Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.
After the success of Batman in 1989, it wasn’t surprising that a second Batman movie was made. I still wasn’t interested in Batman in general when Batman Returns was released in 1992 so I didn’t see it then. Since then, I have seen all of the Batman movies and have them on DVD. Until recently, I had only seen some of Batman Returns on tv.
One winter night in Gotham City, a wealthy couple had a baby that wasn’t normal. They couldn’t deal with the baby and abandoned him, dropping his carriage off a bridge. The baby ended up in the sewer. Thirty three years later, stories were swirling around Gotham about a Penguin man living in the sewers as Christmas approached. The Penguin received media attention after saving a baby and went on a search for his family. Something about the Penguin bothered Bruce Wayne. The Penguin announced that his name was Oswald Cobblepot and under the influence of Max Shreck, ran for mayor. Oswald went along with Max’s plans, but he had his own plan that he was waiting to launch at just the right time.
Max was a very powerful business man in Gotham that was trying to build a power plant. His assistant, Selina Kyle, was preparing for the meeting Max was going to have with Bruce and learned too much. Max then shoved her out a window, never expecting her to come back to life with the help of some cats. She took on some characteristics of cats. She made herself a black outfit and called herself Catwoman. She started causing some trouble in Gotham, which brought her to the attention of Batman. They seemed to be attracted to each other, which complicated things for both of them. Bruce and Selina also met and were attracted to each other without realizing the other had a secret identity. Catwoman ultimately wanted to get revenge on Max and she felt that Batman was going to get in her way. She approached the Penguin about dealing with Batman.
It was never said how much time had passed after the end of Batman and the beginning of Batman Returns. The Joker wasn’t mentioned. Bruce did talk about Vicky briefly a few times, including a short discussion with Alfred about how he let her in the Batcave. The movie did build on what had been started in the second movie without the plot being closely connected. Batman had been accepted as a crime fighter in Gotham and Commissioner Gordon would use the Batsignal to let Batman know when he was needed. It would have been nice if a little bit of time was taken to further explore the relationship between Batman and Gordon. Batman had his gadgets again, some of which had changed in appearance. The Batsuit and the Batmobile looked slightly different as well, though no drastic changes were made.
Gotham City seemed to get darker than it had been in the first movie. The city remained very dreary looking, even during the day, with very unique looking buildings. There were huge sculptures used in several of the buildings and around the town. I thought that the city lost some of the realistic touches that were in the first movie. It just didn’t look so much like it could be a real city to me. In some shots of the skyline, it was obvious that some kind of visual effect had been used because the skyline looked fake to me. The look of Gotham was a little different from how it had been in the first movie without being dramatically different. The Batcave looked different too, almost like it was bigger or Bruce had added in new platforms or something. Bruce’s house looked different to me as well, though that could have been because different rooms were featured. The lighting was done better in Batman Returns. Some scenes were so dark in the first movie that it was very hard to tell what was going on. Thankfully that didn’t happen in this movie so it was much easier to see what was going on.
Batman Returns was made at a time when studios didn’t depend only on computers for special effects. The movie featured a combination of old and new techniques to create the various visual effects. How several of the effects were created was explained in the extras, which I will talk about more a little later in the review. Miniatures were used in many scenes that featured the huge buildings of Gotham. The Penguin had a penguin army that was made up of real penguins, puppets, and even CGI penguins. For the most part, the different effects looked very good and blended in well so that they didn’t obviously stand out. The few exceptions were the shots of the skyline I mentioned before that just looked off to me.
The Penguin had been causing trouble around Gotham before Batman Returns started. He had a gang that worked for him causing trouble all around the city. Batman didn’t trust the Penguin from the start and the two had confrontations that included violence. Catwoman did her part to stir up trouble in Gotham as well and helped to add to the action. Catwoman and Batman had a few fights that did get violent. Batman was involved in a few chases through Gotham and even responsible for some explosions. The Penguin was responsible for the most violent acts in the movie, a few of which were rather twisted and even gross. The violence played a part in the movie being rated PG-13. I do think the movie was too violent and graphic for young children. Parents shouldn’t assume that the movie is fine for kids because it is about comic book characters. The Penguin still creeps me out and I’m an adult. The movie is probably too twisted and dark for some people.
Bruce had a little more to do related to his business in Batman Returns. Max was trying to get Bruce involved in the power plant project. Bruce did research on Max and even the Penguin, though those things were more connected with his crime fighting. Bruce was a complicated character and he conflicted about certain things. He did seem like he had finally managed to deal with the murder of his parents. He still dressed up like a bat to fight crime and was actually working with Commissioner Gordon on that. He had to keep secrets from a lot of people because of his secret identity, though he didn’t always do the best job of keeping his identity of Batman a secret. Michael Keaton returned to play the character again, which did keep the character consistent between the first two movies.
For Batman Returns, two well-known villains from the Batman comics were used, as well as a third man that was created for the movie. Oswald Cobblepot, also called the Penguin because of his appearance, was responsible for a lot of crime in Gotham even though he was running for mayor. Oswald was born with deformities, including flippers instead of hands, and his parents just couldn’t deal with that so they abandoned him. He grew up in the sewers and had an army of penguins under his control. Oswald was a very disturbed man. From the little I know about the Penguin from the original comics, he wasn’t deformed and was called the Penguin because he was short, overweight, and had a habit of wearing black and white suits. He was a criminal, though he had an element of class. The character was completely changed for this movie. Danny DeVito was really good in the part even though I think the character is very creepy and gross. He ate raw fish like it was candy and had this icky black stuff oozing out of his mouth. The character was really nasty. Oswald was working closely with Max Shreck, a very powerful business man that was up to no good. Max was behind the scenes pulling many strings, and he was willing to desert his partner in crime if it meant protecting himself. Max was ruthless and willing to do anything to get what he wanted. Christopher Walken was really good in the part.
Selina Kyle was a shy woman that worked for Max Shreck. Something very strange happened to her after Max pushed her out of a window and she started acting like a cat as well as becoming sexy and seductive. She made a skin tight black rubber or vinyl outfit from a raincoat, used a bullwhip, and started calling herself Catwoman. She stopped a man from attacking a woman and also went on her own little crime spree in the city. She mainly wanted revenge on Max for pushing her out the window and she wasn’t all bad like most criminals are. She was having some trouble dealing with her new double life and was conflicted over certain things. Her life got more complicated when she met Bruce and Batman, not realizing they were the same person at first. There was all kinds of potential for the relationship between Bruce and Selina that weren’t really fully explored. They truly did have a unique relationship and I would have enjoyed seeing more of that aspect of the movie. I thought that Michelle Pfeiffer was wonderful in the part and completely believable as the two very different parts of Selina. She was even able to pull off the skin tight suit that Catwoman wore and looked very good in it, something that not all actresses could do.
Alfred had worked for Bruce for years and the two men had a close relationship. Alfred kept the things around Wayne Manor running and also helped Bruce with some things connected to his crime fighting. Michael Gough did a very good job in the role. He also played Alfred in the first movie. Commissioner Gordon was only around in a few scenes of the movie, so Pat Hingle didn’t have that much to do. It did seem like the character was under used. Dealing with crime in Gotham was brought up again in this movie though for whatever reason, Harvey Dent, the DA, was missing after being introduced in the first movie. I think it would could have been very interesting if Harvey had been in the movie to help show more about him and his relationship with Bruce before the accident that turned him into Two-Face.
Main Cast
Danny DeVito - Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin
Michael Gough - Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle - Commissioner James Gordon
Michael Keaton - Bruce Wayne/Batman
Michelle Pfeiffer - Selina Kyle/Catwoman
Christopher Walken - Max Shreck
Tim Burton - Director
DVD Information
Batman Returns was released on a two disc special edition DVD in the fall of 2005. That is the version of the movie that I have. The movie has a digital transfer, making the picture very sharp and clear. It also includes 5.1 Dolby and DTS Surround Sound. Subtitles are available when watching the movie. The first disc has the movie, a commentary by Tim Burton, and the original theatrical trailer. The rest of the extras are on the second disc.
The Bat, The Cat, and The Penguin was a special that was done for television before the movie was originally released in 1992. It was hosted by Robert Ulrich. Members of the cast and crew talked about the movie and the process of making it. Some clips from the movie, and even from the first Batman movie were shown as well as the filming of a few scenes. It was briefly explained that the backstory of the Penguin was changed.
Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Bat Part 4 was a continuation of the documentary that began on the special edition DVD of Batman. The cast and crew talked about different aspects of making Batman Returns. Sam Hamm, the screenwriter from the first movie, did work with Burton and the studio to develop a screenplay for the sequel that ultimately wasn’t used. Hamm did explain that he and Burton wanted Catwoman in the movie while the studio was insisting on the Penguin. That was why the movie ended up with two well-known Batman villains. It was the beginning of overcrowding these types of movies with too many characters, usually villains. Since the first movie was so successful, Burton had a bigger budget and longer shooting schedule. Burton did talk about the fact that he felt the origins of the Penguin needed to be changed for the movie to make him a more interesting character.
The casting of the movie was discussed and at first when the casting director suggested Christopher Walken for Max, Tim Burton said no because Walken scared him. Walken does have a very scary, creepy vibe to him and I’ve heard that many people get freaked out by him. Originally Annette Bening was cast as Selina and she had to pull out because she got pregnant. Once that was known, Sean Young, who had lost the part of Vicky Vale in the first movie after getting hurt falling off a horse, started her own little campaign to get the part. She even went so far as to dress up like Catwoman and show up at the studio. Sean Young was given a minute or two to explain why she did that. I remember she even went on some talk shows at the time dressed up like Catwoman. I think it would have added to this documentary if they had included a clip or two of her dressed up like the character and acting like a nut. I don’t think she would have been anywhere as good as Michelle Pfeiffer was in the part. It was also shared that Pfeiffer went through three months of training to learn how to use the bullwhip and she did the scenes with it herself. Burton briefly mentioned that he had a meeting or two with the studio about doing a third one and that the studio didn’t care for his ideas. Some woman producer, who really didn’t say much of anything, was trying to convince people that it worked out for the best that Burton didn’t return for a third Batman movie
Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery included several short documentaries that covered how different aspects of the movie were made. Gotham City still had a dark and dreary look, though the city did look different. Burton and the crew didn’t seem to care about any sort of consistency with the look of the city between the first two movies. They stuck these huge sculptures all over the place. To me, those looked like the beginning of the wild changes done to Gotham over the next two Batman movies. Sleek, Sexy and Sinister: The Costumes of Batman Returns talked about the costumes of the different characters. A few people talked about the minor changes they decided on for the Batsuit and how the costumes for Catwoman and Penguin were developed. Pfeiffer did talk about how difficult she found it to work in the costume at first.
The makeup process for Penguin was shared in Making up the Penguin. More went into that than I had originally thought. Some shots of DeVito during the makeup process were shown while someone explained the process. The Penguin had an army of penguins, and Assembling the Arctic Army was devoted to explaining how that was done for the movie. Several real penguins were used along with many puppets. CGI was even used in some of the sequences involving the penguins. Bats, Mattes and Dark Nights: The Visual Effects of Batman explained how the many different visual effects were created for the movie. There wasn’t as much done with computers as I had thought. Inside The Elfman Studio: The Music of Batman Returns had Danny Elfman talking about composing the music for the movie. One music video was included on the DVD. The Heros and The Villains Profile Galleries shared some information about the main characters in the movie. The actors all talked about their characters, offering their insights into them.
Batman Returns did go in a dark, twisted direction that probably isn’t for everyone. Fans of the characters could be upset with the way Burton decided to change the Penguin. I did enjoy the movie and think it is worth watching. People that enjoyed the first Batman movie or who like movies about superheros in general may also like the movie.
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