It is not uncommon to find that some fans consider Batman Returns, the second film in the first Batman film series, to be superior to its predecessor. Most of those fans are, in most likelihood, enthusiastic about the style, which director Tim Burton delivers, continuing the building of dark, Gothic world of Gotham City. That world is even darker in this film, because it features not only, bit, arguably, two supervillains – Penguin (played by Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) – with "regular" villain Max Shreck (played by Christopher Walken) thrown for good measure. Character of Bruce Wayne/Batman (played by Michael Keaton) is even more overshadowed here than in previous film, and the love subplot with Catwoman doesn't help. All those supervillains and leather-clad femme fatales are still much inferior to Jack Nicholson's Joker in previous film. Batman Returns, however, suffers the most from the weak, uninspired script and Burton's inability to direct proper action scenes. The film is raised above the levels of mediocrity only Burton's occasional moment of directing brilliance, great work by talented actors and another of Danny Elfman's inspired musical scores.
RATING: 5/10
