starring : michael keaton ( bruce wayne/batman ) , danny devito ( oswald cobblepot/the penguin ) , michelle pfeiffer ( selina kyle/catwoman ) , christopher walken ( max shreck ) , michael gough ( alfred pennyworth ) , pat hingle ( commissioner gordon ) directed by : tim burton , written by : daniel waters and wesley strick from a story by sam hamm based on characters created by bob kane rated pg-13 by the mpaa for violence , blood , strong languae , and sexual remarks/humor what superman ii ( 1980 ) is to superman ( 1978 ) , so is batman returns ( 1992 ) to batman ( 1989 ) . what does that mean ? that means it's a worthy , well-done sequel . what is it with these dc comics heroes having two good entries in their film series and then going downhill ? this time , the plot might actually need some commentary . we see before the eerie credits sequence that , 33 years ago , a boy was born deformed , and , repulsed by his appearance , the parents ( one of which is played by paul reubens , a tim burton film veteran ) tossed him into the sewer ( or a storm drain - hard to tell ) and he floats his way to the " arctic world " attraction at gotham's zoo . there , it's implied that he's found among the penguins and is put into the " red triangle circus " , where he becomes the " aquatic bird boy . " the circus keeps him alive , but eventually he returns to life under the streets . all of this primarily occurs off-screen , before the main focus of the story takes place , as we have other matters to deal with . . . in the modern day , millionaire deparment store owner max shreck is trying to build a new power plant , despite the fact that gotham city already has a power surplus . why ? well , because his power plant is actually a capacitor , which will suck power in and store it . but he's not telling the mayor ( michael murphy ) or bruce wayne , who are both opposed to his plan , that . of course , max also has a secretary named selina kyle . selina strikes up a romance with bruce wayne , but , as you already know , she won't end up being selina kyle for the whole movie , and you can find out why and how when you watch for yourself . michael keaton now seems even more comfortable in the wayne/batman role , and plays it better than ever . he even looks better in the suit here ( incidentally , this is obviously the most flexible suit that any batman wears in any of the films , and it looks quite cool ) . keaton is still the definitive batman , here more than ever - he's even made his hair look less '80s for this film . it's too bad that the story doesn't focus more on him . devito plays a very good tormented , umbrella-wielding penguin , a man who wants to return to the world above and " reclaim his birthright " by becoming an appreciated member of gotham society - all while secretly plotting his own destruction schemes and revenge plots with his former circus buddies who are now his gang . he even gets to be funny at times . pheiffer is an excellent catwoman , the first foe who is a worth physical adversary to batman in the series . she's sultry , she's fun to watch , and always chews the scenery . and speaking of the scenery , it is , again , a beautiful thing to see . fills in for the late anton furst , and , although he doesn't reach the same level as furst , he does an admirable job . gotham is again a beautiful and dark world . oh , yeah . . . christopher walken ? he's walken . he's pretty much always walken . he's always a pretty good villian , because , hey , he's christopher walken . he can't compete with the penguin or catwoman , but hey , what did you expect ? danny elfman's main theme returns here , and it , along with the other music he did for this film , is much more haunting and dark this time around , with chanting often rising up from the background . this score is again beautiful , and is just as strong as the one elfman wrote for the first film . if the plot for this movie sounds odd . . . well , i suppose it is a little weird , but tim burton films are usually quirky . still , somehow it all seems to make sense on the screen , and works just great when you see it for yourself . another batman triumph for burton and keaton , batman returns has all the strong performances , cool action , great direction , gorgeous design , and powerful music of the first film . the only flaws would be that , this being our second trip through gotham , maybe we aren't as dazzled as the last time ( sort of like the problem the lost world : jurassic park [1997] had to deal with after the origina jurassic park [1993] ) , and we could've made do with more time spent with batman , and perhaps less villians . with the next film , however , batman forever ( 1995 ) , joel schumacher's reign begins , and things get even more crowded . . . so be prepared . 
