With the financial and critical success of Batman 1989, it was only a matter of time before the franchise released a sequel. Production on Batman Returns began in 1990, and the film was released in June of 1992. Like its prequel, the film was directed by Tim Burton, with Michael Keaton starring as Batman. Additionally, Danny Devito starred as Oswald Cobblepot “The Penguin,” and Michelle Pfieffer starred as Selina Kyle “Catwoman.” The film ultimately sought to build on the success of its predecessor and deliver another dark, thematically correct rendition of the Dark Knight. And overall, it lived up to those expectations. In fact, it did so almost too well, but we will get to that later. This is Batman Returns.
Batman Returns was written by Daniel Waters and Sam Hamm. The plot is as follows: Business tycoon Max Shreck and the Penguin conspire to take over Gotham, and Batman is the only one who can save the city. At the same time, the Dark Knight must also deal with the enigmatic Catwoman, who has her own agenda. Batman Returns has a more complex plot than its prequel, with multiple storylines taking place at once. Batman 1989 largely focused on the Joker’s attempts to take over the city. This wasn’t necessarily a bad approach, but the sequel takes it up a notch by adding more moving pieces. The result is a story with merit that is slightly more realistic. Or as realistic as a man dressed up like a bat fighting a man who resembles a penguin can be.
Batman Returns spent two years in production, and this long production cycle is obvious in the film’s quality. Batman 1989 had previously won an award for its sets and art direction, and Batman Returns once again gives a bird’s eye (Bat’s eye?) view into the dark city of Gotham. Like in the original movie, the score is provided by Danny Elfman and excellently supplements the film. Elfman worked 12-hour days, seven days a week during production to compose the score, and his effort shows. He also co-orchestrated “Face-to-Face,” the film’s main vocal track, which was written and performed by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Presentation was vastly improved in Batman Returns. Not only was the Bat-Suit improved, giving Keaton more mobility, but there are also little to no visible wires, which were very prevalent in the last film. We get some great new costume designs in this film as well. Catwoman’s suit fits her character and is much preferable to the design in her solo film Catwoman (2004). The costume designers created more than 60 variants of her suit before the producers settled on the final version. The Penguin was brought to life through extensive prosthetic makeup designed by Stan Winston, who had previously worked with Burton on the set Edward Scissorhands. The makeup took 2 hours to apply before shooting, and it even won an award for best makeup in a film that year.
I previously mentioned that the film’s dark tone worked almost too well. This movie is rather infamous for being far darker than Warner Brothers had wanted. The abundance of sexual humor from Penguin and the violence that was deemed unsuitable for child audiences led to criticisms of the film. McDonalds even pulled their sponsorship because of some of this subject matter. In my opinion, the dark tones fit very well with the Batman mythos. Batman needed to go dark with this film to properly characterize its villains. The film portrays the Penguin as a reprehensible, disgusting creature, and his dialogue and mannerisms reflect that. I wouldn’t show this movie to kids under the age of 6, but overall, I believe the dark tones are necessary and work well for the overall story.
Across its theatrical run, Batman Returns made $266 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million. It was the third-highest-grossing movie in America in 1992 and ranked sixth worldwide, making it a financial success despite its mixed reception. However, it didn’t make as much money as Warner Brothers had hoped. As a result of the criticisms and financial shortcomings, the next film, Batman Forever, was a very different movie stylistically. Batman Returns would mark the last Batman film to be directed by Tim Burton and the last film to feature Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight. Batman Returns is another attempt at bringing Batman to average moviegoers, and I think it is a good film on its own merits. This film is especially monumental in that it is the last of its kind. The following installments of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are very different in terms of tone and the creative forces behind them. Even though the Batman franchise went in a different direction after Batman Returns, I still think this film is an enjoyable experience for any fan of the caped crusader or crime noir. Batman 1989 was a one-of-a-kind film, but I find Batman Returns just as enjoyable.
