History Headscratchers / BatmanReturns

*** Why only in a movie ? Shallow rich assholes don't take kindly being embarrassed in real life too...

** The novelization has his son Chip walk in on it almost instantly afterwards. Max starts stammering about how she fell and he tried to help her, and then Chip simply smiles and says, "She probably jumped." Max is then described as feeling incredibly proud of his son. Then they go home together and expect somebody to find Selina tomorrow.

** The whole idea is that several of Catwoman's 'deaths' don't look so deadly - she seems to have survived through pure luck, leaving us in a 'Well, is this really supernatural?' state. Then at the end when Shreck shoots her, and she fries them both with the generator, it's TimBurton finally confirming that yes, Catwoman did gain supernatural abilities.

** The novelisation has his son Kip walk in on it almost instantly afterwards. Max starts stammering about how she fell and he tried to help her, and then Kip simply smiles and says, "She probably jumped." Max is then described as feeling incredibly proud of his son. Then they go home together and expect somebody to find Selina tomorrow.

* Something that's been bugging me a lot. It's said that Max Shreck was really supposed to be Harvey Dent from the last film, and that Catwoman was supposed to scar him into Two-Face. I understand that, but having watched the last film, are we really supposed to believe that Dent was to build a power-sucking power plant, and then push someone out a window for finding that out?

*** Did you not notice that Chip Schreck wasn't exactly 20 even? Or Shreck's white hair? It's more than possible Shreck lead the company then to,he was certainly old enough

** What makes you think the police would automatically take Selina's word for it, much less launch a full investigation of Schreck? Remember that the Mayor introduced him to the crowd at the tree-lighting early in the film as "Gotham's own Santa Claus", and Schreck himself threatens both the Mayor and Bruce Wayne over his power plant plans. Both the Mayor and Wayne should logically have a lot of power and influence in Gotham, and the fact that Schreck is comfortable taking them on shows that ''he'' has just as much influence, if not moreso. Schreck could easily call in a few favors and have the investigation quashed...and then push Selina out a higher window, figuratively speaking.

** He did it in Schreck's office, and we already know Schreck is good at hushing shady things up. He probably threatened or bribed everyone in the office.

* Why does Max Shreck wear gloves all the time?

** A truck full of kitty litter does not necessarily make for a soft landing, especially from that presumed altitude. That said, a number of "deaths" she suffers throughout the movie ''are'' easily survivable, such as Max shooting her point-blank at the end -- practically none of the bullets hit any lethal areas.
** One completely valid interpretation that many of Batman Returns detractors keep ignoring is that it's more likely all the supernatural elements were only in Selina's head. Pretty much all her deaths were "survivable"
*** The "in her head" theory doesn't explain her acquiring acrobatic abilities or knowing how to use a whip as an efficient weapon with no training or practice.
*** We know nothing of her past. Harly Queen combined majoring in psychiatry with acrobatic training, why couldn't Selina?

** The novelisation has his son Kip walk in on it almost instantly afterwards. Max starts stammering about how she fell and he tried to help her, and then Kip simply smiles and says, "She probably jumped." Max is then described as feeling incredibly proud of his son.

** Plus he could just say that she accidentally slipped and fell or that she took her own life.

* Why did Catwoman berate the woman she saved for "allowing" herself to get captured? The woman (like any other) was just walking down the street, and, through no fault of her own, was blind sighted by a would-be rapist.

* Just how can one leather coat can make an entire costume for Catwoman?

** He's a ninja. If some mook can lay hands on Batman long enough to rip off his mask, then losing his mask is the least of his problems.

** She wasn't really dead when she hit the pavement. Almost certainly brain-damaged enough to cause a psychotic break, but miraculously not seriously injured. Happens sometimes: people fall off buildings and don't pick up the horrific injuries you would expect. Just used up one of her nine lives (not magically, just metaphorically).
*** At the end, she takes enough bullets and a stun gun kiss which should kill any normal person they just counted as losing lives. And, of course, she was alive at the end of the movie. She seemed to have some sort of power.
*** People -can- survive high amounts of electricity if lucky and/or in the right situation. Plus, her rubber suit (from the raincoats she cuts up) makes for good insulation.
*** Didn't the awful, awful Catwoman flick pretty much confirm that she's got some sort of magic powers? Michelle Pfeiffer's character was among the photos of the other Catwomen the crazy lady shows to Halle Berry.
*** I could've sworn that the Halle movie was actually just based off of the character of Catwoman. It just made comic book fans freak out because of Halle and they thought it would be about the actual Catwoman.
*** Nope, the Berry movie pretty much has zip and zilch in common with the character; Burton's Catwoman was left deliberately ambiguous as to whether she was just lucky as hell or was actually superpowered, whereas the Catwoman movie has a cat breathe magic breath into Halle Berry's face. The Berry movie also has very little in common with any other take on the character, save that she's black like Eartha Kitt's take.
*** For starters, Returns was made ''well'' before anyone considered that movie. For a second, I seriously doubt anyone is going to take anything from that movie as canon to ''Film/BatmanReturns'', considering that photo and the name are the only things they have in common.
*** All of her "deaths" are somewhat survivable - at least with [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Movie Biology]], how many times have we seen a character take all but an obviously fatal blow (bullet to the head, decapitation) and survive? e.g. After being pushed by Shreck her fall was broken by several canopies on the way down, etc. (Also cats are known for being able to fall safely from a height). So her deaths are supposed to be a bit metaphorical, rather than actual magic powers on her part...
* We learn that Shreck is a CorruptCorporateExecutive because he plans to build a power plant that actually intentionally ''drains'' power from Gotham City instead of generating it. What would Shreck gain from this at all? He can't really do much with the energy he's just "stockpiling somewhere", and when people start realizing there's a power shortage ''they're going to blame the power plant,'' even if they don't catch on to the plan.

* Remember the unmasking scene near the end? Batman's mask seems to be made out of soft rubber if he can tear it off so easily. Isn't he worried some crook will accidentally rip it apart during a fight?

** It may not have even been a mobster, just someone working for Penguin's campaign. Even if it was, organized crime is (usually) a quiet, stealthy game. Max would probably have a hard time convincing his mob connections to do something big, destructive, and public without risking their operations. On the other hand, the Red Triangle gang is by nature loud, senseless, and disruptive, and they were that way even before Penguin had them rioting to stir up controversy for the campaign.