The Dark Knight has had quite a history on the big screen, from the movie serials in the 1940's, the campy t.v. show from the 1960's, the movies of the late 80's and 90's, and the uber-successful series of Bat-films now. Looking back at the four Bat-movies that precede Christopher Nolan's trilogy, we can see that they are quite the mixed bag. The first film, 1989's Batman is almost universally praised and is seen as a classic of the comic book genre; whereas the final film in the series, Batman and Robin is universally hated and considered on of the worst comic book movies. But what about the middle two movies? While Batman Forever was certainly a sign of things to come, it's
nowhere near as bad as it's follow up and most fans consider it as only "okay".
But as for the second movie in the series, Batman Returns, well that's something else entirely. Odds are that any time you talk to a Batman fan, they either love it or hate, there's no "Yeah Batman Returns was okay"; some fans say that it's the best of the original four movies while others say that it's just as much of a travesty as Batman and Robin. But this is nothing new to Batman Returns, which was the subject of great controversy at the time when it came out and it can almost be blamed for Warner Brothers wanting to make the series more lighthearted. But why does this movie divide fans like it does? Why do some Bat-fans condemn it while others praise it? There is several reasons for the polarizing effect this movie has on fans, everything from the overly bleak tone of the movie, the changes made to the source material, to the characterization of Batman himself have been blamed.
Starting off I just want to say that I'm in the camp of fans that love Batman Returns, but that always wasn't the case. I was about five years old when Batman Returns was coming out, and leading up to the movie you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting something Batman related. There were Batman toys, Happy Meals, candy, clothes, shoes, cereal, snacks, drinks, etc. It's obvious who Warner Brothers was marketing this film to: The kids. It worked too because I begged my parents to take me to see the movie, but not too long into the film my attitude changed. I ended up spending the majority of the movie curled up next to my mom in terror, usually anytime Danny DeVito's Penguin came on screen, and as a result refused to watch Batman Returns for some years after. At the time this seemed to be the case all around as the film came under fire for it's dark content though it was marketed at kids.
And Batman Returns is a dark movie, much darker than it's predecessor. The sets are dark and claustrophobic, and everything is covered with snow or ice, reflecting the coldness of the characters. While the first one ended on a triumphant note, this one ends on a more bittersweet note, and director Tim Burton got much of the blame for this. It's clear from the beginning that Tim Burton was given much more creative freedom with this movie than with the first one and we soon see that this was the Batman movie that he always wanted to make(a friend of mine once said that Batman Returns should have been titled Tim Burton's Batman). Burton has stated in interviews that he's much happier with Batman Returns than he is with the first film and was excited to return for a third film, but the studio chose not to have him back after the criticism they came under. But the dark tone wasn't the only thing that drew criticism, as I'm sure most fans liked that.
The thing that most fans dislike Batman Returns for the most is the changes made to the comic book. Most of the characters in this film resemble their comic book counterparts in name only, with their origins drastically changed. One the most notable character changes is to the character of the Penguin, and I gotta say it's one of my favorites actually. In the comics, Penguin is a little man in a suit with an arsenal of deadly umbrellas; he's always been one of my least favorite Batman villains because I never found him threatening or scary, and he never seemed like a good challenge for Batman. In Batman Returns he is changed to a freak of nature abandoned in the sewers by his wealthy parents. Raised by penguins and circus freaks, Oswald Copplepot grows resentful of the normal children that lived happy lives with their parents, and he hatches a sadistic plan to strike back at them (we get hints that he's been punishing "normal" children for years). The character of The Penguin in Returns is despicable, taking out his anger on innocent children, but also strangely sympathetic. Inside the Penguin we can see a strange sadness, almost like he knows he's been made a monster, but thinks he can do nothing to stop himself from committing the vile acts he commits. We also see a deeper desire inside the Penguin to be accepted, but when society ultimately rejects him much like his parents, he chooses to strike back in an extremely violent way. It's these reasons above that I think Danny DeVito's Penguin, though nothing like in the comics, is one of the best Batman villains of the movie series (right up there with Heath Ledger's Joker in my opinion) and one of the strongest points in Batman Returns.
Another massive change is to the character of Catwoman. In the comics Catwoman is a jewel thief/vigilante/on-and-off love interest to Batman. When we first meet her in Batman Returns she's a mousy secretary working for crooked business (and true villain of the film) Max Shrek. After she stumbles upon his nefarious schemes, Shrek attempts to kill Selina Kyle, but she survives and seems to suffer a complete breakdown, creating the Catwoman persona as a way to strike back at the boss and society that victimized her. Much like The Penguin, Catwoman is born from victimization and seems to blame the world for making her into a monster, especially Shrek. The romance with Batman is there, but it's far different from the comics. Though Catwoman flirts with Batman, we see a deep resentment for him because he represents the order that Catwoman is fighting against, and this resentment grows after Batman almost kills her. The real romance is between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne; though Catwoman hates Batman because he upholds order, it seems that Selina Kyle is attracted to Bruce Wayne because of the stability he represents and what she ultimately longs for. At the end Batman uses his Bruce Wayne persona as a way to plead with Catwoman to spare Shrek's life, but ultimately she gives in and kills Shrek. At the end we see that Catwoman is still prowling the streets of Gotham but it seems like she's abandoned the Selina Kyle persona entirely and is now entirely Catwoman.
While the changes made to the supporting cast left many fans angry, the biggest change source of fanboy hate for Batman Returns comes from the title character himself. A common complaint about Batman Returns is how little screen time Batman himself has, in fact it seems like he's just a supporting character to Catwoman and Penguin. Tim Burton himself stated that he finds Batman's villains more interesting than Batman and we see that apparent in this film. But something even more controversial than the lack of screen time Batman has is what he does when he is on screen, namely the breaking of one of his cardinal rules: Batman kills.
If anything is responsible for Batman fans hating this movie, it's Batman breaking one of his rules. In the opening fight scene Batman sets three of Penguins goons on fire, and in a later fight scene blows one of them up. It's always been known that Batman does not kill (unless it's the very early comics,where he also uses a gun) and we realize this isn't the Batman we all know and love early on in the film. In fact, the Batman in this movie seems much darker than the Batman in the previous film. When we first see him, he's sitting in complete darkness, just waiting for the signal to light up the sky. The fight against crime seems to have become all that Batman lives for, and his methods have become far more extreme. Fans have also pointed out that Batman seems like a hypocrite in this movie, murdering common thugs himself but then pleading with Catwoman not to kill Max Shrek. But as I said, Batman seems much darker when we first see him in the movie because he has nothing else to live for in this movie, but then he meets Selina Kyle. The movie hints that Bruce Wayne are a perfect match, and it seems Batman himself is softened when he meets her, getting back in touch with the humanity he seems to have lost. At the end he uses his Bruce Wayne persona to plead with Selina because this is the side she made him realize he was losing, he realized that he was stepping into the darkness along with the other characters in the movie. At the end Selina goes over the edge despite Bruce's attempts to save her, but we get that he wants to save Shrek not only for Selina's benefit, but because he realizes that he too must stand for good and not give into the darkness Selina fell into.
So as you can see, there are many reason why fans hate Batman Returns and many reasons why fans love it. When I talk to people about and read reviews, it seems like the older fans are the ones who hate it the most. Fans who grew up with Batman were enraged to see characters they knew and loved changed so drastically. Younger fans like myself are the most outspoken fans of the movie simply because it was our introduction to characters like Penguin and Catwoman, but also an unique take on Batman. It's not a great adaptation of the comics but it's just Tim Burton's interpretation of the character, and for some reason younger fans have taken to it.
But this film left quite a legacy, in fact it can pretty much be blamed for the Bat-films that followed it. As I said before, it caused a lot of controversy because of the dark content and took in a much smaller sum at the box office than it's predecessor. It's clear that Warner Brothers got scared by this, seeing how they wanted to market this to the kids, and they chose to lighten the series up. Batman Forever wasn't overtly dark, but it wasn't lighthearted either. It walked a fine line but it was the safe Bat film that appealed to all ages, and it brought in a much larger haul than Returns. After the success of Forever, Warner wanted the next Batman film to appeal even more to it's target demographic and told director Joel Schumacher to make the next film more family and toy friendly. The rest is history.
It would have been interesting to see where the Batman series would have gone if they would have continued down the dark and brooding path set by Batman Returns. But was marketing the films to the kids really such a bad thing? Eight years after the kid friendly Batman and Robin tanked, Batman Begins came out. Director Christopher Nolan said that his Bat-films would be aimed at adults, but when I went to the midnight showing of the movie I noticed something. Most of the audience was made up of people my age, kids who had gone to see Batman Returns with their parents and had fallen victim to Warner Brother's shameless pandering in the subsequent movies. We were kids who had grown up with Batman and now we jumped at the chance to see our hero on the big screen again, done in a dark and brooding style much like Batman Returns.