Thirty years ago today, the greatest superhero movie of the 1990s was released to...a not-so appreciative public? Don't get me wrong, Tim Burton's Bat sequel was successful, critically and commercially($163 million domestically, the summer's highest grosser). But there was also a bit of a backlash, which we'll discuss, and that only makes the vindication of "Batman Returns" even sweeter. I swear this movie is more popular in 2022 than it was in 1992, I was there, and all of it's weirdness and defiance in the face of McDonald's and WB's corporate interests makes it a time-tested, stone-cold classic. It certainly helps that we've seen hundreds of superhero movies in the 21st Century that lack it's singularity and freshness. "BR" doesn't FEEL like anything that came before of after, even though it's technically part of a huge franchise. Join me as I discuss in great detail why you should love it as much as I do.
Danny Elfman's epic, emotional score is coursing through 80% of this movie. It's a fucking masterpiece. The fact that Elfman was denied an Oscar nomination("Aladdin" won that year) is another reason to deeply distrust the Oscars. Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger reunite in the Burton-verse, a neat inside joke for observant "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" fans, to discard their hideously-deformed cat-killing baby. We can assume their high-society stature allowed them to get away with it in 1958-59. This wordless prologue plays like a horror movie, and puts Oswald Cobblepot on a path to extremely-deranged villainy.
Anton Furst won a well-deserved Academy Award for his London production design work on the 1989 original. Sadly, he committed suicide two years later. Bo Welch, a Burton collaborator on "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands", was hired to reconfigure Gotham City, this time in Los Angeles. Is "Batman Returns" a Christmas movie? It is if you want it to be. The ice-and-snow-covered Bat logo that appeared all over advertising material is another example of the overall creativity that defined this production.
Max Shreck is not in the comics, another indication that Burton had little interest in fidelity to his source material. He's an evil, scheming billionaire with bad hair, and he's played by perhaps the best-loved character actor on the planet, Christopher Walken. His Donald Trump fascimile was my first experience with the Oscar winner, and his unique screen presence fit perfectly in this warped world. Speaking of perfect, Michelle Pfeiffer was the only actress that could have inspired an endless array of hot Halloween costumes. Thank the movie gods(or Warren Beatty) that Annette Bening got pregnant, at the same time Michelle got sick of melancholy roles in downbeat dramas like "The Russia House" and "Frankie and Johnny"(good movies btw). She really wanted to throw-down, and it's thrilling to watch.
It's often been pointed out that Shreck's wealth and privilege makes him the worst person in the movie, giving "BR" an anti-plutocrat angle before it was cool. The Red Triangle Circus gang is an underground terrorist organization, and I like to think that Vincent Schiavelli's Organ Grinder is second-in-command. The late Sicilian actor appeared in "Ghost" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and was a skilled bit player. Can't the citizens of Gotham get any relief? "What are you waiting for, the Signal!"
One of the all-time great Batman movie moments was accomplished in less than thirty seconds with no action or dialogue. Many forget that film is a visual medium, and so much can be achieved with a single striking image. A brooding Bruce Wayne has nothing else in his life. An early version of the sequel script continued his relationship with Vicki Vale and even ended with their engagement. Burton wanted no part of that subplot, or a proposed Robin introduction(Marlon Wayans, anyone?). I'd like to thank him.
"Returns" doesn't make you wait long to see the sleek, sexy Batmobile, as our hero effortlessly mows down circus freaks. Bob Ringwood's modified Bat-suit allowed for more flexibilty, and it's easy to see why it's pictured in nearly every article relating to Michael Keaton's Batman. Selina Kyle has a bit of a dark side, as she's clearly turned on by his thug-bashing. It's safe to say the feeling is mutual. Why can't there be more lonely, gorgeous secretaries in real life?
Sorry, Nolanites, but Burton's Batman doesn't need Commissioner Gordon(Pat Hingle) that much. Movie buffs will recognize Mayor Michael Murphy from '70s classics like "Nashville", "An Unmarried Woman", and "Manhattan".
Shreck has been abducted and taken to the Penguin's chilly Arctic World lair. Danny DeVito is absolutely bonkers in the best way. Burton wasn't interested in the generally-accepted 'gentleman-of-crime' version of the character, and opted for something a lot more insane, with screenwriters Daniel Waters("Heathers") and Wesley Strick("Cape Fear"). In the months after the first film's release, many big names were tossed around as potential Penguins- Dustin Hoffman, Marlon Brando, John Candy, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd. I can't imagine anyone attacking the role with more animalistic vigor than DeVito. The "Twins" star had to have known that this was his best role since Louie De Palma on his critically-adored sitcom "Taxi", and brought an equal amount of crazed energy to it.
A downtrodden Selina returns to her depressing pink apartment. We can assume she's in her early thirties and moved to Gotham from some safe suburb. Bob Kane was inspired by Jean Harlow and Heddy Lamarr when he conceived of Catwoman in 1940, an eternally-conflicted vixen in a never-ending love-hate relationship with Batman. Julie Newmar was primarily responsible for the character's explosive rebirth in 1966, after a twelve-year absence spurred on by a moral panic over sexuality in comics. Michelle had this performance in mind when she pursued the role in early 1991, beating out Cher, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, and Demi Moore.
Shreck has plans for a shady power plant AND an unholy alliance with the Penguin, which empowers him to "murder" his meaningless executive assistant over some late-night office snooping(did Max hire the mob to cut up his old partner Fred Atkins on the Anton Furst-side of the city? This movie is dark). We get more horror vibes as mystical alley cats impart a half-dead Selina with powers that would make Peter Parker put away his spandex. This idea was explored, with much less success, in Halle Berry's 2004 "Catwoman" movie.
Burton says on the DVD commentary that he didn't really direct Michelle's operatic meltdown, he just turned the camera on and gave her permission to obliterate all the cute crap that's kept Kyle in a repressed, good-girl mindset. It's another reason to love this rendition. Selina's transformation is a mini-movie, that pushes Pfeiffer's total screentime to 33 minutes(more than Keaton and DeVito, according to IMDB), furthering the commonly-held belief that she's the real star of "Returns".
The Penguin pretends to save the Mayor's baby and passes himself off as a benevolent figure for the gullible masses. Burton only had one mandate from the studio when he agreed to guide the sequel in 1990- the bitter birdman had to be the main villain. Four-time Oscar winner Stan Winston and his make-up/FX team were recruited to reimagine The Penguin, based on Burton's drawings and propensity for Scissorhands-style outsiders. Their work earned one of the film's two nominations(the other was for Visual Effects).
Did I mention that Batman is in this movie? As quietly awesome as he is, there was no way Keaton wasn't getting overshadowed. One of the interesting things about the mythology that Bob Kane and Bill Finger created is how Bruce's crime-fighting mission is a double-edged sword. The Caped Crusader inadvertently inspires a lot of the madness that makes his heroic presence even more important than when he started. The Penguin is hellbent on picking up where the Joker left off(DeVito's friendship with Jack Nicholson gave him an edge in securing the role).
Nine years after Elvira Hancock came down a glass elevator, Pfeiffer scorches up the screen as the craziest cat-lady in history. It's always been very clear to me why Bruno Mars and Vance Joy wrote those lyrics. Mary Vogt's shiny, stitched-up S&M-inspired Cat-suit is a thing of beauty. How were her and Ringwood NOT nominated?("Bram Stoker's Dracula" won that year). Catwoman claws up a mugger, and announces her intention to avenge the fairer sex. Her response to Gotham's cold cruelty is a dominatrix get-up and an equal amount of cruelty. Selina is justified in her actions, and the dichotomy is compelling.
Bruce Wayne turns down a business partnership with Shreck, and shares his serious reservations about Gotham's new golden boy. Selina slinks back into the boardroom, very much alive, with wild-woman hair to illustrate her new self-confidence. Bruce is already in love. What happened to Ricky Friedberg? Doesn't matter. I vividly remember how excited I was when I landed a VHS copy of this movie, just as it's initial HBO/Cinemax cycle was coming to an end(thanks, Mom). It was a simpler life.
Just when you thought the Penguin couldn't get any more disgusting, he devours a raw fish, enters politics, and bites a guy's nose. In the same scene. What a wild fucking movie. Underrated SNL star Jan Hooks makes the most of her minute onscreen, as she did at the basement-less Alamo in 1985. The mayor subplot is lifted directly from the '60s TV show, in which Burgess Meredith so memorably appeared as one of the big-four villains. Can Cobblepot clean himself up, depose the mayor, and make Max an even bigger megalomaniac? Doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.
Batman battles more circus freaks in a frenzied bit of fight choreography. I'll bet an unseen Lucius Fox came up with that computerized Batarang. Rick Zumhalt, of "Over the Top" fame, is the most physically imposing member of the Red Triangle gang. That is until the Caped Crusader makes clever use of some explosives. No-kill rule, you say? Not in 1992.
Legend has it that Pfeiffer whipped the heads off those mannequins in one take, with help from Indiana Jones' whip trainer. Six months of yoga, karate, and weight training had her well prepared for, dare I say, the most iconic female film character of the 1990s.
The chemistry between Keaton and Pfeiffer is off the charts in these priceless exchanges, and really has yet to be equaled, despite the talented tandems of Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway and Rob Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz. It's the closest thing to a comic book come to life, with Burton unbothered by pretensions of realism. Batman is instantly intrigued and smitten by the feline force of nature that just blew up Shreck's department store, the first "bad guy" that he doesn't want to beat senseless. Is she friend or foe? Is she seeing anyone?? This movie is a blast.
Just the pussy we've ALL been looking for! Catwoman wants 'in' on the Penguin's plot to destroy Batman. There's no need to explain how she knows Cobblepot's true nature, or how the Red Triangle gang has Batmobile blueprints. We're in a full-on fantasy world here. Oswald has been planning his revenge on the city for years, and this mayor stuff is just a temporary distraction. Michelle was feeling the role so much at this point, she put that live bird in her mouth, without any goading from Burton, who went on to call this one of the best performances in any of his movies. Emma Thompson, please return your Best Actress Oscar for "Howard's End", so we can present it to the real winner(Pfeiffer was nominated that year for the little-known indie drama "Love Field").
This is turning into a love letter to Michelle Pfeiffer. My internet research says that she actually dated Keaton at one point. Did the "Clean and Sober" star score before she was permanently taked off the market by David E. Kelly? I hope Fisher Stevens wasn't hanging around the set. Either way, they clearly clicked onscreen. Wayne Manor is lushly lit by cinematographer Stefan Czapsky, whose steely blue aesthetic also enhanced the film's subterranean settings.
The Penguin kidnaps and kills The Ice Princess and frames the one man that can stop his hostile takeover of the city. "Batman: The Animated Series" launched in September '92, and is rightly revered for it's dark visuals, mature tone, and the voice work of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Let's not forget that the popularity of Burton's films made it possible.
You may recognize the Fat Clown(Travis McKenna) that doesn't want to kill sleeping children, from 1989's "Road House". The Thin Clown had a more substantial career than you think. Doug Jones was an unsung talent for decades, until his Amphibian Man brought recognition in Guillermo del Toro's 2017 Best Picture winner "The Shape of Water".
There's no sexuality in superhero movies anymore. None. Even the best ones are afraid to go there. That's one reason it isn't always easy to sit through a 140-minutes of Marvel when you're over age 40. "Batman Returns" doesn't have that problem. From the Penguin's perverse longings to practically every minute Pfeiffer is on-screen, we're reminded of that most basic human need. Don't forget that this is the same year that "Basic Instinct" made $353 million worldwide. Catwoman had no other choice but to ooze sex appeal. What is Hollywood so afraid of now? Serious question.
After "killing" Catwoman for rejecting his proposal of a long-term partnership, the Penguin takes over the Batmobile. This is an ace set-piece that makes excellent use of Julian Caldow's classic design. Crashed cars, and a little old lady are among the terrified Gothamites that went out on the wrong night. "Top Gun" editor Chris Lebenzon has worked with Burton fourteen times. This was their first collaboration.
We haven't talked about Michael Gough yet. The 74 year old British character actor had a gentle, understated demeanor and gets a little more to do here than he did in the original(vichyssoise is supposed to be cold). Alfred makes up for letting Vicki Vale into the Bat-Cave by helping expose Cobblepot for the ghastly grotesque that he is. I hope Colin Farrell is ready to step it up, because DeVito's in-your-face intensity is akin to what Heath Ledger did in 2007 and is proof that the Razzies are bullshit. The Penguin drops the pretension and lays out his horrific plans as we're hurled into the third act. He's not a human being. He's an animal.
Pfeiffer gets glammed up for the Maxquerade Ball, and a slow dance with Bruce where secrets are unknowingly revealed under a mistletoe. English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees contributed a haunting track("Face to Face") that is more stylistically in-sync with Burton than any Prince song. Why can't these two tortured souls sneak off to that comfy California King over in Bedding? I think we'd all watch that movie.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but no actor will ever don the big prosthetic nose with as much maniacal glee as DeVito. The Penguin crashes the elitist party with a well-placed bomb and a big Duck vehicle and dispatches his circus troops to round up Gotham's first-born sons. That includes Chip Schreck(Andrew Bryniarski), but he'll settle for Max who pleads to take his place(everybody loves somebody).
Oh, and he's sending his penguin army to blow up half the city with rockets on Christmas. Some comic book movies struggle to come up with a compelling villainous master plan. Cobblepot has got that covered. Despite a misbehaving monkey(Danny has recalled that humorous on-set anecdote a few times), DeVito says he'll never turn down an opportunity to work with Tim. As of this writing, they've done three other films together- "Mars Attacks!", "Big Fish", and "Dumbo".
As we all know, this is the only time Michael Keaton played Batman in the '90s. We can only imagine his war with Robin Williams' Riddler, one of the great what-ifs in movie history. His refusal to go along with Joel Schumacher's plans(or WB's, in fairness to the late "Lost Boys" director), resulted in his highly-publicized exit from Gotham City in 1994. You have to admire the artistic integrity it took to turn down a huge payday($15 million was the rumor) and guaranteed hype to take a chance on a series of films that were often much less financially successful. After a fifteen year career downturn, a resurgent Keaton had the last laugh with two Best Picture winners("Birdman" and "Spotlight") and a loyal, loving fanbase with only positive memories of his Dark Knight. That goodwill got him in "The Flash" in 2023.
The Bat-boat crashes the Arctic World lair for a final showdown with a desperate Penguin. A genuine freak with weaponized umbrellas is no match for Batman's arsenal and ingenuity. Cobblepot crashes through a window and falls 40 feet into the giant pool below, while his rockets are misdirected in spectacular fashion. Burton put that $80 million budget up on screen back when they actually blew shit up for real.
Selina won't let a tattered Cat-suit stand in the way of her righteous revenge. This finale is dramatic, and personal, and brilliantly performed by Pfeiffer. Bruce rips off his mask to reveal the face of Gotham's billionaire bachelor. His subtle suggestion that they could have a future together is powerful stuff. Is he ready to give up the cape and cowl? Well, Clark Kent briefly became human for Lois Lane in "Superman II". You see what love will do to you? Selina chooses vengeance over the fairy-tale ending that Vicki Vale got teased with. Shreck puts four bullets in her lithe body with the Fat Clown's revolver. Catwoman uses her remaining strength to electrocute her diabolical boss with the stun-gun(cleverly forshadowed at the 17 minute mark) that represents her former victimhood.
The Penguin breathes his last breath, with disgusting black bile coming out of his mouth, to ensure that Burton doesn't get the keys to the Batmobile ever again. This is a creepy moment that older kids and adults loved. Parents' groups and Warner's top brass just didn't understand. And fuck McDonald's too. I give Burger King my business. The controversy over the film's content went down in July, as "Lethal Weapon 3" made more money for WB worldwide. McDonald's shifted it's marketing tie-ins to a celebration of Batman in general, and not necessarily the salacious, polarizing freak-show that an unapologetic Burton presided over. "Kids were crying. People were acting like they've been punched in the stomach", Daniel Waters fondly recalls of the first reaction.
Somehow, Bruce is even more depressed than he was at the beginning. The Penguin is in a watery grave, but his soul mate Selina is gone. Or is she? It would be a huge missed opportunity if Pfeiffer never found herself back in the DC Universe. She's the hottest sixty-something year old woman on the planet Earth, and has seemingly been prepped for it with her role in the "Ant-Man" films. This final shot was literally added at the last minute(late May) without Michelle, in anticipation of the public's enthusiasm for the character. In a world where Scarlett Johansson played Black Widow eight times, I can see younger viewers being confused by the fact that she only cracked the whip in one movie(sigh).
This poster adorned my bedroom wall from 1992 to 1997. I took a break from the world of Gotham City when Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy joined forces, but this has always been a special movie for me. My respect for it has only grown with rewatches for the 30th anniversary which inspired this article, and Google searches reveals that I'm not alone. Tim Burton banned Jon Peters from the set and created something truly special. It's a miracle that this movie got made with minimal oversight, with all the connectivity, crazy planning, and note-sharing we're used to now. It's 126 minutes of pure magic, and I include the end credits in that. We're a decade removed from the earth-shattering "Dark Knight" trilogy, and I dare say that the Bat, the Cat, and the Penguin are just as respected and rewatchable today. Maybe more. "Batman Returns" is one of the world's greatest films.
