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- 1992
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 6 m
- 1992
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 6 m
Summary In the second of the blockbuster Batman films, the legendary hero does battle against the mysterious Cat Woman and the diabolical Penguin. Gotham City faces two monstrous criminal menaces: the bizarre, sinister Penguin (Danny DeVito) and the slinky, mysterious Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Can Batman (Michael Keaton) battle two formidabl...
Directed By: Tim Burton
Written By: Bob Kane, Daniel Waters, Sam Hamm
- 1992
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 6 m
- 1992
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 6 m
Batman Returns
68
8.1
Where to Watch
Summary In the second of the blockbuster Batman films, the legendary hero does battle against the mysterious Cat Woman and the diabolical Penguin. Gotham City faces two monstrous criminal menaces: the bizarre, sinister Penguin (Danny DeVito) and the slinky, mysterious Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Can Batman (Michael Keaton) battle two formidabl...
Directed By: Tim Burton
Written By: Bob Kane, Daniel Waters, Sam Hamm
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
68
74% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
68
74% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Batman Returns could mark a happy beginning for Hollywood -- not because it might make a mint but because it dispenses with realism and aspires to animation, to the freedom of idea and image found in the best feature-length cartoons.
Burton continues to capture the essence of the Batman legend and more importantly his audiences imagination.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 595 User Ratings
8.1
85% Positive
506 Ratings
506 Ratings
10% Mixed
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
5% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 595 User Ratings
8.1
85% Positive
506 Ratings
506 Ratings
10% Mixed
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
5% Negative
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
When you combine Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with Hammer Horror and add psychologically intense characters you get Batman Returns. For some people it works, for some it doesn't, and that's okay, not all of us should like the same things, it is certainly a bold vision of Batman. I know most fans would have preferred if Burton just repeated the first movie, but that would've been uncreative and boring. He changed the Penguin? So what, there wasn't much to his comic counterpart at the time, anyway, if anything, Burton gave a one dimensional character depth. Both Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer are amazing in their roles and Michael Keaton is perfect as the brooding Bruce Wayne, a great contrast to the larger than life villains.
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The best Batman movie, in my honest opinion. I'll make this short. As previous reviews already stated, it was a time when some directors were given free reign to do whatever they wanted on a big budget superhero movie, unfortunately that level of creative freedom will never be allowed again. Part fairytale, part psychological drama, packed into Tim Burton's gothic weirdness and certain people hate it for that. The three villains represent the distorted facets of Bruce Wayne: Catwoman = vigilante, Penguin = orphan, Max Shreck = businessman, Burton never beats you over the head with heavy handed dialogue, he never spoon feeds the audience about the themes, you just need to watch and make your own observations. So whenever I read or watch someone claim that Batman Returns is "style over substance", I know they're the type of people who love everything to be explained to them through dialogue i.e. copious amount of exposition. And no, it's not 2deep4u bs, all I'm saying is those who claim that there's nothing in Returns except for "Burton being Burton" clearly haven't paid attention while watching it.
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Visually, Batman Returns is marvelous to behold. There are images on that screen that make you laugh with delight and admiration for the sheer imaginativeness of it. But Burton also brings up some really interesting themes only to lose interest somewhere along the way.
This baby takes place in Tim Burton's id. It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
The ripe dialogue (''I was their No. 1 son,'' wails the Penguin about the parents who flushed their deformed baby down the sewer, ''and they treated me like No. 2!'') and rich settings decked out in deco can't disguise that little happens. The frantic action circles the same city block, as if trying to find a spot to park. [19 June 1992, p.1D]
For all the movie's richness and dazzle, for all that money dripping off the screen, Batman Returns is a gorgeous failure -- flashy, intermittently appealing but, in the end, a big mess. Batman Returns lacks a coherent story. It lacks a point of view and a focus. And so everything suffers, even the art direction. [19 June 1992, p.D1]
The film preaches the gospel of unpredictable change, of ironic metamorphosis, of a psychological ebb and flow from love to lust, hope to despair, good to evil. But if the message is fluid, the medium is static at best and chaotic at worst - there's very little controlled motion in this picture. [19 June 1992]
This is the best Batman movie and the best Comic Book movie in general. There's so much amazing stuff here to unpack, however I can only mention some highlights. Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman is the definitive version of that character in my opinion, Danny DeVito does a fantastic job as the disgusting yet hilarious Penguin, the score done by Danny Elfman is just fantastic, Michael Keaton as Batman is always great to see, and finally I love the gothic Tim Burton style this film brings. I absolutely love The Dark Knight, but for me this trumps it and is the greatest Comic Book Film of all time in my opinion.
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We got here yet another style-over-substance situation, where Batman Returns has excellent technical credits, but a rather weak narrative. The tone was all over the place, which embraces the movie's weirdness, but diminishes its enjoyability.
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"Could be worse, my nose could be gushing blood!!!" (Penguin)..... Tim Burton has made some classic films in recent years such as Batman, Edward Scissorhands and the not so classic Beetlejuice which I consider one of the most stupidest, ugly, horrible and pathetic and worst films ever made..... Director Tim Burton now brings us BATMAN RETURNS made in 1992 and is the sequel to the original Batman but there's no joker because he died in the original so we are introduced to new villains. Joker played by Jack Nicholson in 1989's original was one of the best if not the best movie villain in film history and he didn't make it easy for Batman and he was rather amusing.... 1992's BATMAN RETURNS brings us newer villains in the form of the penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) and of course Max Shreck. Michael Keaton returns as the caped crusader and Bruce Wayne from the original and some of the action scenes in the movie were actually okay. Christopher Walken's character "Max Shreck" looked like he didn't want to be there at all or looked like he walked into the wrong movie set because he looked totally out of place so his character was unnecessary and as for Catwoman played by Michelle Pfeiffer she was likeable to be honest until she fell off a building. Pushed out of a window or something and had a high fall from a building yet still alive and no fractured skull or broken bones, blood oozing out or anything and she was only human which is ridiculously unbelievable then gets bitten by cats and gets up with nothing wrong with her. Completely stupid and unrealistic but I've to admit I found Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman a turn on and very sexy especially with that whip however her scenes fighting Batman are cringeworthy and laughable because it's like Batman couldn't be bothered or let her win because she's female and her villain character was rubbish. Michael Keaton's performance was okay but not as good as his performance in the original movie and Danny DeVito was terrible because he was about as intimidating as Bugs Bunny and believable as a girl with fake tears, even Danny DeVito's death as the penguin near the end was cringeworthy and the green blood oozing from his mouth. The army of penguins in the movie was nonsense and silly and them firebreathing villains and random villains on the street were laughable and looked like they just escaped from the circus. The film for the most part feels depressing, a mess and horrible however some of the action scenes were good I must admit but besides this the film was to me a failure and one of the worst Batman films in the series. Only good part in the movie is the penguin (Danny DeVito) biting some dude's nose and blood gushing out. That's my review of Batman Returns but why did he return to make this rubbish?
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This film is a sequel to the movie "Batman" by Tim Burton. And as the first film, falls into the same sins: lack of realism (not even try it) and excessive attachment to the comic strip that gives rise to the central character. Blame it again Tim Burton, which shows little understanding of the comic-book universe and how capable he is of direct cinematic masterpieces or disasters. The film has the participation of Michael Keaton (as Batman), Danny DeVito (as Penguin) and Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman), and only DeVito could shine, incorporating a spiteful and callous Penguin, still unrivaled in cinema.
Moreover, the notes I've made for the first film applies perfectly to this also: the cinematography is so black that looks like it's always night in Gotham City, a city that, thanks to the unrealistic scenario, seems a depressed and bloodthirsty version of Orwell's Metropolis. The costumes seem's Carnival masks: Batman exaggerate in plastic polymers and Catwoman would be absolutely perfect in a hardcore and decadent version of "Fifty Shades of Grey"... Again, Burton lost an opportunity to understand that the film audience expects more realism concerning comic-book adaptations.
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Production Company
Warner Bros.,
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Release Date Jun 19, 1992
Duration 2 h 6 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline From the Sewers of Gotham, and New Villain Emerges. From the Rooftops of Gotham, the Purrrfect Enemy Comes to Life. And the Only One Who Can Save this City, is a Creature of the Night.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Nominations
Awards Circuit Community Awards
• 7 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
