Batman Returns, 1992. Directed by Tim Burton. Michael Keaton, Danny De Vito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle.w
Evil Max Schreck is making a bid to take control of the government of Gotham City so he can build a power plant that will suck power OUT of the city. To this end he enlists the aid of The Penguin, who has his own vengeful agenda, as a candidate for mayor. Complicating things is Selina Kyle, Shreck's mousy secretary, who learns the truth. Shreck pushes her out a high window, but she survives, transfigured into the Catwoman. Trying to impose some sort of order on the city is Gotham's Dark Knight defender, Batman....
As much of a mess as its predecessor, this deliciously weird film has the distinction of being a unified mess of a movie. It is recognizable as the singular vision of an individual artist. Unlike the first film, this is not a producer's film--it belongs wholly to Director Tim Burton. In his hands, the familiar characters of the comics are warped into singularly bizarre incarnations: The Catwoman is a whip-wielding fetish vision in shiny black latex; The Penguin is a pitiable grotesque whose evil seems bottomless, and Batman himself is a depressed introvert whose nocturnal activities are an escape into fantasy. Visually, this is superior to its predecessor in every respect, a walking, talking ode to German Expressionism. Bo Welch's sets have more visual wit than Anton Furst's ever had and Bob Ringwood's costumes are simply stunning. The performances are better here, too, particularly Danny DeVito's Penguin. And Burton has been allowed to assert his own anima on the filmmaking techniques used on the movie. He still can't stage an action sequence, but the other sequences shine, particularly the sequence at the masquerade when Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are the only two party-goers without masks. One marvels at the inspiration and colossal hubris of remaking M, Cat People, and Citizen Kane as a superhero movie. The best live-action movie ever likely to be made from this particular material.