BATMAN RETURNS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
After recently having suffered through the press screening of Joel Schumacher's BATMAN & ROBIN, we decided to check out one of Tim Burton's originals. BATMAN RETURNS is the second in the Batman series and the last to be directed by Tim Burton. Correctly criticized at the time of its release in 1992 as being too dark, it nevertheless has more imagination and energy than Schumacher's latest two (BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN & ROBIN).
As in all the Batman films, the landscape is populated by a cornucopia of quirky characters. Danny DeVito plays the mistreated Oswald Cobblepot, who comes back to Gotham City as the Penguin to wreak havoc on Gotham City's occupants. With the dark circles under his eyes, his black lipstick, and his beak of a nose, the sewer living Penguin is at once both pitiful and scary.
Ever creepy Christopher Walken plays the evil industrialist Max Shreck. His moral compass does nothing but spin, and he is happy to do whatever it takes, including pushing his bullied secretary out the window, to achieve his financial goals. When she comes back to life, he casually remarks that there are always higher windows.
Easily the best and only memorable performance in the picture is turned in by Michelle Pfeiffer as Max's secretary, Selina Kyle. Before her death, Pfeiffer seems totally out of character as a ditzy and helpless woman with hair as frazzled as her brain. After her resurrection by some local alley cats, she metamorphoses into Catwoman, ever strong and out to get all of those men who have made her downtrodden.
Catwoman gets most of the better lines in the script by Sam Hamm and Daniel Waters. "Hello honey, I'm home," she announces when she comes home. "Oh, I forgot. I'm not married." It is her sly and understated intonation that makes the show's best line: "I am Catwoman. Hear my roar." In print, it has no punch, but as delivered by Pfeiffer, it has a beautiful and poetic energy.
Although many actors have tried to wear Batman's heavy rubber suit and ended up looking silly, none more so that George Clooney, Michael Keaton gives the most satisfying rendition. His Bruce Wayne and Batman are dark and brooding like all of Burton's films. Without the levity of Catwoman, BATMAN RETURNS would have been too much of a downer to take.
The batmobile has more gadgets than any vehicle James Bond ever drove. Bo Welch's art deco sets look like they came from Albert Speer's design studio. And Danny Elfman's dramatic music is full of symphonic power making the show resemble an elaborate and macabre opera.
Most of the violence is at the rock 'em, sock 'em cartoonish level, but some can be downright gory. In a scene that reminds one of CHINATOWN, the Penguin is given a pair of giddily happy, image consultants by his mentor Max. The Penguin hates the idea so much that he tries to bite off one of their noses. Burton has blood flowing everywhere and leaves it dripping down the Penguin's mouth after the incident is over.
BATMAN RETURNS drags frequently, and Burton has trouble controlling his dark tendencies, but still, thanks mainly to Pfeiffer, it remains one of the better of an overhyped and too often unwatchably bad series. Then again, since the series has generated a reported 4 billion dollars in Batman merchandise sales, the quality of the films themselves are only of secondary importance.
BATMAN RETURNS runs too long at 2:06. It is rated PG-13 for sometimes gory violence. The show would be fine for kids around 8 and up depending on how sensitive they are to gore. My son Jeffrey, age 8, thought the movie was "good," but he did get scared and had to cover his eyes during several scenes. In a somewhat marginal call, I give the film thumbs up and ** 1/2.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: June 28, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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