the Penguin remains more of a cardboard cut-out than a fish-and-blood character impersonating nightmares, and even the slightly surprising sexual passages between Batman and Catwoman (there’s a lick rather than a kiss) seem more like sparring than the real thing.
Only the special effects impart the true liveliness the proceedings need, but that’s par for too many courses nowadays to represent Burton adequately. Style and content have to match.
Maybe he was trapped in this enormous film, like many have been before him. Possibly, the fantasy has a slight case of Hollywood elephantitis. Whatever the reason, Batman Returns, for all its efforts at being different and better, remains beached in its clever settings and cheap psychological insights.
It’s the kind of film which has great stills but never quite comes alive when it actually moves - likely to win at the box-office quicker than it does in the mind. Which, considering what Burton is capable of, may not ultimately be the best bargain, except on the way to the bank or the bargaining positions for the inevitable Batman III.
So i take it you didn’t like my edit then?