Is "Batman Returns" Misunderstood?

[David Walton]

I'm a fan.

You don't get much better than a villain driving around in a giant yellow rubber duck!

Much less a guy that's genuinely frightening!

[James Hunter]

Given that its my 4th favourite Bat-film of all time (after DARK KNIGHT RISES, BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, in that order) I would have to say yes, it is misunderstood!

I remember being a little creeped out by Danny Devito as the Penguin(hey I was young!) but in a good way and I remember thinking it improved the original. To this day I still like it!

Cheers.

James.

[Kensei]

It is definitely my favorite of the early four Batman films, so very Tim Burton, the "Nightmare Before Christmas" of Batman stories.

I think that DeVito was most definitely the best suited actor in the world at that time to cast as the Penguin, but I've always wondered how it would have been if he'd played the character as depicted in the comics- just a diminutive crime lord with a big nose and a liking for birds and umbrellas- rather than the creepy mutant approach that Burton had him do. I'm sure he could have been just as dark and evil that way, without having flippers for hands. But I guess we'll never know.

And Michelle's Catwoman was so much delicious fun, she is the reason I can watch the movie over and over. She played the hell out of that character. Selina and Bruce were just as enjoyable together out of costume as they were as Catwoman and Batman. And the way she pops up at the very end, alive after having been seemingly vaporized, made one wonder if she really did have nine lives and whether there was something genuinely supernatural about her the whole time.

But it's the somber scene that preceeds that final instant that I'll always remember the most. Bruce, victorious but so sad, being driven home by Alfred.
ALFRED: Well, come what may... Merry Christmas, Mr. Wayne.
BRUCE: Merry Christmas, Alfred. Good will toward men. (Pause.) And women.

[Patroklos]

I'm not sure it's as maligned as you make it out to be. People usually have a problem with Batman being something of a remorseless killer in some scenes, but other than that I think it's one of the more praised comic book movies out there. I myself am a confessed fan, I love the general look and feel and tone that Burton infuses into it. The cast is great (especially Keaton, he gives great understated performances as both Batman and Bruce Wayne) and you can really see the lineage between this movie and a certain animated series that came afterwards. My one really big complaint is that the script is a bit whimsical.

[Blue_Beetle]

EDIT: Posted in wrong forum.

Not as bad as the third and fourth movies, but not as good as the first one.

[jesse_custer]

Batman and Robin was entertaining, so that's not necessarily a negative comparison.

Edit: The previous post was edited, but the comparison was made earlier in the thread anyway.

[yvahed]

It's my favourite Batman movie. Was totally overwhelmed when it came out and loved it much more than Burton's first. Artististically superlative!
I thought it was very much liked. I remember people going crazy at the time with it breaking Box Office Records and speculation for years on a Catwoman solo.
Also nominated for 2 Oscars, 2 BAFTAs and 3 MTV MOvie Awards.

of course now with the uber-realistic Nolanverse it's kneejerk to bash everything that came before, especially if it is more fantasy based.

[Patroklos]

It's my favourite Batman movie. Was totally overwhelmed when it came out and loved it much more than Burton's first. Artististically superlative!
I thought it was very much liked. I remember people going crazy at the time with it breaking Box Office Records and speculation for years on a Catwoman solo.
Also nominated for 2 Oscars, 2 BAFTAs and 3 MTV MOvie Awards.

of course now with the uber-realistic Nolanverse it's kneejerk to bash everything that came before, especially if it is more fantasy based.

Certainly not. Just read a few posts back in this thread (or any thread focusing on Burton's, Schumacher's or 60's TV Show Batman) and you'll find someone making a point of how much better they think those depictions are than Nolan's triology. It's close to a mainstream opinion on this board.

[the goddamn batman]

I love Batman Returns. It's a little slow here and there, and pretty over the top, but aesthetically I adore it.

[flamemasterelan]

I don't think it's a bad movie, per se, but I definitely think it's a bad Batman movie. There was almost no focus on Batman himself, and Tim Burton probably devoted 60-70% of the screentime to Penguin & Catwoman, while also giving them entirely new origins/personalities, so they may as well just be original characters like Max Shreck. I'm not going to bring up the darkness that everyone else complains about because, in all honesty, that's one of the best parts of the movie.

Oh, and the plot was just everywhere, to the extent that they couldn't even come up with a decent endgame for Penguin. He just...does random crap, and then shows up to kill the first-born sons of Gotham because...they needed a final conflict.

[the goddamn batman]

he wanted to punish the parents of Gotham because his parents abandoned him. he was insane, so his plan doesn't really need to make proper logical sense, either.

[Goggindowner]

As a kid I thought it was good. As an adult, I find it silly. The only really big positive I see in it is that it isn't nearly as cheesed as Forever or Batman and Robin, which are train wrecks by comparison.

I, however, am a bit different from the "norm" in a few ways. One, I don't like Tim Burton. At all. His directing and cinematography are major negatives for me when considering Batman and Batman Returns. Two, I think Micheal Keaton is a poor casting choice for Batman. It doesn't work for me, and it never has.

I do enjoy both movies, but not nearly as much as what Nolan did, but the TYPES of movies Nolan made appeal to me more than anything Tim Burton ever dreamed of making.

[NewMutant]

Misunderstood? I have not met someone who doesn't think it is the best of the original series of films.

[DrSimonHurt]

I can't stand these movies. It's not mutually exclusive to Batman though. I just hate Tim Burton. He's a hack who dicks around with goofy set pieces and cartoony makeup. I really can't stand anything he's ever done.

I grew up when he was turning out a new movie every six months and it felt like a never-ending parade of horrible gross weird movies with the same music over and over.

I'm so glad that as an adult, I don't have to get dragged to his movies anymore. Beetlejuice is still one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen, and I've seen Birdemic quite a few times.

[Lancerman]

It's a good Tim Burton film but a bad Batman film. Literally gets everything wrong about the characters.