31 Days of Joy: Batman Returns

“You gotta admit I played this stinkin' city like a harp from hell.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

Batman, played by Michael Keaton, seems to have his hands full when the mysterious Penguin, played by Danny DeVito, shows up to cause chaos in Gotham. While The Penguin decides to run for Mayor of Gotham to try and achieve his villainous ends, while Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, stalks of the streets of Gotham looking for her next prey.

Batman Returns is an interesting film for me. I grew up watching the film repeatedly, but clearly never was invested in the plot and the sexual innuendos went right over my head. The only aspect that I cared about when I was in my single digits was how this film featured The Penguin as one if it’s villains, since I have an admiration for the animal. I only seemed to care when The Penguin was on the screen. Honestly, this is probably my first time returning to Batman Returns since Batman Begins came out in 2005. Realistically, I can understand why it gathering dust on my blu-ray shelf for years.

For those unfamiliar with the works of Tim Burton, you will note that he clearly has a love for the abnormal and has films featuring characters that most would consider “freaks” than make a romantic comedy. Basically if the 1932 film Freaks were to be remade today it would be almost a guarantee that Burton would be the force behind the project. I feel that if a billionaire dressed up as a bat to fight crime everyone would consider that person to be a “freak” but Burton seems to be rather uninterested in Batman with this film, instead he focuses nearly the entire on the villains of the film. Both Catwoman and The Penguin are visually interesting to look at and offer more motivations and logic than the title character of the movie, which is a fault of this film. I don’t believe that Burton wanted to make a Batman film instead he wanted to make a film featuring Batman’s rogues gallery with Batman playing a supporting role in the film. While I cannot blame Burton for wanting to focus on the villains, since they are more interesting than Batman especially this Michael Keaton Batman.

Keaton gives the performance that Burton wants him to give, which just comes off as bland and monotonous. Keaton at the time was known for his broad comedic performances in film like Beetlejuice and Mr.Mom so him giving a more subtle performance would have been a shock to the audience back in 1992; but watching the film in 2018 after seeing Keaton in Spotlight and The Founder it seems rather odd to see Keaton giving such a lifeless performance. The true acting force of the film is Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. While the decision to have Pfeiffer play the character as an actual human cat seems like a far fetched concept, Pfeiffer takes the acting challenge seriously and delivers one of the most unique and sexual performances in any superhero film.

Since the reason that I’m reviewing this film is because of the ‘31 Days of Joy’ program on the site you must be wondering how this fits in the Christmas season. While the film obviously takes place during the Christmas season with glamorous Christmas trees filling the screen, the film is focused on Burton’s beliefs about consumerism. Max Shreck, played by Christopher Walken, is a businessman who continues to sell faulty product after faulty product being fully aware that the product he is selling is a sham. The people of Gotham keep buying the products that he sells because Shreck comes across to the people as one of them while he is one of the elites in Gotham. After the 2016 presidential election it doesn’t seem so strange that a crude businessman like Shreck could con his way into the minds of the people he wants to actually betray to better his pocketbook. The point that Burton is trying to make is that we should not blindly believe anyone who tries to tell us they are good for us. If we make that mistake, then we will just blindly follow them like sheep waiting for the slaughter.

The biggest issue I have with the film is how crazy the plot is for the film. If you saw the film without knowing it was directed by Tim Burton, you would know that he directed it within minutes. This film is dripping of a young amateur wanting to breakout to share his gift with the world. Visually Batman Returns is a wonder, but when looking at the story of the film it is all over the map, like it seems to be with most films done by true amateurs. If you enjoy a film that offers amazing set design with bizarre characters then Batman Returns is for you, but if you are looking for a good Batman film I suggest that you skip straight to the Nolan trilogy.

Rating: Rent It

-Jonny G