At least it’s dark. The follow-up to the incredibly successful first Batman film is once again helmed by the morbid master Tim Burton. Batman Returns reunites nearly all of the original cast, and the set designs and tone of the film perfectly mirror Burton’s first outing with the Dark Knight. The story this time involves more villains and more action, but the characters themselves seemed to have lost their motivation to be anything more than mediocre. Still faithfully dark, a little less serious, and certainly not as much fun, Batman Returns is still exponentially better than the next two installments in the flourishing motion picture franchise.

Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), one of the wealthiest businessmen in Gotham City, plans to build a new and unnecessary power plant for nefarious means. Only Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) stands in his way – along with Shreck’s secretary Selena Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer) who unwittingly peruses confidential files. Intent on guarding his secrets, Max throws her out a window, not anticipating that she survives the ghastly fall. Not entirely insane, but driven by an alter ego that insists she become more like her constant stray cat companions, Catwoman is born, a villainess bent on destroying her employer - and then the burdensome Batman.

Meanwhile, Shreck introduces the city to the revolting penguin-man rumored to live in the sewers of Gotham. Claiming to desire only the truth about his parents and the reason behind his miserable existence, Oswald Cobblepot (Danny DeVito), a hideously deformed man with a penchant for umbrellas and control over armies of sewer penguins, runs for mayor. Using a strong sympathy vote devised with the help of Shreck, the Penguin eventually teams with Catwoman to frame Batman, who continually gets in the way of their goals to destroy Gotham City. It’s up to Batman to protect the frightened and gritty townsfolk from the Penguin’s army of machinegun-toting clowns (how Joker-esque) and from utter annihilation at the hand’s of the two new unbalanced villains.

The familiar theme song by Danny Elfman, gothic opera music, and glisteningly dark sets return in this second Batman feature – the last film that spends time on the origins of the villains. Batman Returns certainly proves that a hero is only as good as the villain – both Catwoman and The Penguin are unique, brilliantly costumed and perfectly morbid; however, their motives and dialogue frequently disrupt the naturalness of their existences. They are ultimately more difficult to accept. Realism is not a strong point with any of the Batman films, but Catwoman’s unexpected martial arts skills, her mastery of a whip, and The Penguin’s influence over penguins (who knew that one of their natural habitats was the sewer?) reminds us just how comic book-based this episode really is. Catwoman and The Penguin could have used a larger dose of sinister. But even the characters aren’t as nonsensical as the ideas – including killing the first-born children of everyone in Gotham City, and unleashing a legion of penguins armed with dynamite.

Batman Returns perfectly matches the original tone and design of the Batman Tim Burton envisioned. However, his constant need to make his characters a little too uncanny and visually scurrilous, caused Warner Brothers to abandon him for the comically bright colors Joel Schumacher would eventually paint the new Batman with. Burton’s direction may not have been ideal, but what a mistake.

- Mike Massie

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