scant nine days from the big day and there’s no better time to ratchet up the wonder and magic of the season than right now! Accordingly, we’re looking at one of my favorite off beat, but still holiday related films ever. I’m talking about Batman Returns. I didn’t actually get to see this film for quite sometime after its release, but I do remember the marketing for it. McDonald’s did Happy Meal toys, Kenner had a line of toys, and I remember seeing TV spots. But I don’t think I ever saw this film in its entirety until I was in my 20s. I don’t really have much to say by way of introduction here so let’s just jump right into our review.
Unlike its predecessor, Batman Returns actually has a prologue sequence preceding the opening credits. In it, we see the Penguin, one of the main antagonists, born and subsequently abandoned by his parents. Fun fact: Paul Ruben plays Penguin’s father in this film, a role that he would go on to reprise in the TV show Gotham. But, I digress. Once the credits are done, we find ourselves in Gotham Square and the town is getting ready to light the Christmas tree. We then shift to Shreck tower where Max Shreck, played by Christopher Walken, is trying to convince the mayor to go ahead with his plan to build a new power plant. The mayor turns him down and they continue to squabble as they head down to oversee the lighting of the tree. It’s during these scenes that we’re introduced to our other antagonist, Selina Kyle, or Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. At the tree lighting, Shreck gives a speech, the tree is lit, then a gang of circus people descend on the place to wreak havoc. Although, it’s revealed that they’re attempting to kidnap Shreck. This is where the true star of the show flexes his tremendous acting muscles. Chip Shreck, played by Andrew Bryniarski, steps in to save his dear old dad from certain doom. I gotta say, this guy is the greatest! To hear him speak, you’d think that Burton directed him to do his best terrible Christopher Walken impression. It is just fantastic!
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| This guy! Best character in the movie! |
Anyway, Batman shows up in his patented Batmobile to save the night! Now, one thing that remains somewhat consistent in the Batman mythology is Batman doesn’t kill, but by my figures, his kill count during this film stands at a whopping three so maybe he was having an off week, or something. Batman meets Selina Kyle while saving her from a thug, and he manages to stave off the circus gang. Meanwhile, Max Shreck is in fact kidnapped, and we get our official introduction to the Penguin. He get’s a fabulous entrance dripping with sarcasm, and lousy with villainesque over confidence. A few words on the Penguin: It’s really hard to see him as sympathetic despite the fact that I think that’s how he was supposed to be seen. He’s devious, underhanded, misogynistic, duplicitous, and just all around a terrible person. The first we see him, he’s trying to garner sympathy just before the conversation devolves into blackmail. However, his makeup is seriously on point! Every aspect of his makeup integrates incredibly well. From his pointy beak shaped nose, to his bony flipper hands, to his black ooze saliva, everything comes together very naturally. My final observation where the Penguin is involved: I’m not sure if his scheme in this film is deviously brilliant, or convoluted, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
So Penguin blackmails Max Shreck into helping him reveal himself to Gotham. Shreck in turn sees this as an opportunity to install a stooge as mayor so that he can build his power plant. The next major thing that happens is Kyle has to go back to the office to get prepped for a business meeting that’s taking place the next day between Shreck and Bruce Wayne. Before we move on here, I’d like to give the rundown on Catwoman. I really like Pfeiffer’s version of Catwoman a lot, and not just for the obvious reasons. Pre-mental break Selina is timid, and repressed which offers a great contrast to the self-empowered, if lunatic person she becomes after she transforms into Catwoman. And speaking of that, her transformation in this movie is exceptionally well portrayed! She transitions from naive optimism to jaded cynicism in just one scene and the difference is striking, but the process is as heartbreaking as it is disturbing. I’m sure most people can relate to situations that have pushed us to the edge emotionally, and perhaps even pushed us over that precipice. That just adds to the emotional weight that that scene carries. But what catalyzes this transformation you may ask? Oh, Max Shreck pushes Kyle out of a very high window in an attempt to kill her for finding out too much about his power plant idea. Shreck thinks he’s got the job done, but then while he’s meeting with Wayne, Kyle shows up. This is a really important scene as it establishes a connection between Kyle and Wayne. And I have to say, the chemistry between those two is great! Keaton does such an awesome job playing the smitten romantic during that scene. Puppy love is just plastered all over his face.
That evening, Penguin lets his gang run amok at Shreck’s behest. Catwoman sets out to vandalize Shreck’s department store as retribution, and Batman gets caught in the middle. This becomes a running theme throughout the film with all three characters intertwining pretty complexly. It’s handled pretty well, and it really adds to the narrative as we get to see how two loose cannons struggle to outwit the Batman. After the chaos of the night, Penguin, backed by Shreck, announces that he’s making a bid to have the current mayor removed, and that he’s running as a replacement. It’s after this announcement, that Catwoman and Penguin agree to join forces to take down Batman. Their preferred method for doing so is to discredit him and turn him into a villain as well. To that end, Penguin rigs the Batmobile so that he can control it remotely. Also, they use a Batarang to kidnap the winter princess that lights the tree each night. Eventually, the two miscreants frame Batman for killing the winter princess. But there’s really an important question that I think requires asking here. How did Penguin get ahold of blueprints for the Batmobile? I mean, I know that he finds a lot of interesting stuff sifting through Gotham’s trash, but seriously, does anyone think that Bruce Wayne or Alfred would be careless enough to just toss those incriminating documents in the waste basket? Wouldn’t they maybe need them later should the Batmobile somehow get damaged so that they could repair it? Food for thought people. It’s why you’re here, right?
Well, Penguin does use his remote access to the Batmobile to send Batman on a road rage. People are nearly run over, property is destroyed, and Batman looks like a chump. The next day, Penguin holds a press conference to further disparage the mayor for putting his trust in Batman, who has obviously experienced some sort of break himself. However, Batman recorded all of the things that the Penguin had said while hijacking the Batmobile so Alfred hacks the microphones…. Somehow…. And plays the remarks over the loudspeakers. This immediately destroys any public support that Penguin ever had, and sends Penguin packing down to the sewers from whence he came. Meanwhile, Wayne and Kyle have shared an evening together, and as Batman and Catwoman, gotten some hand to hand combat training at the other’s expense. I don’t mean to make light because a couple of elements are thrown in during these exchanges that lead to the two of them realizing the secret identity of the other. This reveal is played extremely well! The hurt and confusion on Selina’s face, and the general air of disappointment that Keaton portrays are touching, and well played. That scene drives home the theme of duality pretty well as Kyle realizes that she can’t have her fairytale world with all of the demons that she currently possesses no matter how much she wants to believe that she can. Wayne, too, realizes that despite his best wishes, he and Kyle can never be together, and it’s pretty intense. Anyway, Penguin crashes Shreck’s party and kidnaps him again. Remember when I mentioned Penguin’s plan? We’re about 20 minutes out from the end of the film and now the Penguin finally reveals what that plan is. He’s going to kidnap all the firstborn sons of Gotham and drown them in toxic sludge! How deranged! Oh, also he’s strapped rockets to the backs of penguins and he’s sent them to blow up Gotham Square.
Well, in the end, Batman thwarts Penguin, Catwoman get revenge on Shreck by murdering him, and the penguins all survive. We see Alfred driving Wayne around the city, for some reason, and then a quick glimpse of a shadow in an alley. Wayne jumps out of the car to investigate only to find a stray cat, which he apparently adopts. Then the camera pans up, and we see the bat signal, and there’s Catwoman, standing on a rooftop triumphantly, and somehow she’s managed to fix her costume super fast. And that’s Batman Returns.
This movie is good, but it’s certainly not great, and certainly not as great as its predecessor. Sure this movie is dark and gothic and more than a little disturbing like the 89 film, but I think it may actually take a lot of those elements a little too far. One really cool thing about the Burton Batman films is that they’re not really about Batman. We get to delve into the intricacies of the human psyche, but we do so through the eyes of the villains. Batman’s existence is examined through his villains, and that works really well. And it’s done here, but where this movie tends to fall flat with me is in its hurry to be bigger than the 89 film. There were more villains, there were more explosions, and as a result, there was less substance. As I said, there was an underlying theme of duality on the part of Batman and Catwoman, moreso on Catwoman, but that theme doesn’t get explored as thoroughly as maybe it should have in order to make it impactful. There’s a tragic Penguin backstory just begging to be exploited more, and it unfortunately has to take a backseat to other elements of the film. We get an expositional scene where we find out that Penguin got adopted by a circus. Now if movies have taught us anything about circuses, it’s that they’re a terrible environment for children to grow up in. Seeing some of that might have made Penguin more sympathetic, but as it stands, when he dies, he gets a one liner that I sort of chuckle at, and beyond that, I couldn’t care less. On the other hand, Catwoman is used brilliantly for the most part. She’s the sympathetic anti-hero that Gotham needs. Her struggle to reconcile her two personalities comes off as tragic and extremely organic. Plus, that cat suit, am I right? Oh come on, if you try to tell me that you don’t find Pfeiffer’s Catwoman at least a little disturbingly sexy, then you’re lying to yourself. Her suit is like Command Riker’s beard; it creates its own gravitational field.
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