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| The Unsung Hero |
Author: Gotham Knight
Fri, 18th July 2008 |
| Batman Returns Review |
I’d first like to thank the members and faculty of BATMAN MOVIE ONLINE for letting me obsess over two underrated films that will likely never see a conclusion.
I’ve decided over bashing you with information that’s been over (and over) thought seems at this point an exercise in over saturation and I will strive to give you my pure raw feelings and perspective toward BATMAN RETURNS.
All right, lets get on with it, shall we?
Michael Keaton returns to the role of the dark knight. When we find his character, we quickly discover that Batman has settled into the (Anti)heroic duties in Gotham City, while Bruce Wayne has entered a reclusive lifestyle. One would think with that set up Bruce is destined to take a back seat, occasionally moving a strenuous romantic subplot while his crime fighting alter ego expediently goes to hacking his way through a new host of adversaries as was the case of a lot of superhero films, and was more or less the case of the film’s predecessor. Not this time. What’s interesting about this go round is that Keaton is allowed to explore Bruce Wayne more as an older character who has slunk further into the shadows and begun to fuse with his Batman persona. While it is widely agreed among diehard fans that Bruce Wayne’s identity is almost non-existent, and that is indeed the case when we first see Bruce Wayne brooding alone in the dark, Returns capitalizes on what Vicki Vale did to evolve the character to a point where it is believable to think that Bruce Wayne is not completely absent and merely the weaker identity, who by seeing a life he could have had is starting to gain momentum once Selina comes into the picture. For the better part of the first quarter of the film, Batman is nothing but the detective, tirelessly researching the mysterious Penguin man, until he meets a reborn Selina Kyle.
Furthermore one has to look at Batman as the anti-hero. He moves violently on a path of vengeance. For Batfans who claim this is an inappropriate place to take Batman have far too much loyalty in the written pages of Batman: Year One (A brilliant story that helped cement Batman back into his dark roots but hardly definitive, Dennis O’Neil truly began putting the ‘dark’ back years earlier) and not the realistic and fluid progression of a personality. Batman, no matter how you slice him in any portrayal, is a deranged/scarred individual who is acting on what he has been programmed to do by a deranged/scarred society. Can I get away with a comparison? (pleeeassseeee, pretty pleasssseee) Within that context, Batman has been taken to ‘the best case scenario’ with West/Clooney, and the ‘middle ground’ with Kilmer/Bale. In each of these I’ve found the character, more often than not, ends up getting caught in a host of hypocrisies that alone help grow the character as person, but together start me to seriously questioning what the director is trying to do. Example, Nolan’s Batman proclaims not to kill, then does so, claims that he will solely upload justice and not take revenge, yet rather than become a police officer, has put on a bat costume, and recently in The Dark Knight, has started spying on the private lives of others.(Do I have to point out the irony there?) Each of these elements serve to grow the character singularly, but together point out the flaws of trying to make him too heroic or with the ladder subject in TDK too relevant in issues with America’s current government policy in the first place and why the world doesn’t need another superman. It needs someone who can represent some of society’s most grotesque human qualities and still be allowed to have someone say, “That’s a hero.” When Burton took Batman to the ‘worst case scenario,’ as sadistic as he became in his lowest points, there was something honestly human about it. It presents to us the ugly truth about human society and tells us not to be fooled by the holier than thou attitude so many try to disguise themselves with. At one point or another, we’ve all succumbed to something that might make another cringe and see us as animal and hideous. But, we’ve also pushed our limits in how far we can go for the right call…the noble call. That’s the beauty of having a hero that has done the same thing. He doesn’t have to represent the best qualities in us that none of us encompass individually …he needs only to represent us…flaws and all. Burton’s Batman encompassed humanity.
The primary focus of Bruce Wayne is the relationship with Selina, saying that YES there CAN be a Bruce, and together Keaton and Pfeiffer have the best on screen chemistry in any comic book film. It’s funny, genuine, and even slightly disturbing to watch him confess his inability to reconcile his duality. By establishing an equal, Bruce Wayne can be more than a farce. It also establishes a transitional story for Batman. By the time he discovers that Selina and Catwoman are one and the same he is struck with a revelation of just how similar they are. Like Batman in the first film, Selina is on a path of revenge against the sadist appendage of Gotham City that created her. In being able to, in a way, step outside of himself, Bruce can see the folly of his ways, of course, too late save Selina and achieve some kind of wholeness with her, but enough to suggest that Shreck be taken to the police rather than brutally murdered off.
Michelle Pfeifer and Burton together created the most powerful vision of a female anti-heroine in any comic book film. It was unique because typically while a strong female character in film lead by a male can usually pick spots for ballsiness, is still ultimately made the victim screaming for assistance (though one could argue that the climax of the film indeed gives us a conflicted, victimized Selina reaching out.) She is the very picture of extreme feminism and sensuality and I love every minute of it. She is also the mirror image of Batman two times more angry and sadistic. She is Batman from B89 caught in a downward spiral unable to rationalize what’s happened to her beyond herself. Batman could at least find interest in the common good. Catwoman can’t see it…yet. And it’s through her that Batman can finally make the better choices that will concrete him as a hero and not a madman…even if it costs him just a much of his soul.
Like Batman she goes through a life altering transformation. She is a victim of Gotham City rather than a victim victimized in Gotham. I’ve always said that the truly heinous people in Burton’s Gotham are appendages of the city and ultimately a critique of society and its underbelly. You basically have two extremes connected into one another around gray matter, mirroring each other…making each other, a vicious circle of violence that only begets more violence… as Batman said of Joker in B89. It’s a dark city and the oddities its spawns are their super villains…or heroes. Dark City, dark heroes. I firmly believe in Catwoman as an anti-hero arch that Burton kept alive for the purpose of revisiting.
Oswald (Penguin) is a sympathetic villain to say the least as an orphan with a grudge against people and their alienating culture. He is the high point of the larger critique of society in Burton’s film. He was doomed to be evil by the people surrounding him all because of how he looked. His portrayal shames pseudo-intellectuals who constantly reiterate how you live your life or behave is entirely your choice and no one else’s. It proclaims that half the choices you make are by somebody else. His parents left him to rot, his freakish appearance forced him to live like an animal. Sometimes you’re messed up no matter what and even though he is insane and barbaric, we can only blame ourselves for not embracing him in the first place and thus avoiding what he became.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that because he isn’t exactly what was seen in the comics that he automatically couldn’t be a valid interpretation or just straight up better. I’ll go ahead and say it. Penguin was a weak ass villain in the comic books, an insufferable bore.
Danny Devito and Tim gave him what he was lacking…character.
Max Shreck is Christopher Walken at his best. He steps into Jack Nicholson’s shoes as the bad ass with few ties and a sadistic issue with the city at large with power in his sights. Max Shreck is film noir through and through, moral ambiguity to the max. He is the puppet master of the movie, the catalyst that starts the fire. He kills Selina Kyle, he manipulates Oswald, and he’s white collar and savvy enough elude Batman’s detection. I personally see him as Tim Burton’s dark alter ego that subtly movies the major storyline. Fabulous original character.
What’s fascinating about this movie is that it is only a comic book movie at face value. It has characters of a comic book nature in it and has enough explosions in it to satisfy a more lax action crowd. Beyond that it is really a solid character study and character drama. The plot itself is very basic. Batman battles against the duo of the Penguin and Catwoman while Max Shreck tries to stock pile Gotham’s power into a generator to gain personal power. The soul of this film is the analysis of Batman and the world he lives in.
The true heart of the movie comes from four places. One, the interconnecting relationships, most notably Catwoman/Kyle and Batman/Wayne & Max Shreck and Ossy/Penguin.
Two, the way in which truly all the characters reflect one side of Bruce Wayne. The joyless bureaucrat, the revengeful orphan outcast who has been alienated either by society or himself, and the balance of a dual identity that takes its toll on one’s soul.
Three, the shocking visuals that tell a story of their own. Anyone who claims that Burton is just a visual director and the only way he tells his stories is through flashy imagery…I don’t agree, but visuals are a strong forte of his...and if we assume that assessment is true…have you ever seen a silent movie…Not exactly know for the bitchin’ dialogue, yet some of them manage to be the argued as some of the greatest films ever made…nuff said.
A piece of Batman’s soul was lost before the final credits rolled. His victory was hollow…as were the films that followed in Batman Returns’ footsteps.
Last edited by ral on Wed, 27th May 2009 at 6:09pm
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