Batman Returns

Batman Returns is a pretty dark film, huh?  I mean it starts with a mutant penguin baby being dumped in the sewer by its parents.  That’s a little edgier than the way the first one opens with a vacationing family getting mugged.  That kind of petty crime is the perfect way to introduce Batman because it shows that he cares about average folks, hell even non-residents of Gotham that just want to visit.  For him it doesn’t always have to be about some big plot to take over the city or the world or some shit.  He’s looking out for everyone, big and small.  That’s really nice.

For the sequel Burton had to try something different and I’m all for that.  It’s good to change things up.  And I think the best way to describe this change is how a buddy of mine put it: it’s a Tim Burton movie that happens to have Batman in it rather than a Batman movie made by Tim Burton (the only thing I would add is that he’s talkin’ about the Burton before Planet of the Apes).  There’s more drama and less action than the first one, the characters are more fucked up psychologically and the focus is more on relationships rather than some grand scheme. 

Let’s look at Penguin for a minute because this whole movie hinges on him.  Burton wasn’t terribly interested in making a sequel but he was given a lot of latitude by the studio so essentially he made Penguin into Edward Scissorhands.  He struggles with the man/beast thing.  He thinks he wants to be better than just some slime in the gutter but realizes he wasn’t meant to be among the citizens above ground.  He’s not some villain who wants to take over the city because [insert reason here].  It’s about a fight with his identity.  And because they made Penguin this way they had to create another bad guy who actually does want to run Gotham.  Max Shreck is the real villain here.  He manipulates Penguin to get what he wants.  Penguin only wants to kill all the first born sons.  Well, uh…that’s a pretty nasty plot actually.  Did I mention this thing was kinda dark?  Anyway, to have Penguin be more of a monster and not a monocle wearing, cigarette holder smoking intellect is quite a change.  Sure they had some of those aesthetic pieces in there because they had to throw the fans a bone but overall he’s a different character.  This Penguin works ok in the picture but not great.  He’s no Joker (Nicholson’s or Ledger’s).  He looks really cool and I like that he has a beastly side to him.  But I thought it was a shame that they had to add another bad guy (a made up one too just for this production) and give him equal footing with Penguin to help fill out the role.

The only other thing that’s of real interest is the ending which is tragic and a real downer.  After Penguin falls through the skylight he gets back up bleeding, scratched, hobbling and totally fucked up.  To actually show the final moments of his death and for it to be sorta gruesome is ballsy.  If you didn’t think so before then you’re thinkin’ at this moment that this sonuvabitch is pathetic.  And I don’t know about you but I didn’t want to see him go out like this.  He doesn’t buy the farm in a blaze of glory or dignified in any way.  Instead it’s a slow and agonizing couple of moments.  I guess Burton really wanted to see him suffer.

Also towards the end Bruce looks like he doesn’t want to be Batman anymore.  He seems tired and like he wants to give this shit up.  It’s a little depressing because I want his heart to be in his superhero work.  I guess he’s had enough of almost dying all the time and killing a lot of people. 

The original ending didn’t have Catwoman appear right before the credits.  She was supposed to die.  If I remember correctly the studio made Burton put her in but they had to use a double which is why you only see the back of her head.  Since Catwoman doesn’t appear again in this series of Batmans this move doesn’t make a difference to me.  In fact I would’ve preferred that she really was dead.  Whatever, it’s not a big deal.

This is a pretty funny looking screen capture. They
both look like they're waiting for a bus.

The last thing on Returns I want to mention is the CD player.  You already know what I’m going to say don’t you?  At one point Bruce scratches a CD like a DJ making a beat.  You can’t scratch a CD like vinyl.  That’s not the way that technology works asshole.  There’s no excuse for this.  Either Burton knew better and didn’t care or someone didn’t have the heart to tell him.  CD’s had been around for like ten years already so it’s completely baffling how this made it into the movie.  It would’ve been incredibly easy to just not have that shot in the final cut.  And don’t give me that this is a special Bat device where you can do that to CD’s.  That’s just bullshit.

CD scratching aside I like Returns.  It has good mood, a good look and the characters are interesting.  It’s also probably the least comic booky feeling comic book film I’ve seen.  Ironically Batman Forever is one of the most comic booky pictures I’ve seen.  And the two later sequels are really where I want to head.  I just thought I’d give a brief piece on how I view Returns to help bridge the gap.

Batman (1989)
Batman Forever
Batman Forever Laundry Scene
Batman & Robin