Rate The Last Movie You Saw

How did they not notice the pictures on the wall earlier?

How did they not notice the pictures on the wall earlier?

I was never really a big fan of Warner Brother's original series of Batman films on the whole, as they generally seemed unable to find the proper tone or strike the right balance between style and substance, a criticism which absolutely applies to Tim Burton's original Batman, as Burton seemed more interested in developing the character of Gotham City than in focusing on the film's actual characters. That being said, however, I can certainly make an exception for its sequel, 1992's Batman Returns; sure, it has its fair share of problems, not the least of which is its occasionally overbearing, overly dark tone, which got plenty of parental backlash at the time, and earned the ire of McDonald's and their tie-in line of movie toys, but it mostly makes up for that with plenty of Burton's signature stylistic flair, an overall sense of dark fun, and dare I say it, a surprising amount of substance, at least when it comes to the film's central relationship.

Admittedly, the story proceeds in fits and starts, kind of awkwardly going from one random plot tangent to another with basically every new scene, which shows the difficulty screenwriter Daniel Waters had in balancing the film's four major characters, not to mention all the supporting players (although the stream-of-consciousness plotting kind of enhances the film's overall dreamlike quality, and the dialogue, to Waters' credit, is relentlessly snappy and quotable). At any rate, smooth storytelling isn't really the main appeal of Returns anyway, in light of the film's incredible style and atmosphere, balancing out the inherent artificiality of its soundstage-bound Gotham City with a rich, chilly Christmas time ambience (and the typically cheerful spirit of the holiday makes for a great seasonal contrast with the film's overall tortured, cynical tone), and Returns also benefits greatly from Stefan Czapsky's grand, elegantly sweeping cinematography, Danny Elfman's darkly whimsical score, Bo Welch's gothic production design, which withers Gotham under the granite stare of massive, oppressive, ominipresent statues, and Burton's macabre stylistic flourishes, and incredibly colorful, limitless sense of imagination (or at least, it seemed limitless at this point in his career... ahem).

And the characters in Returns are just as exaggerated as its aesthetics, whether it be Christopher Walken's slimy, brash, corrupt retail mogul Max Schreck, or Danny DeVito's monstrously deformed, manically ranting Penguin, though these parts are over-the-top to a fault at times, especially DeVito, who, although he puts in a technically strong performance here, his character is still so needlessly, distractingly revolting and lecherous that he eventually just becomes tiresome to watch, which leaves Selina Kyle as the best character here, portrayed in an iconic (and unfortunately, not Oscar-nominated) turn by Michelle Pfeiffer. While she approaches campy caricature herself sometimes as a pre-transformation Selina or the avenging feminist Catwoman, as either an outsized parody of a frizzy, bespectacled, bumbling nerd, or that nerd's silly idea of what a predatory femme fatale from Hollywood would act like in real life, she's still always utterly convincing regardless of which mode she's in, and she shines her brightest when she just gets to be herself, which is ironically the side of Selina who has no idea just who she is, as she's caught between the two warring factions of her personality in a portrayal that's both incredibly passionate, hopelessly sad, and ultimately lost at the same time, as a woman who can't help but be torn apart by the struggle between the vengeful vigilante she's become, and the normal person she wishes she could be.

Her undeniable onscreen chemistry with Bruce even gives his character some substance by association, as, when he's doing the mandatory crime-fighting as Batman, he's often just a silent, glowering presence, one that's often forced to take a backseat in his own film, but his tragic romance with Selina, and the way they can't help but be drawn to one another because of the inner pain from their dual/dueling identities (which is also the reason why they're doomed to never be together in the end) is what gives his character some actual dimension here, certainly moreso than in the '89 film, where Burton hardly seemed to care to develop him in any compelling manner. So, while certainly a flawed film in certain aspects, on the whole, Batman Returns still manages to be a satisfying sort of superhero fairy tale, one that, although its quirky sensibilities do take some getting used to, they're still enjoyable once you adjust to them, so give it a chance, will ya?

Favorite Moment:

I was never really a big fan of Warner Brother's original series of Batman films on the whole, as they generally seemed unable to find the proper tone or strike the right balance between style and substance, a criticism which absolutely applies to Tim Burton's original Batman, as Burton seemed more interested in developing the character of Gotham City than in focusing on the film's actual characters. That being said, however, I can certainly make an exception for its sequel, 1992's Batman Returns; sure, it has its fair share of problems, not the least of which is its occasionally overbearing, overly dark tone, which got plenty of parental backlash at the time, and earned the ire of McDonald's and their tie-in line of movie toys, but it mostly makes up for that with plenty of Burton's signature stylistic flair, an overall sense of dark fun, and dare I say it, a surprising amount of substance, at least when it comes to the film's central relationship.

Admittedly, the story proceeds in fits and starts, kind of awkwardly going from one random plot tangent to another with basically every new scene, which shows the difficulty screenwriter Daniel Waters had in balancing the film's four major characters, not to mention all the supporting players (although the stream-of-consciousness plotting kind of enhances the film's overall dreamlike quality, and the dialogue, to Waters' credit, is relentlessly snappy and quotable). At any rate, smooth storytelling isn't really the main appeal of Returns anyway, in light of the film's incredible style and atmosphere, balancing out the inherent artificiality of its soundstage-bound Gotham City with a rich, chilly Christmas time ambience (and the typically cheerful spirit of the holiday makes for a great seasonal contrast with the film's overall tortured, cynical tone), and Returns also benefits greatly from Stefan Czapsky's grand, elegantly sweeping cinematography, Danny Elfman's darkly whimsical score, Bo Welch's gothic production design, which withers Gotham under the granite stare of massive, oppressive, ominipresent statues, and Burton's macabre stylistic flourishes, and incredibly colorful, limitless sense of imagination (or at least, it seemed limitless at this point in his career... ahem).

And the characters in Returns are just as exaggerated as its aesthetics, whether it be Christopher Walken's slimy, brash, corrupt retail mogul Max Schreck, or Danny DeVito's monstrously deformed, manically ranting Penguin, though these parts are over-the-top to a fault at times, especially DeVito, who, although he puts in a technically strong performance here, his character is still so needlessly, distractingly revolting and lecherous that he eventually just becomes tiresome to watch, which leaves Selina Kyle as the best character here, portrayed in an iconic (and unfortunately, not Oscar-nominated) turn by Michelle Pfeiffer. While she approaches campy caricature herself sometimes as a pre-transformation Selina or the avenging feminist Catwoman, as either an outsized parody of a frizzy, bespectacled, bumbling nerd, or that nerd's silly idea of what a predatory femme fatale from Hollywood would act like in real life, she's still always utterly convincing regardless of which mode she's in, and she shines her brightest when she just gets to be herself, which is ironically the side of Selina who has no idea just who she is, as she's caught between the two warring factions of her personality in a portrayal that's both incredibly passionate, hopelessly sad, and ultimately lost at the same time, as a woman who can't help but be torn apart by the struggle between the vengeful vigilante she's become, and the normal person she wishes she could be.

Her undeniable onscreen chemistry with Bruce even gives his character some substance by association, as, when he's doing the mandatory crime-fighting as Batman, he's often just a silent, glowering presence, one that's often forced to take a backseat in his own film, but his tragic romance with Selina, and the way they can't help but be drawn to one another because of the inner pain from their dual/dueling identities (which is also the reason why they're doomed to never be together in the end) is what gives his character some actual dimension here, certainly moreso than in the '89 film, where Burton hardly seemed to care to develop him in any compelling manner. So, while certainly a flawed film in certain aspects, on the whole, Batman Returns still manages to be a satisfying sort of superhero fairy tale, one that, although its quirky sensibilities do take some getting used to, they're still enjoyable once you adjust to them, so give it a chance, will ya?

Favorite Moment: