Batman Returns (1992)

Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” lives up to expectations in this delightfully dark, action packed film.  The plot of Batman Returns is centered around main protagonist Batman aka Bruce Wayne and his struggles upholding order and justice in the fictional city of Gotham.  The main antagonist is a deformed villain named “Penguin” whose initial plan is to blackmail a powerful man, Max Shreck, into helping him become a respected and powerful figure of Gotham.  Shreck, who plans to build a power-draining plant, learns that his secretary Selina Kyle knows of his plan and pushes her out of the building’s window, presumably killing her.  Selina’s body is then swarmed by stray cats which brings her back to life as the super-villain “Catwoman”.  Catwoman and the Penguin eventually team up in an attempt to get rid of Batman and attempt to frame him for murder.  Batman prevails and exposes the Penguin’s ulterior motives which drives him back into the sewers where he formulates a new plan to kill Gotham’s first born sons.  Batman foils the Penguin’s plans once again and a show-down between Batman, the Penguin, Catwoman, and Shreck occurs in the Penguin’s lair where Catwoman finally exacts her revenge on Shreck, and the Penguin is killed.

            Anyone who knows Tim Burton’s style knows what to expect of the overall atmosphere before viewing Batman Returns; a dark setting and a gloomy overall atmosphere.  Batman Returns is no exception; the setting takes place in a mostly drab city during a cold, snowy winter.  Tim Burton and the production designer Bo Welch do a phenomenal job of creating the overall visual atmosphere within Batman Returns.  The design and appearance of the sets perfectly portrays a bleak and crime riddled city characteristic of the Batman universe, which cannot compare to any “real” location that could have been chosen to be used for this film.  A few minutes into the film and the audience is already immersed in a dark, gothic type atmosphere with leafless trees of winter, and colorless run-down buildings.  The makeup and costumes of the actors all work exceptionally well contributing to this gothic theme, with those of the Penguin and Catwoman being the best examples. The Penguin’s short, round stature, flipper-like hands, and makeup all give him the appearance of an evil penguin villain.  Catwoman’s stitched-up costume is a great representation of her shattered innocence “re-stitched” together to form a new vengeful personality.  All these elements contribute to the effect that the audience is immersed within the Gotham universe.

            As far as the plot of the film goes, it feels rather rushed given all the sub-plots taking place and some story aspects are never addressed.  One unexplained event is how the Penguin managed to acquire his evil gang of circus performers if he has presumably never left the sewers before using them to kidnap Max Shreck? One silly aspect of the film is the Penguin’s army of suicidal penguins.  I couldn’t help but laugh during the scene where the missle-strapped penguins march to bomb Gotham square.  If the desired effect of this scene was comedic, then by all means it was perfect.  The biggest letdown of the film is how the climax was resolved. It felt rather unsatisfying when the Penguin died simply from falling into the water of his lair rather than a dramatic fight scene.  Albeit for some arguably minor flaws, the overall storyline makes for a great movie.

            Any fan of Tim Burton’s style, Batman lovers, or anyone who just wants to watch a good movie should absolutely give Batman Returns a go.  The overall immersive atmosphere of Batman Returns makes the viewer feel like they are actually present in Gotham city watching firsthand all the events that unfold and makes this two hour movie seem like it was only a few minutes long.