Oeuvre: Tim Burton - Batman Returns

After the monster smash that was BATMAN, Warner Bros was willing to do anything to get Burton back at the helm but Burton had moved on.  The tradeoff: he could do whatever he wanted with this one.  So how does one of Hollywood's most visually inventive directors follow up one of the most financially successful films of all time with a massive budget and free reign?  He makes one of the most unique super hero films of all time.  He makes BATMAN RETURNS.

The plot is all over the map, as though Burton and his screenwriters got bored every 15 pages and decided to go a completely different direction.  So here we go...

It's Christmas time and a corrupt businessman named Max Shreck has bribed all of the politicians to look the other way as his new power plant drains Gotham of all its energy.  Meanwhile, living in the sewers under the streets, is a deformed man named Oswald Cobblepot.  Abandoned and left for dead by his parents, Cobblepot was saved by either the Circus or an abandoned zoo, its never clear which.  Cobblepot blackmails Shreck for control and the two concoct a plan to elect the hideous Penguin Mayor of Gotham City.  At the same time, Shreck's shy but intelligent secretary, Selina Kyle discovers Schrek's fiendish plot and he throws her out a window.  She lives and decides she's had enough of men pushing her around.  She returns from the dead to seek revenge on all mankind as the vicious Catwoman.  Oh, and Batman's in it.

Narratively, it's a mess.  The stories work independently and there are no plot points that I would call "bad" but as a collective whole, the story simply doesn't work.  There is also a subplot about the Penguin deciding to kill all of Gotham's first born sons.  Then all children in general.  And an attempt to turn the Batmobile into a bomb.  And Wayne Corp deciding whether or not to do business with Shreck.  And a duel relationship between Batman and Catwoman/Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.  It's bananas.

Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne and Batman and he makes a strong argument for being the best Batman ever to grace the silver screen.  He is quiet, understated, and still trying to come to grips with how to be Batman and live a normal life.

One of the most common complaints about this movie is that there are too many villains.  The problem isn't the number but that their stories lack focus.  The Dark Knight Rises had the same problem, but at least the villains in Returns are interesting.  As the Penguin, we have Danny DeVito in the role he was born to play.  Correction: he was born to play Burton's Penguin.  He's gross.  He's violent.  He's frightening.  He's perverted.  He's hilarious.

The role of Catwoman was coveted by virtually every woman in town.  Legend has it, Sean Young dressed up in a cat suit and walked through the Warner Bros lot before barging into the Producer's office and declaring, "meow! I am Catwoman!"  The role eventually went to Michelle Pfeiffer and I don't care what any of the Nolan Fans say, Pfeiffer has yet to be beaten as Catwoman.  She plays both parts as extreme as possible and it works.  Her character carries an understandable grudge against all the men who have held women down for far too long (more on that later).  Her suit, which she had to be vacuumed into before every take, is a thing of genius, making her look like the Bride of Frankenstein had an S&M fetish.  Like everything else in this movie, she is far removed from the source material, but what is on screen is memorable and iconic.  Her performance single-handedly thrust countless boys into puberty.  Too much information?  Probably.

All of the villains are interesting creations, except for Shreck played by Christopher Walken.  Does anyone ever believe him as a human being?  I don't know if Shreck was a part of the comics (although Max Shreck is the name of the actor who played Nosferatu years ago so I'm guessing no), but he only works as a stitch in this movie.  He ties the villains together and while the film gets some of its best satirical pot shots at his expense, he only adds to the bloated feeling throughout.

So why do I like this movie?

Well, despite its loopy, convoluted story, I just can't ignore what a unique film this turned out to be.  It exists in a strange spectrum.  Only a studio's desperation to keep Burton happy and a director determined to not just repeat himself could have lead to a film with this tone. There is a dark spine in this movie, as crooked as it may be.  It's a spine with child murder and perverted sexual politics.  Its comic book origins are firmly in place when the Penguin ascends into a One Percenter Christmas party in a giant Rubber Duckie and when a band of deranged Circus performers attempt to abduct all the first born children of Gotham's elite, but it also contains banter about overpaid security guards and fillings of voids, if ya know what I mean.

Then there is the discussion of women's rights as everyone but Bruce Wayne view women as sexual objects.  Shreck openly debases the obviously intelligent Selina but tells his fellow board members, "she does make a hell of a cup of coffee."  Even as the Penguin's control of Gotham tightens, he can't help but look at his admirers with the lust of a man who has never been touched and practically calls Catwoman a cock tease.  Meanwhile, Catwoman herself is fed up, not just of all the men in her life, but with women who act as damsels in distress.  Its refreshing to see a character confront these concepts so aggressively and unapologetically.  As Batman punches her in the face she cries, "how could you? I'm a woman!" As Batman tries to help her up, apologizing, she kicks the legs out from under him, stating, "as I was saying, I'm a woman and can't be taken for granted."  Hear me roar, indeed.

McDonalds famously cancelled their toy deal with Warner Bros after parents complained about the film's content.  Its a one of a kind film that can have armies of marching penguins that is "too dark" for the kiddies.

After Batman Returns, Warner Bros decided they'd had enough of this director and his quirky visions.  They decided to go considerably brighter and hire Joel Schumacher to direct the next film.  While I enjoy Batman Forever for what it is, we all know what Batman and Robin turned out to be.  After the campy Batman fizzled and died, Nolan stepped in with his considerably more grounded Dark Knight Trilogy.  Even though I despise the last film of the series, I adore the first two. Those films simply do not happen if Batman doesn't crash and burn with Batman and Robin and those films don't happen if Burton doesn't scar children with his perverse super hero film.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, we have to be thankful for Batman Returns, but not just for what it gave us in the future.  I genuinely like it.