Batman Returns April 22, 2006
Posted by clydefro in : Modern Films, 1990s , trackback
Batman Returns
The story wisely begins with the Penguin’s origins and shows his parents abandoning him. Throughout the film, the Penguin is shockingly disgusting and crude. This is not the dapper, yet crazed Penguin we’ve seen before in the comic books and the 1960s television show. Danny DeVito is probably the only well-known actor who could have pulled this role off and he still manages to disappear into the role. The DVD extra features mention that DeVito actually stayed in character as the Penguin on the set. Whatever DeVito did it worked because he gives the Penguin a suprising depth not usually seen in comic-book films, especially in villain portrayals.
Nevertheless, if DeVito’s Penguin is one of the best of its kind then Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman may be at the very top. Pfeiffer takes Selina Kyle from a mousy assistant lacking in confidence and transforms her into the dangerously seductive Catwoman. No villain in a so-called comic-book movie has ever displayed the multi-dimensional pathos as convincingly as Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. The audience understands why Selina Kyle is borderline unstable and we also see why Bruce Wayne and Batman would be interested in Kyle and Catwoman, respectively. Credit must be given to DeVito and Pfeiffer for such fearless, captivating performances and Burton for making his actors feel comfortable enough to let loose and dedicate themselves to a superhero movie.
In fact, however, Batman Returns is much less a superhero movie than a Tim Burton movie. Burton had made the gothic fairy tale Edward Scissorhands in between his two Batman films and it’s easy to see that film’s influence in the look of Batman Returns. Burton is one of the relatively few active American directors whose films almost always have a unique look or style. Here, the fairy tale theme from Edward Scissorhands is continued with the Christmas setting and the Penguin storyline. The penguin’s given name in the film, Oswald Cobblepot, is somewhat reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands and the two characters have some things in common, most notably a feeling of abandonment.
Batman has always been my favorite superhero character. The classic antihero, he has no special powers and can be viewed as a very dark, angry do-gooder who exists in the shadows and values his anonymity. With Batman Returns, Tim Burton and his collaborators seem to have made a conscious decision to focus less on Batman and more on the villains. Since the two villains are such strong characters, the film works, even if the audience would have liked to seen a little more Batman. Michael Keaton’s performances in both Batman films are my favorites of the actors who have played the role, probably because he manages to hint at the dark side of the character without shoving it into our face. Keaton broods with repressed anger, but his angst is compelling instead of depressing.
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