Tim Burton Gave Us the Strangest ‘Batman’ Film and No One Ever Talks About It
Tim Burton is known for wonderfully weird movies. For example, he gave the world the single most unusual entry in the Batman film franchise. Despite this, few fans talk about the film anymore. When they do talk about it, it’s for all the wrong reasons.
Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ inspired 1 of the oddest sequels in Hollywood history
The first blockbuster movie about the Caped Crusader was 1989’s Batman. It was the darkest onscreen portrayal of the title character up to that point. It also showed off a different side of superheroes to a generation that had been raised on the campy 1960s show Batman starring Adam West.
A sequel to Burton’s movie was inevitable. He gave us Batman Returns, an uncanny mishmash of disconnected elements. The film is about The Penguin, a deformed villain whose parents threw him into a river when he was a child because of his appearance. He ends up getting raised by penguins who live in the sewer (?). He grows up, runs for mayor of Gotham, and concocts a scheme to kill the firstborn sons of Gotham around Christmas. The references to biblical stories about Moses and Jesus seem incongruous for a supervillain.
Meanwhile, a put-upon secretary named Selina Kyle is pushed out a window by her boss. This causes her to crack, and she becomes a nearly feral Catwoman. Despite its title, the return of Batman is the least interesting thing about Batman Returns.
How fans remember ‘Batman Returns’
Everything about Batman Returns is gonzo. The film reuses bits and pieces of the Bible, The Phantom of the Opera, and German Expressionist cinema without ever feeling thematically cohesive. It’s still fascinating, particularly due to Michelle Pfeiffer’s otherworldly take on Catwoman.
However, because of The Penguin’s pathetic backstory and defeat, the film is usually described as “dark” rather than “strange.” It’s a real shame too. At a time when superhero movies are becoming more and more homogenous, Batman Returns feels more and more unique.
What Tim Burton thought of the movie in retrospect
During a 2022 interview with Empire, Burton discussed his retrospective view of Batman Returns. “It is funny to see this now, because all these memories come back of, ‘It’s too dark,'” the Nightmare Before Christmas visionary said. “So, it makes me laugh a little bit.”
Burton criticized the general consensus surrounding Batman Returns. “I’m not just overly dark,” he said. “That represents me in the sense that… that’s how I see things. It’s not meant as pure darkness. There’s a mixture. “I feel really fondly about it because of the weird experiment that it felt like.”
After Batman Returns sparked controversy, director Joel Schumacher took the Batman series in a much campier direction, famously giving us a version of the Batsuit with nipples. “[Back then] they went the other way,” Burton recalled. “That’s the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. OK. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f*** yourself.’ Seriously. So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up [doing a third film].””
Love or hate Batman Returns, we haven’t seen another film quite like it.
