Up until very recently Batman Returns was by far and beyond my favourite of all the Batman films. I used to watch it obsessively a few years back, but until yesterday I probably hadn't seen it in 2 years-ish, so I was curious to see whether I still liked it as much. Returns is by far and beyond the most divisive Batman film as far as critics and fans are concerned and pretty much has been since its 1992 release. Some people, such as myself, love the focus on the darkest side of Gotham, whereas others find it a depressing anti-heroic excuse of a superhero film, many going as far as to say that with such a strong focus on the 3 villains the film packs into it that it's a Batman film in name only. There's no doubt that this is wholly the responsibility of Tim Burton, the returning director from Batman '89, now given full creative control of the franchise thanks to the resounding box office success of Returns' predecessor. With his new power in tow, Burton set out to create the Batman film he always wanted to make without studio interference. A darker, sinister and more adult version of the characters than had ever been seen before. A film that was so dark in fact that McDonald's famously had to recall their happy meal line of Batman Returns toys. Watching the film even now, you can easily understand why.
Having just come off of directing Edward Scissorhands, a film still seen as his quintessential masterpiece, Burton has at this point clearly found his footing in Hollywood and defined himself as an auteur and his confidence is on show in Returns' in full force. The whole feel of the film oozes the gothic expressionist influences that had such a profound effect on Burton's youth. The deco style architecture of '89 remains in degrees, but everything has a less defined, washed out and oppressing feeling which sets the tone of the film perfectly. Gone are the bright purples and greens which scantly added colour to the original, as Returns' is plunged in varying hues of black, grey and white, the iconic yellow symbol adorning the Batsuit, the only remaining small glimmer of hope and colour more or less throughout the entire film. All except for Selina Kyle's neon pink house, an aesthetic choice pulled straight from Scissorhands, showing as before Burton's philosophy of how average suburban residents are all just a hair's width away from insanity.
The criticism that there is too much of a focus on the villains and not enough development on the side of Batman/Bruce Wayne is a disparagement which I had always rebuked people for in the past, but upon finishing the film this time I felt their anguish for the first time. It's not that the villains aren't interesting by any stretch of the imagination, in fact they're as interesting as the protagonist, but with each of them assaulting Bruce's psyche in the manner they do in key scenes in the film you just end up wishing those moments weren't so few and far between. Perhaps that feeling is amplified however knowing that after two great performances from Michael Keating as Bruce Wayne, and the ambiguous ending for Michelle Pfeiffer's fantastic Catwoman that would be the last we would see of them, leaving us to imagine any future encounters between the perfect but tragically matched pair so brilliantly set up in that masquerade ball scene, whilst instead we get Batman Forever...
Batman Returns isn't the perfect film I had in my formative years thought it to have been, yet despite its issues with character balance it's not only a unique entry into the Batman mythos, but a great and often forgotten display of Tim Burton's talents, which although sadly never gave us a true sequel to Returns', instead gave him the time and confidence to create Ed Wood, so we shouldn't complain too much.
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