The sad part about a lot of the characters is that they can be intriguing, it's just that a lot of the times something seems off. Batman, played by Michael Keaton, is still kind of awesome and is still the dark and heroic figure we all know and love. But the thing that seems a bit odd about Batman in this film is that now that he is the official hero of Gotham City, it seems like he does not care what happens to criminals once he is finished with them because he thinks he's that good, like he can get away with murder and nobody or even him for that matter could not care less...and that's exactly what happens! He actually kills about maybe one to two crooks in this film and it is never brought up again about why he did it. Um, not to sound like obnoxious fanboy but is it not one of Batman's motives NEVER to kill? Because his parents died, because somebody killed them? Is it that the point that Batman does not want to steep as low as his enemies? I feel like this Batman is just a little too confident instead of conscious are cautious like he was in the first film. Another thing is that he never seems to be on top of his game that much. Batman is always two steps ahead of his adversaries and if he ever gets in a mess he thinks up a plan and he thinks of it quick. This Batman seems to fall for tricks a lot and is rather fooled numerous times, which is why he is not as cautious and too confident like he knows he'll succeed and he doesn't have to try. Michael Keaton still does a great performance, I just think that Batman was written a little clumsy.
The Penguin, played by Danny DeVito, is another character that could have been great because of his back story and some of his motivations. You see the Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot, was born to a rich couple but with deformed hands that look like flippers. So as any cruel parents would they don't want nothing to do with the infant as they toss him into the sewers which leads him to penguins in the zoo where they raise him, wait why does the sewers lead to a penguin zoo exhibit? Anyways once he gets in contact with the citizens of Gotham 33 years later, city accepts him after rescuing the mayor's baby. Also because of Max Shreck he is offered to run for mayor of Gotham City, even though he has no idea about politics because he lived in a sewer for 33 years. So it looks like wants to be good, do good, and be friendly with the good citizens of Gotham, even though he wants to kill all the first-born sons of Gotham even though he is running for mayor, wait what? Yeah so a few of motivations do not make a lot of sense and raises a lot of questions. On top of that, not to sound like a fanboy again, but I thought the Penguin was suppose to be classy, sophisticated, and poetic. Why is it that he's unpleasant, mild mannered, wild, and savage-like in this film? I appreciate the different take, but I think they just went a little too far with the way they portrayed the character. It is not much Danny DeVito's fault, he is just acting the character he was given to play and for the most part he does it okay. I just think the direction they chose to go with him does not add up well as well as hold up. Maybe if they kept the back story and made The Penguin's motives a little more clear like he really wanted to change Gotham and believed in its greater good as well as his own, but then something went wrong and Gotham turned on him for some reason which made him turn into more of a bad guy and more of a tragic character that just wanted to be good but certain circumstances kept him away from that goal and instead showed his true colors by then turning him into a savage beast. On top of that he can have an opposition against Batman and believe about what he's doing is wrong, which is a debate that has been discussed in many Batman stories and they could have adapted that. That will give the more reason why Batman and the Penguin should be in conflict, because they have different ways of seeing things and one's belief may not be entirely right. That conflict could have been as great as Batman and the Joker's in the first film. We could have had a really good and three dimensional villain. But sadly his portrayal is just way too over the top plus his motivations are just way too silly and clumsy. There are not even good plots they are foiled too easy. There's a scene in which he sabotages the Batmobile and starts controlling it but that only lasts for two minutes, Batman foils his first-sons plan in like a second, and his final plot to turn his penguins into suicide bombers, yet another silly plot, gets foiled easily as well, by Alfred! So this Penguin is not much of a intellect either and is nowhere near as a clever plotter like the Joker.
Catwoman aka Selina Kyle, played by Michelle Pfieffer, is probably the closest we can get to a fully realized character in this film even though there is a little awkwardness to her as well plus her motivations and . Catwoman is a tragic character in this film and you do feel sorry for her a lot of times. Her actions are done in sort of a silly fashion but this the only time where I believe that set offs like this to her personality work. It is a great disguise for her tragic personality. The thing that I do not get about her though is that I 'm a little confused into whether she wants to be a hero or a villain. One scene is shown where she is saving a woman from a thug and the other shows her blowing up Max Shreck's department store. But you know what, that's the fun about the character overall even from the comics and other adaptations, she always played around on the good and bad side, you never knew which side she was really, which makes her really fascinating. But then it turns out she wants to work with the Penguin in order to get rid of Batman. Okay last fanboy gripe, isn't she suppose to be infatuated by Batman and why didn't they go with her playing around on the good and bad side. That would work great with her inner conflict of choosing a path of light or dark, whichever could make her life less miserable than it is. Her relationship I think with Bruce Wayne/Batman was done all right. It probably is as good as Bruce's love with Vicki Vale. In fact a lot of the Batman romantic relationships are done pretty good and this one is no exception. You can tell these two definitely have some chemistry going on and you can believe that they can fall in love. The scenes done with the two I think are probably the best written dialogue wise out of the entire film. Actually her relationship with Max Shreck (not romantic though) is also pretty intriguing. It is almost like that relationship between George Bailey and Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life, one wants to stand up to the fiend but there is some intimidation from the other that is holding them back, and the other can be so unrealistically cruel but plausible sake of the emotional levels in the film. It almost makes you side with Catwoman, the villain, even though is against another villain. But another problem with her is that as good as her scenes can be, sometimes in a millisecond that same scene can go completely silly and awkward it just comes out of nowhere. For example her "transformation" in which she has her mental breakdown scene as she wrecks her apartment. This a very good scene at first when she is slamming the walls and pottery in her apartment with her fists or frying pan and you definitely see the angry and sadness within her. But then she starts stabbing her stuff animals, puts them in the sink garbage disposal, sprays her clothes with black spray paint, then she sprays her dollhouse with black spray paint, it becomes silly fast. Another is when she is fighting with Batman and then starts flirting with him. Of course this not surprising seeing how this is Catwoman, but Michelle Pfieiffer's does it so awkwardly that it feels out of place. I still love the character, I still think Michelle Pfieiffer's performance works a lot more than the other actors along with Michael Keaton, there is a lot of potential, but the good stuff always seem to conflict with many over the top moments that it makes her a little unbalanced.
Then we have our third villain, Max Shreck, played by the always over the top but still oddly lovable Christopher Walken! Whether he plays a hero or a villain, like Bruce Campbell or Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Walken is a character actor, that always plays the oddball of the ensemble, the type of guy that does not belong on planet Earth sake of the character's motives and personalities but is just so likeable sake of how out of place he is. And that is exactly what this character is, despite that he plays a significant role in the film, he's so over the top and weird, that you are constantly pondering why this character was even needed or why is he so important. Maybe that's a fault the film has, but let's face it, it's Christopher Walken, he is so hard not to enjoy even if he feels a little out of place depending on the film he is in.
The action scenes within the film are not all that revolutionary but acceptable for then and standard for today. You can pretty much excuse it sake of the time this film was released, even if it is kind of corny. Tim Burton of course returns in the director's chair as he did in the last film, but unlike its predecessor I think Burton put to much of his stamps and trademarks in this one. Burton was both the director and producer of this film which meant he had a lot of control over the film's production and it REALLY shows. As much as I like a handful of Tim Burton's works, I really appreciated how in the first film Burton left his most usual and recognizable trademarks behind and went a different route, which seemed satisfyingly different. A lot of Burton-esque art, statues, and costumes are present and judging from what we saw in the last film, it is not only distracting but underwhelming. A lot of it makes the film seem more awkward and just odd.
The story is interesting. And when I mean interesting I mean interestingly weird. This film does not just have plot holes that can be overlooked, but it has questions that NEEDS to be answered! Let me give you a handful. When the Penguin is born, he just doesn't have flippers for hands, he ACTS like an animal, he grabs a cat from his little cage, as the cat is able to fit through the tight bars for some reason. What baby does that? Why was he born like that? It makes no sense! Just because he has animal-like hands does not means he has to act like one, he was just born and he was not even raised by the penguins yet so that's entirely pointless. Speaking about the penguins, why does the sewer lead to their exhibit? Wouldn't that mean that this whole time the penguins were swimming in unsanitary water? Selina Kyle is Max Shreck's secretary and she tries to make a suggestion during a board meeting but chickens out at the last minute. When Shreck leaves the room she mocks herself by saying "Stupid corn dog". WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It's so random! That's like saying "stupid cabbage" or "stupid broomstick". What's the point? Why does Max Shreck's son have the same speaking patterns as Christopher Walken when the actor is not even Walken's real son? Whatever happened to the mother for that matter? We don't though if their divorced, if she died of sickness or in a car accidemt, OR IF SHRECK KILLED HER (wouldn't surprise me), but it is never mentioned. Then the Penguin has this secret trap door that leads to his lair which is how he gets into contact with Max Shreck. Where did he find the time to build that contraption and for that matter how did he know that Shreck was going to be in that EXACT spot? The Penguin shows Shreck a couple of things that Shreck threw away in order to cover up some of his crimes. First the Penguin reveals toxic waste from a textile plant? WHY DO YOU NEED TOXIC WASTE AT A TEXTILE PLANT! You know where you make rugs and carpets! Why? Why at a textile plant that just doesn't make...okay so next the Penguin pulls out shredded documents that Shreck supposedly wanted no one to see. Okay that's understandable, but then what's this the Penguin pulls out...a hand? The hand from Shreck's ex-business partner. Wha.. wha...WHAT? Is Max that murderous? A hand? What did he do, in fact what did the business partner do for that matter to have such atrocity happen? Why does the Penguin constantly spit out black ooze from his mouth? How come whenever Selina Kyle walks into her apartment she always says "Honey I'm home" when she always acknowledges that she has no husband? If she knows well that she has no husband, WHY DOES SHE SAY IT? When Selina Kyle was snooping around Max Shreck's files she says she figures out the password to the files by typing in the name of Shreck's chihuahua Heraldo. Okay so this a pet of Shreck's right? Actually no, it's a taxidermy. WHAT!! Why does he have a taxidermy of a chihuahua? You're rich guy, why do you need a taxidermy of a very common dog species, just go to the nearest puppy store and BOOM, chihuahua! It's not like it's a bear, eagle, or lion, it's a chihuahua! Or was that a real chihuahua before but he killed it? If that's the case...PSYCHO! When Shreck pushes Selina Kyle out the window, how are all the cats attracted to her and for that matter what power do they have to resurrect her and give her all those cat powers by just biting and licking her? Why does the Penguin really want to dispose the first born sons of Gotham, what's the reasoning behind that? When the Penguin visits his parents' grave, how come it is in such a small graveyard in the middle of downtown? Weren't they rich, couldn't they afford bigger grave space? And for that matter how did they die? That's never explained! How come the Penguin is able to run for mayor even though he has absolutely no idea how politics work, how to run a city, had just been risen to the above ground in Gotham, and has no merits whatsoever, I doubt he even went to kindergarten. I guess living in the sewers with a bunch of penguins for 33 years gives you SOME merit. And if he does want to run for mayor and gain the trust and approval of the citizens of Gotham, WHY DOES HE WANT TO KILL THEIR FIRST BORN SONS? How come the zoo where he lived was abandoned. How come Catwoman LITERALLY has nine lives? When the Penguin plans to sabotage the Batmobile, how did he and his henchmen get blueprints of the Batmobile. Where did he buy those from the nearest Home Depot? You would think someone as secretive as Batman would keep his Batmobile blueprints on the down low. How come when the Penguin goes to kidnap the Ice Princess, HOW IN THE WORLD DOES SHE NOT RECOGNIZE HIM? He's been all over the media, the news, the press, and he's even running for mayor! What was this idiot just living under a rock throughout most of the film until her pretty little face can shine when her scene comes? You would think as Gotham's own Ice Princess she would know something about what's going on! When the Penguin controls the Batmobile, he uses one of those little mechanical car rides you see toddlers ride in front of grocery stores. Where...where did he get that? When Batman reveals the Penguin's evil plans through Gotham's intercoms while the Penguin gives his speech, the citizens turn on him booing and of course hurling tomatoes and cabbage at him? WHERE DID THEY GET THOSE AT A NEARBY VEGETABLE STAND OR SOMETHING? Seriously this is something you see in cartoons! Even the Penguin questions it! There is just too many questions raised in this film that needs to be answered it' so awfully weird! A lot of it just doesn't MAKE SENSE!! (Sighs) Well you would think that I hate this film and that it's bad. And yes, it is considered a very poorly done film, but the other weird thing is that I actually enjoy this film. A part from having some good things in it, this actually one of those few superhero films that I actually enjoy the goofiness, the weirdness, the awkwardness, and the over the top moments simply because they are just so entertaining, I probably think something like this would work better if it was a comedy. But that is not what Batman is supposed to be and I hope it won't. It is a serious guilty pleasure of mine, and even though it technically is a bad film, I still find it entertaining and I could sit through just fine whenever I watch, plus I believe it does have some fans. There are definitely a handful of much better superhero films out there and I could see why this would be considered very mediocre. There is nothing particularly special, outstanding, or something that can take this film series in a new and interesting direction that would leave the audience wanting more. Instead it left them quite empty which is why it is constantly panned. But as is, it's bad, but it is an enjoyable bad and I admit I find some fun out of it.
GRADE: AP
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