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Batman Returns is a 1992 film based on the Batman character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Tim Burton directed the film, which has Michael Keaton reprising the role of Batman, as well as Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken. The film's plot primarily concerns Bruce Wayne/Batman struggling to maintain order in Gotham City after the appearance of the villainous Penguin (DeVito) and the mysterious, equally deadly Catwoman (Pfeiffer).
Burton originally did not want to return for a second installment due to his mixed emotions from the original film. After being impressed with a script by Daniel Waters, he thought otherwise. Wesley Strick would later be brought on for an uncredited rewrite, deleting characterizations of Robin and Harvey Dent (both of whom would ultimately appear in Batman Forever).
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Quotations
(Talking to Max).
Tragic irony or Poetic Justice. You tell me Max.
(after a failed attempt to kill Batman) He didn't even lose a limb, an eyeball... bladder control!
(last words in the film) Merry Christmas, Alfred. Good will towards men... and women.
(seeing Catwoman) Just the pussy I've been looking for.
(to Catwoman) You're beauty and the beast in one lucious christmas gift pack.
(When the Batmobile doesn't compact like it should) Alright, now I'm a little worried.
Encyclopedia
Batman Returns is a 1992 film based on the Batman character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Tim Burton directed the film, which has Michael Keaton reprising the role of Batman, as well as Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken. The film's plot primarily concerns Bruce Wayne/Batman struggling to maintain order in Gotham City after the appearance of the villainous Penguin (DeVito) and the mysterious, equally deadly Catwoman (Pfeiffer).
Burton originally did not want to return for a second installment due to his mixed emotions from the original film. After being impressed with a script by Daniel Waters, he thought otherwise. Wesley Strick would later be brought on for an uncredited rewrite, deleting characterizations of Robin and Harvey Dent (both of whom would ultimately appear in Batman Forever). The film was entirely shot at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California (the first film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England), with Danny Elfman returning to compose the film score, citing it as a stressful experience, but still overall positive. Batman Returns was both a commercial and critical success, but did spawn controversies (being seen as "too dark" for younger children). Comic book veterans would express mixed thoughts and reviews. The film would also receive nominations at the Academy Awards, MTV Movie Awards and the Razzie Awards.
PlotAround Christmas time in Gotham City, the aristocratic Cobblepots give birth to a baby boy. Because the child is deformed, they lock him in a box, where he shows his first sign of homicidal tendencies when he kills the family cat. They drop their deformed infant baby in the sewers, abandoning him because of his ridiculous look.
Thirty-three years later, it is Christmas time again as the city is being run by the Mayor, who deals with the ambitious but ruthless business tycoon, Max Shreck. Gotham comes under attack by the "Red Triangle Circus Gang" in a recent ceremony, although the heist is disrupted by the crime-fighting Batman. Shreck's timid secretary, Selina Kyle, is caught in the fray, but is soon saved by Batman, after which she steals a stun gun from one of the gang members. Shreck is kidnapped by the Red Triangles and is brought to their leader, a short, deformed man known as "The Penguin." Penguin blackmails Shreck with incriminating evidence of his more dubious activities, prompting Shreck to agree to help Penguin run for Mayor of Gotham.
Shreck arranges for the Penguin to "rescue" the mayor's infant child from his own gang members. The plan works, and Penguin becomes a hero to all except a suspicious Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter ego). After finding out his original birthname of Oswald Cobblepot, (as well as many other names, which are for unknown purposes) Penguin eventually wins the approval of citizens of Gotham and intends to run for Mayor. Shreck, however, is soon troubled by Selina's discovery of a dark secret behind his new power plant. Shreck tries to murder her by pushing her out of a skyscraper, but Selina miraculously survives the attempt, and is revived on the ground by a group of cats. However, the incident leaves Selina mentally unstable and she develops multiple personality syndrome. Dazed, Selina goes back to her apartment, shakily going through the motions of her old personality. However, upon hearing an answering phone advert from her old employees (the words "Exclusively at Shreck's Department Stores" are the trigger), she goes berserk. She destroys her apartment and then crafts a homemade black vinyl costume disguise, becoming a vigilante figure named "Catwoman." Carrying a whip as her weapon of defense, she destroys Shreck's department store and battles with Batman on a rooftop, losing the second of her nine lives in the process. As a more assertive Selina, she then forms a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne (each unaware of the other's alter-ego), while as Catwoman she allies herself with Penguin in order to get back at Batman for trying to kill her.
When the subsequent plan is put into action, Batman is framed for kidnapping and murder and finds himself trapped in the Batmobile under Penguin's control. Catwoman and Penguin's alliance falls apart when she rebuffs a sexual advance from him, and Penguin tries to kill Catwoman himself. However, she once again miraculously survives the attempt, counting as her third of nine lives. The Penguin's campaign to oust the current mayor is quickly destroyed when Bruce Wayne plays selected comments he made insulting the people of Gotham while controlling the Batmobile at one of Penguin's speeches, the most prominent phrase being, "You've got to admit, I played this stinking city like a harp from hell!" The people of Gotham get angry, forcing Penguin to defend himself with his gun umbrella. The police chase after him, but Penguin flees into the sewers, and reveals his original plan: to kidnap and kill the firstborn sons of Gotham's most prominent families in revenge (comparable to King Herod in the Bible).
Bruce meets Selina at a ball hosted by Shreck, where she reveals to him her intentions to kill Shreck. While dancing, the two subsequently discover the other's secret identity, but before they can leave to discuss this development, Penguin storms the hall with a shout of "You didn't invite me, so I crashed!" and tries to take Max's beloved son, Chip. Max successfully pleads with Penguin to take him instead. Batman attacks Penguin's Red Triangle Circus goons and puts a stop to the kidnappings. Penguin then dispatches an army of rocket-armed Penguins to bomb all of Gotham. Batman manages to jam the birds' control signals and turn them around so that they attack Penguin's base instead, apparently killing the Penguin and what is left of his gang inside.
Batman then discovers that Catwoman intends to kill Shreck inside Penguin's base. Shreck tries to bribe Batman, but Batman simply ignores him, and tries to talk Catwoman out of her planned murder. He promises they could live happily together, but Catwoman refuses to listen, and scratches him on the cheek with her claws. During this argument, Shreck draws a gun he took from a Red Triangle clown and fires it at Batman. Catwoman then starts to approach Shreck, who shoots her four times, knocking off four more lives, leaving Catwoman alive but wounded. Catwoman then exacts her revenge of Shreck by inserting the stolen stun gun into her mouth, activating the spark, and pressing her lips to Shreck's, while also ripping a cable out of Penguin's electrical generator with her free hand, sending the electricity everywhere. A huge explosion follows, and as the smoke clears away, Batman finds the charred corpse of Shreck. However, Selina/Catwoman is nowhere to be found. So preoccupied with finding her, he doesn't notice a gravely injured Penguin emerging from the water, ready to kill him. Ultimately though, he collapses from his wounds and dies, and six large Emperor Penguins emerge from the shadows and pull his body back into the water which becomes his grave.
Some time later, Bruce is driving around the city at night with his butler Alfred, when he thinks he sees Selina's shadow on a wall. Alfred stops the car and Bruce searches for Selina in vain. He does find Selina's cat, however, which he takes with him and leaves. The camera then pans up to the top of the city, amidst the sky scrapers. As the Bat-Signal lights up the night sky, we see the back of a dark shadowy figure that looks exactly like the presumed-dead Catwoman, which insinuates that the explosion simply knocked off one of her two remaining lives.
Cast
- Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman: Continuing his quest as Gotham City's sole protector, in his wake he meets Selina Kyle, and clashes with newly anti-heroine Catwoman. His situation becomes complicated due to the arrival of a mysterious "Penguin-like Man" spotted throughout Gotham.
- Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin: Abandoned at birth due to his hideous appearance by his aristocratic parents, he spends his life living in the sewers of Gotham City. He eventually rises and thickens a plot to take over Gotham as its new Mayor. However, his real intentions are to dispose of every first born son in Gotham City out of vengeance against his parents for abandoning him as child.
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle / Catwoman: Former quiet and shy secretary for Max Shreck, she transforms into Catwoman after an attempt on her life. From then on, she becomes a romantic interest for Bruce Wayne and a deadly adversary for Batman.
- Christopher Walken as Max Shreck: A powerful business mogul who serves as the boss of Selina Kyle and unusual ally to the Penguin.
- Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne's faithful butler.
- Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon: The police commissioner of Gotham City.
- Michael Murphy as The Mayor: The Mayor of Gotham City, who is being interrupted by the election of Oswald Cobblepot.
- Vincent Schiavelli as The Organ Grinder: One of Penguin's many strange assistants.
- Anna Katarina as The Poodle Lady: One of Penguin's many strange assistants.
- Andrew Bryniarski as Charles "Chip" Shreck: The son of Max Shreck.
Keaton was not signed for a second installment and only returned after a significant raise in his salary. DeVito was the first and only choice for the Penguin, and writer Daniel Waters claimed he wrote the character with DeVito in mind. According to producer Denise Di Novi, every single actress in Hollywood between the ages of 25 and 42 desperately wanted the role of Catwoman. Among them included Raquel Welch, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lena Olin, Ellen Barkin, Cher, Bridget Fonda and Susan Sarandon. Annette Bening was originally cast in the role after Burton was impressed with her performance in The Grifters. She would eventually drop out during pre-production upon finding out she was pregnant with Warren Beatty's child. Burton felt that Pfeiffer "was the one and only other obvious choice for the role." However, Sean Young, who was originally cast as Vicki Vale in the first film before she became injured, believed the role should have gone to her. She often visited the Warner Brothers offices and studio often dressed up in a homemade costume demanding an audition. She then visited The Joan Rivers Show dressed in the outfit stating that the situation was "unfair Hollywood." Pfeiffer joined the film with a signing fee of $3 million ($2 million more than Bening's original salary), and also taking a percentage of the box office gross, while taking kickboxing lessons.
ReceptionBatman Returns opened in the United States on June 19, 1992 and surpassed its predecessor's record for the most successful three-day opening in history, with receipts totaling $47.7 million; it would eventually gross $266 million worldwide, $145 million less than the original. Even though the film was considered by many to be "too dark," Burton thinks otherwise, feeling that Batman was far darker than Batman Returns. To this day, he favors Batman Returns between the two.
Batman Returns is currently the fourth highest grossing Batman film to date (when not adjusted for inflation) and was also the third highest grossing film of 1992 (behind Aladdin and ). Based on 42 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Batman Returns received an average 81% overall approval rating (the sixth highest for any Batman film, behind Batman Begins (84%), The Dark Knight (95%) and the animated films (86%), (87%), and (89%)); the film received a 57% with the seven critics in Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop."
Those who supported the film were largely enthusiastic. Phillip Thomas of Empire was highly effecting stating, "Burton continues to capture the essence of the Batman legend and more importantly his audiences imagination." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone supported the main themes that included the story, characters, and visual citing that "Burton uses the summer's most explosively entertaining movie to lead us back into the liberating darkness of dreams." Todd McCarthy of Variety went further, feeling "Where Burton's ideas end and those of his collaborators begin is impossible to know, but result is a seamless, utterly consistent universe full of nasty notions about societal deterioration, greed and other base impulses."
Batman Returns, however, was met with negative feedback as well, due to its controversial elements. Roger Ebert commented that it was "odd and sad, but not exhilarating", feeling that it "didn't spring into the free world." Rita Kempley of the Washington Post stated, "like a hyperactive 11-year-old, the director [Burton] seems both uncomfortable with adult emotions and unable to focus on the overall portrait."
Comic book veteran Matt Wagner felt it was strong on atmosphere but felt Burton was more interested in the villains and that he was a terrible action director. He openly stated, "Batman Returns is often credited as being a better film [than Batman] but I fucking hated how it made Batman little more than just another costumed creep, little better than the villains he’s pursuing."
Paul Dini was impressed with the characterization of Bruce Wayne, while other comic book enthusiasts thought otherwise. One criticism was that the script lacked any character development for Batman, and instead focused on the villains. In response to this, writer Daniel Waters claimed he originally had an excessive amount of screen time and dialogue for Michael Keaton, though claimed it was personally Keaton's idea to delete objectionable material. Having Batman killing criminals also caused some controversy among comic book fans; they argued that in the comics Batman refrains from killing, fearing he may himself become a criminal. Waters stated "you can't drop bad guys on a spider-web in front of city hall (when referring to Spider-Man)."Other comic book fans noted that in the early issues of the comics Batman shot several men.
Bruce Timm was impressed with Michelle Pfeiffer's performance while Alex Ross was embarrassed to have liked Christopher Walken in a role that was created specifically for the film. Critics of Tim Burton's work have constantly pointed to what they term his inability to tell a coherent story, and with Batman Returns, he was again accused of sacrificing the narrative for the sake of the visuals, or simply style over substance. In defense Burton stated, "it's just how my brain works."
Batman Returns was nominated for two Academy Awards, although it won neither. It lost "Best Visual Effects" to Death Becomes Her and "Best Makeup" to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Pfeiffer was nominated for "Most Desirable Female" at the MTV Movie Awards, but lost to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Both Keaton and Pfeiffer were nominated for "Best Kiss" but lost out to Marisa Tomei and Christian Slater in Untamed Heart. Danny DeVito would be nominated for "Best Villain" though he ended up losing to Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female. DeVito was once again nominated for "Worst Supporting Actor" in the Razzie Awards before losing to Tom Selleck in .
Batman Returns was also famous for being very dark and violent. McDonalds decided to cancel the deal to make toys from the movie in their HappyMeals item do to the maturity of the film (i.e. Catwoman claws a tic-tac-toe pattern on a thugs face in her first scene).
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