‘Batman Returns’ (1992) is an off-the-rails Christmas romp

With “Gotham” returning for its final season next month, I’m looking back at past “Batman” projects from the perspective of someone who enjoyed “The Animated Series” as a kid and now enjoys “Gotham.” Next up is “Batman Returns” (1992).

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT

As with Tim Burton’s first “Batman,” the production design is outstanding, including the Penguin’s underground pool lair. The Christmas setting makes this a good film to rewatch during the holidays – maybe not on par with “Die Hard” and “Gremlins,” but it’s worth throwing into the mix now and then. The interplay between Batman and Catwoman is the definite high point.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT IT

The Penguin becomes annoying after a while, and some plot points veer toward outright stupidity.

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BATMAN

The duality of Batman/Bruce is played up more here, jibing with Catwoman’s arc. Michael Keaton continues to be totally charming and likable as Bruce and understated as Batman. He’s a slightly better fighter and detective this time. The way he figures out that the Penguin is up to something at the Hall of Records is the type of deductive reasoning from Bats we’ll come to appreciate on “The Animated Series.”

ALLIES

Batman at least talks to Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) once in this film, but they continue to have an under-defined relationship compared to the comic lore.

VILLAINS

Although the classic cat burglar version of Selina Kyle/Catwoman holds more favor with fans, this film’s supernatural version – where Selina gains nine lives thanks to feline magic – has had good mileage, popping up again in the screen versions of “Catwoman,” “Birds of Prey” and “Gotham” (which blends the two notions).

Regardless of her origin story, Catwoman’s traditional romance/conflict with Batman is on fine display here, and Michelle Pfeiffer and Keaton have excellent chemistry. Pfeiffer is so different in and out of the catsuit that it’s plausible Bruce would be fooled. The actress successfully navigates a weird arc where Selina’s “death” gives her confidence but also causes confusion.

Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin is at the other end of the spectrum. The character design is on point, but Danny DeVito chews scenery not only in this movie, but also in every other screen in the theater and in the cinema across the street.

Oswald has a sympathetic backstory – dumped into the sewer by his parents because he’s deformed (and, granted, because he eats cats) – but the screenplay by Sam Hamm and Daniel Waters doesn’t emphasize that. He’s slimy, gross, lascivious toward women, and totally annoying by the 90-minute mark. By contrast, “Gotham’s” Penguin is still engaging after four seasons.

As corporatist Max Schreck, Christopher Walken gives by far the most understated performance among the villains, which should say something about the stylized direction this saga is heading in with the rogues gallery.

THAT’S FAMILIAR

• As noted, the supernatural version of Catwoman caught on in future projects.
• The Penguin running for mayor is also a prominent thread in “Gotham.” In “Returns,” his political rise and fall happens quickly in the second act, and he’s not all that into it anyway. With Oswald’s sheer physical grossness, it almost functions as a parody of how people will elect slimeballs, but it doesn’t quite play that way since Burton’s baseline style is almost parodic to begin with.

THAT’S SURPRISING

• When the Ice Princess falls off the roof, I figured Batman would whip out his Batwing and sweep down and save her, but she plummets to her doom, landing on the button that lights the tree.
• It’s surprising – and inexplicable – that Penguin’s crew acquires Batmobile plans and figures out how to remote-control it. I wonder if there are deleted scenes of this thread.
• Whereas the Joker, the Penguin and Shreck are blatantly dead, Catwoman unambiguously has one life left at the end of this movie. That’s not surprising in itself, but it does raise the question of “Where the hell is she in the subsequent films?”

THAT’S WEIRD

• “Batman Returns’ ” understanding of technology is dumber than “Independence Day’s.” After the Penguin’s gang sabotages the Batmobile so their boss can remote-operate it, Batman records Penguin’s communications to him, as the vehicle happens to be equipped with a CD-recorder. I’ll let that slide; it is the Batmobile after all. But later, Alfred miraculously taps into the sound system projecting Penguin’s speech and plays this recording. It gets dumber: Batman backs up the recording by moving the CD like a DJ spinning a record. Later still, there’s a whole weird thing with programming the behavior of penguins, and then jamming the signal. Sigh.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The first Burton “Batman” didn’t have any notable character arcs, and “Returns” has a strong one with Catwoman, so it’s tempting to say it’s a better movie. However, the Penguin grows irksome, and there are those extreme stupidities involving technology. The Christmas vibe is nice, though. “Batman Returns” is a mixed bag of good and bad, and in the end it’s about even with the original.