Batman Returns

In the past Burton has done a great job on the visual end of movie making and he's been able to generate interesting ideas, but he's never been able to pull it all together. 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. At least this time he doesn't run out of steam short of the film's end as he did with Edward Scissorhands, Batman and Beetlejuice. Burton creates a Gotham City as could only exist in the nightmares of Fritz Lang, complete with an architecture even the most dedicated fascist would think a little over the top. It's the perfect setting for the antics of the Penguin (DeVito), an evil, twisted little man abandoned by his parents (Paul Rubens, aka, Pee-wee Herman in a cameo as the Penguin's father) and raised by kindly penguins; his partner in crime, greedy industrialist Max Schreck (Walken); the very ambivalent Catwoman and, of course, our reclusive hero Batman. Pfeiffer's Catwoman may not be the central character in this film, but she commands most of the attention. Victimized in her existence as a secretary even before she takes a plunge off a tall building, she's revived by cats (in a pretty damn mysterious process never addressed or explained) and she comes back as a woman with an attitude. “Life's a bitch and now so am I,” she says with little concern for cross-species confusion. Enter Batman, who seems to have developed a taste for women in leather, as well as demure secretaries. The fight scenes in which Catwoman is able to kick Batman, pull him back to her with a smouldering look and kick him again, says someting pretty interesting about sex, desire and gender identity. Unfortunately, we're not given enough to go on. Meanwhile, DeVito, in disgracefully filthy long underwear, continues his devious plans to exact revenge on the city that rejected him at birth. Oddly, DeVito has trouble projecting his character beyond the heavy makeup and costume. The Penguin, however, is aided in his plans by a troupe of evil circus performers and an army of penguins and folks, when you've got an army of penguins in a movie, it's pretty hard to go wrong (unless, of course, animal rights activists take issue with penguin mobilization). It's the penguins who save Burton from his mid-movie slump. As for the other principals, Walken does his damndest but he's overwhelmed. Keaton admirably plays the straight man giving his role just the right edge of humor, but he's basically a foil. In fact, all the actors are playing backup to the remarkable sets including Gotham City, the Penquin's icy lair, the Batcave and the rooftops where the larger than life super-creatures influence the lives and opinions of the people below. To the people looking up from the streets, good and evil can become confused. From our vantage point, most of what we see is simply entertaining as hell, even if it falls short of brilliant.