This Week In Retro: Batman Returns (1992) (Patreon)

June 19, 1992: Merry Christmas Mr. Wayne

by Diamond Feit

Have you seen The Batman yet? It feels like just yesterday that the casting choice of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne sparked the usual cycle of "fan" outrage and angry petitions, but once the movie actually premiered in theaters in spring, everyone in my social circle seemed to enjoy it (myself included). That said, I also saw this meme make the rounds regarding how often Hollywood insists, time and time again, that Batman needs to become "darker and grittier." This attitude is not unique to the Caped Crusader, of course, but given his longevity and the many interpretations of the character we've seen over the years, there's something about Batman movies that drives executives to repeatedly ask "does it come in black?"

The flashpoint of this phenomenon occurred in 1989 when Tim Burton's Batman ruled the summer box office. Featuring an all-black batsuit made of body armor, a hero with no qualms about murdering his enemies, and a Gotham City that looked like it hadn't seen sunshine in decades, Batman '89 pushed back against the campy, silly vision of Batman '66 that, despite its cancellation two decades earlier, still aired in syndication and continued to hold sway over the public's image of the World's Greatest Detective. When Batman '89 turned 30 in 2019, I noted that the film retains a lot of silliness beneath its self-serious tone, in part because a story about a vigilante dressed as a bat will always come off as campy.

Of course, I wrote those words with three decades of hindsight, but when Batman '89 made $250 million in theaters, critics and audiences had responded to the new, darker Batman with overwhelming acceptance, and the black-and-gold Bat-symbol became the must-have accessory on everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs. With all that money sitting on the table, the studio wanted a sequel while the bat-iron remained hot, and shelled out enough cash to convince director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton to return to Gotham. Three years later, Batman Returns doubled down on darkness with not one but two tragic supervillains, delivering a somber Christmas film (in June!) that still satisfied audiences.

Although no one used such a term at the time, today we can describe Batman '89 as a "reboot." Most incarnations of Batman work with established authorities, be it through a partnership with Commissioner Gordon or working with the Justice League. In the 1989 film, however, Batman exists solely as a rumor, striking out at criminals and then disappearing into the night. Reporter Alexander Knox tries to uncover the truth behind Batman but most people dismiss his research as a fantasy, even those within his own newsroom, with the cops denying that any winged crime fighters stalk the streets of Gotham. This changes after Batman publicly defeats the Joker, stepping out of the shadows and declaring an alliance with the police department, and presenting the city with a Bat-signal as a means of calling him into action.

Batman Returns maintains that status quo, as a gang of circus performers attack Gotham's official Christmas tree at the start of the film, prompting the cops to immediately call in Batman for help. Honestly, the speed at which Commissioner Gordon orders the Bat-signal's activation makes me smirk; he arrives at the scene of the crime and radios headquarters before his car comes to a complete stop. Considering how the Circus Gang neither out-numbers nor out-guns the cops, one has to wonder what offenses, if any, the Gotham PD feels confident enough to tackle on their own.

While the motorcycle-riding clowns do menace civilians and damage property with abandon, their overall threat level pales in comparison to the two new supervillains of Batman Returns. The audience meets Penguin before they even see the credits roll, as we see his horrified parents dump their deformed newborn into the sewers, only for the child to safely float into the care of subterranean penguins. Later raised by the aforementioned gang of carnies, Penguin harbors deep resentment for the people of Gotham, as he seeks to get even with the city's populace at large for his abandonment as an infant.

This revision of Penguin's origins and appearance riled a lot of Batman fans, and I remember hearing complaints rejecting the idea that wild penguins could rescue a human baby, let alone care for one. Yet is a disfigured, feral penguin-man any less plausible than a regular adult who waddles and squawks like a bird out of habit? Burgess Meredith's version of Penguin did exactly that and it earned him the adoration of millions of television viewers in the 1960s.

Less outwardly malicious but no less eye-catching, Catwoman appears later in Batman Returns as a wild-card adversary to both Batman and Penguin. Originally a put-upon secretary who struggles to make it in Gotham, Selina Kyle develops a new personality after miraculously surviving a multi-story fall from her office window. Selina had shown an affection for cats before her traumatic tumble, but when a pack of strays gather around her limp body lying in an alley, she wakes up and drags herself home for an impromptu redecoration and makeover all-nighter.

While Penguin and Catwoman feature heavily in the advertising for Batman Returns and each have their own run-ins with the Caped Crusader, a third antagonist stands as the true evil behind everything wrong in Gotham City. However, department store owner Max Shreck has no tragic backstory or life-altering ordeal that fuels his criminal ventures; he operates legitimate businesses in full view of the public and rubs elbows with the city's elite, all the while scheming to defraud the people and government of Gotham for his personal gain—a far more realistic take on villainy than anything a comic book writer would devise.

Not content with his capitalist crimes, Shreck's underhanded dealings drive the costumed villains in Batman Returns to escalate their violent actions. Initially kidnapped and blackmailed by Penguin, Shreck instead convinces Penguin to run for mayor in a recall election because the sitting mayor seeks to curtail Max's expansion plans. As soon as Penguin's fortunes sour, Shreck abandons him rather than doubling-down, driving Penguin into a rage that nearly ends with a missile attack on all of Gotham.

Shreck bears even more responsibility regarding Selina Kyle. Serving as his executive assistant, Selina toils away for little pay and even less respect, performing menial task after menial task at all hours of the day or night. She doesn't just fall out of that office window; Shreck pushes her when she uncovered evidence of his illegal activities. Her quest for vengeance drives nearly all of Catwoman's capers for the rest of the film, drawing the attention of Batman. In a twist, by having Bruce Wayne come to his office, Shreck ends up introducing Bruce to Selina, setting into motion two opposing relationships that snake through the plot: Batman and Catwoman face off several times while Bruce and Selina grow closer, leading to a revelation where each recognizes the other's secret.

In case you've never seen it (or haven't seen it since 1992), I encourage you to watch that scene where Bruce and Selina discover the truth. Actors Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer have palpable chemistry, and even though the pair do nothing but slow-dance and briefly kiss, their entire conversation has an erotic quality which so many studio films (especially superhero films) lack. Most on-screen relationships feel paper-thin, asking the audience to just accept that two attractive people want to be together for the sake of the story; it's extra egregious when the protagonist's girlfriend or wife only exists to serve as a hostage in the third act. Bruce and Selina feel like a genuine couple, as both of them have personal issues regarding intimacy and trust, and just as they are about to let down their guard for good and accept another person into their private lives, they find out that they can't be together—all while "Face to Face" by Siouxsie and the Banshees plays in the background.

As much as I enjoyed Batman in 1989 as a pre-teen, Batman Returns really spoke to me as a high-school student. I don't think aging three years gave me any special insight into the film's ideas, but at the very least I could appreciate that everyone in the film struggles with loneliness. Bruce Wayne literally sits at home in the dark when the Bat-signal first summons him into the picture, Penguin has spent his entire life staring up at the surface world through sewer grates, and all Selina Kyle does with her time is cater to her boss' whims and avoid her mother's phone calls (at one point she even expresses jealousy that her cat gets laid more than she does). Even Max Shreck, odious as he may be, seems to have nothing going on beyond his work and his adult son, and in his one heroic deed of the film, he offers his life to Penguin to protect his son's future.

Amplifying the mood of isolation and solitude, Batman Returns specifically takes place during Christmas, a time when most Americans seek the company of their friends and loved ones. I grew up Jewish and I have no Christmas spirit, but by 1992 even I had attended enough parties and seen enough friends' celebratory photos to appreciate the importance of seasonal get-togethers and family dinners. When all other businesses shut their doors on December 25th each year and all my Christian friends would stay home, I had little else to do beyond go to the movies, get Chinese take out, or work overtime; when the rest of the world celebrates a holiday you don't, it becomes the loneliest day of the year.

Rewatching Batman Returns for this column, I enjoyed it even more than I did in my teens and twenties. Thanks to the success of the previous film, director Tim Burton must have gotten more leeway to craft a weirder, less optimistic story about superheroes. Batman '89 shows the Caped Crusader rise from outsider to public hero, getting even with the man who killed his parents, and even falling for photojournalist Vicky Vale. Batman Returns gives us a Bruce Wayne with no personal life outside the Batcave, and even though he emerges from the film as the victor, in the end he's spending another Christmas alone with his butler.

Given the current superhero-driven state of cinema where every movie needs to have not just sequel but franchise potential, Batman Returns feels even more daring as it does nothing to expand Batman's world of heroes and villains or entice audiences with any promises of their favorite characters making a future appearance. It alludes to the events of the first movie but lays no foundation for future conflicts or storylines. All of the new villains introduced in Batman Returns die in the third act; Catwoman appears to live thanks to a faceless insert shot, a late addition made at the studio's request during post-production. It would be twelve years before a Catwoman spin-off saw the light of day and it pleased absolutely no one.

Batman Returns became the top-grossing movie of 1992, but it never out-earned Batman '89 despite sporting a bigger budget, so the studio took the new-found Bat-franchise in another direction. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton would not return for a third film, and 1995's Batman Forever would push back against the serious tone of the first two movies to deliver more light-hearted entertainment. I remained on board as a fan, enjoying Batman Forever when I saw it in theaters, but I can remember walking towards the exit with a sense of disappointment.

Batman can exist as different things for different people. In my case, he made me laugh via reruns of Batman '66 before his two big-budget Hollywood films painted him as a loner fighting for justice. Considering how Batman '89 and Batman Returns came out during the lowest time of my life—middle school and high school—I think I needed a hero to admire as my parents' marriage fell apart and my grades plummeted. I'm in a better place these days even if the rest of the world isn't, so I feel comfortable exploring a broader range of films than I used to. I managed to enjoy The Batman but everything about it felt tailor-made to kickstart a new universe of Bat-media. I wish modern studios would dare to deliver anything on par with Batman Returns, a sequel that loudly and proudly followed up a hit film with a Christmas tale where no one gets what they wanted.

Diamond Feit lives in Osaka, Japan but is forever online, sharing idle thoughts on Twitter and playing games on Twitch.