Following up Batman was never going to be easy. Tim Burton’s 1989 movie had given us an iconic Batman, an unforgettable Joker and a version of Gotham City that felt unlike anything we’d seen before. Three years later, Burton and Michael Keaton returned for Batman Returns, and somehow managed to make the sequel even darker, stranger and more twisted than the original.
This and Batman remain my favourite Batman movies, and Batman Returns is one of those sequels where there really isn’t much I can fault. Keaton slips straight back into the cape and cowl, but this time he’s surrounded by characters who are every bit as fascinating as the Dark Knight himself.
Michelle Pfeiffer is awesome as Selina Kyle. When we first meet her, she’s a lonely, slightly bumbling secretary working for Max Shreck, living alone and seemingly stuck in a life that’s going nowhere. Then she discovers information Shreck would rather keep secret and he sends her crashing from a window. Selina survives — perhaps losing one of those nine lives in the process — but what comes back is something completely different.
Her transformation into Catwoman is brilliant. All that frustration and anger Selina has been carrying around suddenly comes pouring out, and Pfeiffer completely changes the way she carries herself. Selina goes from someone people barely notice to this confident, unpredictable and dangerous presence who can command a scene simply by walking into it. Pfeiffer doesn’t just look incredible in the Catwoman suit; she gives the character a genuine sense of liberation after spending so long being pushed around.
Christopher Walken is equally well cast as Max Shreck. Walken could play this type of villain in his sleep, and he does such a pristine job here. Shreck doesn’t need a costume or secret identity. He’s a ruthless businessman hiding behind money, influence and respectability, and Walken gives him enough charm that you understand how he gets away with it while never letting you forget there’s something rotten underneath.
Then Danny DeVito comes along as Oswald Cobblepot, and for me he steals the limelight. His Penguin is disgusting, funny, tragic, creepy and occasionally completely unhinged. DeVito throws everything into the performance, from the physicality to the revolting little mannerisms, and I genuinely wish we’d somehow gotten to see him play Penguin more than once.
There are so many memorable Penguin moments. Him biting a man’s nose is still wonderfully disgusting, while his attempts at seducing Catwoman are so cringeworthy they somehow become brilliant. Put Pfeiffer and DeVito together and you get two actors completely committed to Burton’s bizarre world, even when what’s happening on screen is absolutely ridiculous.
The political storyline is another great touch. Cobblepot emerges from the sewers and reinvents himself as this sympathetic figure who was abandoned by his parents simply because he was different. He plays on the orphan story, charms Gotham and eventually launches a campaign for mayor, presenting himself as the nice guy who only wants acceptance. Underneath it all, of course, he’s still the Penguin, and his intentions become considerably darker once that public image begins falling apart.
Even with Penguin and Catwoman taking so much of the spotlight, Keaton never gets lost amongst them. His Batman remains unbelievably cool, while Bruce Wayne feels even more isolated than before. Keaton doesn’t overplay Bruce; there’s always something slightly detached about him, as though he’s far more comfortable underneath the Batman mask than pretending to live a normal life.
That’s especially important once Selina enters his world. Bruce and Selina begin circling around the possibility of a relationship without realising the full truth about each other. Meanwhile, Batman is captivated by Catwoman and Catwoman has the same fascination with Batman. They’re essentially attracted to each other twice, and neither of them initially understands just how much they have in common.
Their eventual discovery of each other’s identities is one of my favourite parts of the movie. Suddenly all those strange encounters and conversations click into place, and Keaton and Pfeiffer play the revelation beautifully. For all the madness surrounding them, there’s something genuinely sad about two damaged people finally finding someone who understands them only for everything else to get in the way.
There’s still plenty of Bat-action along the way. The Batmobile returns, but Burton even finds a way of turning Batman’s greatest vehicle against him. Penguin having it sabotaged before remotely taking control is brilliant, particularly when he’s sitting in his ridiculous miniature Batmobile driving the real thing while Batman is trapped inside.
Burton pushes his visual style even further this time around. Gotham feels like a gothic nightmare covered in Christmas decorations, with snow falling across the city while enormous statues and buildings tower over everyone below. The festive setting should make things warmer, yet somehow Burton manages to make Gotham feel colder and more sinister than before.
Danny Elfman’s music once again fits that world perfectly, while Michael Gough remains wonderful as Alfred. Gough is probably my favourite Alfred, and there’s a warmth to his relationship with Keaton’s Bruce Wayne that never needs huge emotional speeches to sell it. He understands Bruce, worries about him and occasionally seems to know what he needs before Bruce does himself.
By the time everything converges beneath Gotham Zoo, Batman Returns has become much more than Batman simply stopping another villain. Penguin’s story reaches its wonderfully grotesque conclusion, Shreck finally has to answer for what he did to Selina, and Bruce is faced with the possibility that Catwoman might be the one person who truly understands him.
It doesn’t exactly lead to a happy ending, but it leads to the right one.
Batman Returns is darker, weirder and even more Burton than its predecessor. Michael Keaton remains a fantastic Batman, Michelle Pfeiffer delivers an iconic Catwoman, Christopher Walken is effortlessly brilliant and Danny DeVito gives us a Penguin I’ve never forgotten. Add that incredible production design, the Christmas setting, Danny Elfman’s score and another outing for that magnificent Batmobile, and you’ve got one hell of a sequel.
For me, Batman and Batman Returns remain the definitive pairing. I wouldn’t fault this one.
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