Batman Returns (1992) ****1/2

Ah, Batman Returns (1992), my favorite Batman film, my favorite super hero film, one of my top 3 Tim Burton films, one of my Top 100 Films, and, if you want to make the argument—as people love to with Die Hard (1988) (review)—is one of the best Christmas movies.

Burton made a smash hit with Batman (review) in 1989. Rather than coast on that success with a similar sequel he insisted on being able to make a "Tim Burton movie". And he went gonzo. He made an operatic, over the top, comic book come to life. Let's get this out the way now—when it comes to this film, I'm not concerned with accuracy or canon or realism. It's a damn good, entertaining, thoughtful film and my kind of comic book movie.

Is Batman Returns a dark, psychosexual tragedy of Shakespearean proportions? You bet your ass—and all the better for it. Is there too little of Batman himself in the film? Perhaps, but in place of more Bats we get not one, not two, but three villains! Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer deservedly and jointly steal the show as The Penguin and Catwoman, respectively, but Christopher Walken's greedy one percenter Max Shreck (cleverly named after the actor who portrayed Count Orlok in F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (review) 70 years prior) is the kind of real world scoundrel that is truly scary. Walken has many memorable moments, as he attempts to mold The Penguin to serve his own evil means and is essentially responsible for creating Catwoman.

Speaking of, it's easy to see why Bruce Wayne is drawn to Selina Kyle—she's bold and autonomous in a way that Vicki Vale (from the 1989 film) wasn't. Kim Basinger did her best with that more traditional “female love interest” role, but you'd never see Selina simply screaming and getting captured. No, she dominates. No longer the meek, subservient secretary, once Kyle becomes her villainous self (appropriately "resurrected" via stray felines), Pfeiffer uses both her gorgeous physicality and her exceptional acting chops to create what is for many the definitive screen version of Catwoman. In 1992, she was an instant sex symbol.

In this regard, the film really pushes the limits of its PG-13 rating—not with violence or language, but with insinuation, and also with its darkness—let's not forget that The Penguin plots to kill the first born children of Gotham! As that foul, sex-obsessed, deranged and disfigured baddie, DeVito chews the scenery so thickly, you'd think it was a raw, freshly-caught fish. The wonderfully grotesque Lon Chaneyesque (a la 1927’s London After Midnight) makeup (created by the brilliant Stan Winston) that he wears only enhances his brilliant, melodramatic performance as the sewer-dwelling man-bird dead set on revenge against the city that abandoned him. And that delicious dialogue! You can tell DeVito and Pfeiffer were having a blast delivering double entendres galore and attempting to one up each other with aplomb.

Have I mentioned the stunning cinematography, the exquisite costumes, and the spectacular production design? Burton's mix of gothic, Art Deco, and German expressionist cinema makes for an absolutely stunning Gotham. In this regard, the look of Batman Returns tops its predecessor in every way. As well, Danny Elfman delivered another excellent score, at a point in his career where he was still writing music that stood out—scores that were big, brassy and heightened the drama rather than serving as easily forgettable wallpaper.

Batman Returns found an auteur given the reigns to direct a tale of freaks, politics, power, and gender roles disguised as blockbuster entertainment in a way that no one (including Burton himself) had before, and there hasn't been a super hero film like it since.

Tim Burton Feature Films Ranked