This movie holds a special place in my heart as and is one of my childhood favourites. Batman Returns is Directed by Tim Burton with the story set at Christmas time in Gotham City. Rumours are circulating of the hideous penguin man Oswald Cobblepot ,(played by Danny DeVito), lurking around in the sewer while corrupt millionair Max Shreck (played by Christopher Walken) proposes to build a power plant to supply Gotham City with energy. Selena Kyle, (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). who works as Shreck's secretary, discovers the true purpose of Shreck's power plant. Shreck pushes her out of the window to silence her but Selena survives the fall and seeks revenge as the powerful new alter-ego, Catwoman. Meanwhile in Gotham, Oswald Cobblepot makes his presence known by rescuing the mayors baby from a staged kidnapping attempt and requests to be allowed into the hall of records to find his parents as a reward. Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, (played by Michael Keaton) voices his suspicions about Oswald's true motives and investigates his background.

 

The controversy surrounding Batman Returns comes down to the fact that Tim Burton made it his own, which not everybody liked. Personally, I love that he took the batman character and put his personal twist on him, and as Tim Burton comes from an animation background I can really feel the craftiness to this film as he also reinvents characters such as the Penguin by turning him into the crafty circus freak.

 

The performances in this film are great as Michelle Pfeiffer nails it as Catwoman and is still the best Catwoman to date, and Danny DeVito as the penguin is almost perfect casting.

 

As mentioned, Tim Burton comes from an animation background and that is one of the reasons why I have chosen to review this film for my visual narrative project as, like Tim burton, I don't want to restrict myself into one medium. I am interested in exploring different mediums as an artist.

 

Overall I give this movie 4/5.