SpectralTime
Since: Apr, 2009
02/12/2015 00:00:00
I agree with your disdain for the movie and the negative effects of its disdain for the source material, but I feel that you, like too many other reviewers, fell into the trap of complaining too much about changes and differences in adaptation rather than the all-too-present flaws in the movie.
PepperoniTropes
Since: Jan, 2015
02/15/2015 00:00:00
These were the things that bothered me the most. I had written more than this, but I was coming in very close to the word limit, so I had to cut it back to the main stuff I wanted to point out.
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Batman Returns: Questioning a Classic
Batman Returns does not hold up very well as a Batman movie.
The biggest problem with Batman Returns is the characterization. Tim Burton has been quoted as saying "Anybody who knows me knows I would never read a comic book," and it shows with the central three characters. Batman may have the worst case with this. Here, Batman shows a willingness to murder, which is sorely out of character. People debate thoroughly whether or not Batman's no-killing policy actually helps or hurts Gotham, but regardless of philosophical opinion, it can't be argued that he has no such policy. Batman doesn't murder. This isn't the only problem; rather than the unfazed crime fighter usually seen, here he is shown sincerely apologizing after hitting Catwoman once; never mind the fact that she is both attacking him and just blew up a department store. To nail the coffin shut, he can't even defeat a small poodle with a batarang set to autopilot.
The villains have it no better; instead of being the talented and self-sufficient catburglar she is usually portrayed as, Selina Kyle starts as a bumbling, naïve fool until she is shoved out of a window. Remember, girls, you too can be smart, sexy, and independent— but only after suffering from severe brain trauma!!!
The Penguin doesn't remotely resemble his original counterpart. I can understand that in a new adaptation, changes will be made, and characters can even benefit from them, but there was a severely missed opportunity by doing what they did here. Batman already has a freakishly deformed villain abandoned by his family, who lives in the sewers, and doesn't consider himself a "man" anymore; this Penguin is an unintentional Killer Croc ripoff.
Acting is generally strong; the central three all hold their own, but Keaton somehow doesn't seem as "Bruce Wayne" as he was in Batman.
Plot is a mixed bag; Catwoman and Penguin declare Batman "a thorn in their sides" after the former loses a single fight to him and the latter simply had a conversation with him. Additionally, the "Cobblepot for Mayor" portion of the plot felt too much like a gratuitous reference to the 60s show.
Not all is bad, though. Visually, Burton's Gotham is stunning, and Elfman's musical score wows, as it always tends to do.