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Moriarty (from www.aint-it-cool.com) gave Batman Returns an extensive and in-depth review. Read it to find out what's ''wrong'' with this movie, and of course to find out why it is so highly regarded amongst many if you happen to be one of those that say ''It's not Batman''.

Strap in, kids. I’ve got a lot to say about this deeply misunderstood film. Upon its initial release, BATMAN RETURNS was deemed a commercial disappointment, and the general public seemed to feel that, in some way, Tim Burton had made a mistake, or had ''ruined'' the BATMAN sequel. I was a fan even then, and my love of the film has only grown in the years since. However, even with films I am fond of, I force myself to take long breaks between viewings. The last time I watched BR was in early ‘95, on laserdisc. After that, it sat on a shelf, just waiting for me to find the right time to pick it back up and re-examine its special wonders. The release of Joel Schumacher’s epic BATMAN IN RUBBER seemed to be the right time.

Boy, am I glad I did. BATMAN RETURNS was a whole new film for me, and a better one than ever before. This was the first time I truly picked up on what I believe the purpose of the film is. It’s something much bigger than just making a ''cool superhero movie''. In fact, I think the last thing on Burton’s mind was telling a typical action story. Instead, this is a tribute to German Expressionism, and a chance to examine the fragmentation of personality. It’s a witty, multi-leveled screenplay that reveals greater riches the deeper the viewer digs, and there are any number of greatish performances to choose from. Of course, there’s Michael Keaton at the heart of the thing. Let me first say that I’m no great admirer of the original 1989 BATMAN, having felt it was a case of missed potential. In particular, I never felt that Keaton really clicked with his dual role. By contrast, his work in the sequel is bold, cool, and confident. His performance reveals a man who has forgotten how to effectively be Bruce Wayne. He’s not really alive until he puts on the Batsuit and goes to work. He is truly losing his grip on ''normal'' life, and he doesn’t seem to mind in the least. A common criticism of the film is that it’s not really about Batman... but that’s not true. Not at all. In fact, every character in this movie is in some way a dark, perverted mirror of the various fragments of Bruce/Batman’s shattered personality.

There’s The Penguin... left without parents to rot, planning revenge on the forces that be. Wayne works his parental loss out nightly, and that’s really all The Penguin is doing. They simply act out in very different ways. In the first scene of The Penguin on TV, Bruce is shaken by his story. When Alfred asks why, Bruce can only mumble, ''I hope he finds his parents''. There’s also a sense that Bruce does not ''belong'' among normal people anymore. He seems uncomfortable with the most mundane things. He’s as much a freak on the inside as The Penguin is on the outside. Danny DeVito does some of the finest work of his career here, and Stan Winston’s brilliant makeup helps him in large part. There’s no doubt that this particular incarnation of The Penguin waddled out of the mind of Tim Burton... even without seeing his sketches of the character, I can guess exactly what they looked like. This is a fantastic realization of one of Tim’s ideas, brought to life. It’s a wicked reimagining of the character, and unlike the changes Joel Schumacher has made to comic continuity, there’s a reason for it. Burton’s work always deals with outsiders, characters on the fringe, and The Penguin is a signature creation. It’s hard to believe that anyone could just call him ''the bad guy'' of the piece after the haunting opening sequence, one of the finest five minute segments of Tim’s career as a filmmaker so far. Like a dark, twisted Moses, the baby Cobblepot is set afloat, only to be taken in by... penguins in the sewers?! That’s the first hint that this is not going to be some safe, predictable comic book ride.

Catwoman, or Selina Kyle, is a totally different side of Batman’s personality, reflected back and distorted. The timid Kyle really comes into her own following her trauma, finding a voice and a power that she would have never had the nerve to claim as her own if not for Max Shreck’s actions. She is clearly the side of Batman that gets off on the whole thing, and I don’t mean that flippantly. If you really watch Batman in this movie, he loves his toys and his gadgets. Given the choice between the stairs or his funky Iron Maiden elevator chute, he takes the chute. After all... that’s why he built it, right? I can believe this particular Bruce Wayne is the kind of guy who would spend the time and the money to build all these bizarre, almost fetishistic items. As much as Schumacher wanted to make the ''kinky'' Batman, a sculpted butt does not signify kink. It’s behavior, the psychology of what makes these people tick. That’s why Bruce and Selina are so drawn to one another. They recognize something in each other, some sort of strange energy. Just as much as it attracts them, it also drives them apart. The ''love'' scene set on the couch in Wayne Manor is smart and funny because it acknowledges the double life they’re leading, with them wanting to give in completely, but with their wounds keeping them apart. The very best moment in the movie is at Shreck’s costume ball, when the only two people to show up without masks are Selina and Bruce, although the argument could be made that those are their masks... that they are only really themselves as Catwoman and Batman. As the two of them dance, we see that Selina is holding on to the last bit of her sanity as best she can, and that she really wants to do what she sees as ''good'' by killing Shreck. Bruce tries to talk her out of it, and the two of them accidentally end up echoing some dialogue they had said to each other earlier in their other personas. ''A kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it...'' Bruce slips, and there is a moment, wonderfully performed by Keaton and Pfeiffer, of pure recognition. Bruce pulls her to himself, and as tears fill her eyes, she says, torn apart by the thought, ''Does this mean we have to start fighting?'' There has been no more human or naked moment in any of the films so far.

Finally, there’s Shreck, the ''extra'' villain. I’ve heard people say that he’s useless, that he adds nothing to the film. Yet, he manages to mirror another part of Bruce, the businessman. Even though Wayne seems to be a decent sort, it’s hard to be a billionaire and be completely clean. Bruce manages to stay above the daily dirt of his business empire, detached and therefore ''innocent.'' Shreck, on the other hand, revels in his power to buy and sell practically anyone or anything. His manipulations of Gotham politics and money are in direct opposition to Bruce’s hands-off quality. He is exactly what Bruce could become with just a little push. So is Catwoman, and so is The Penguin. The fact that each of these characters cuts so close is what really fuels Batman in this film. He may not recognize or acknowledge what really scares him about this trio, but we can.

The creepiest moment in the whole thing is when Selina has just trashed Shreck’s department store, and she comes tumbling out to find Batman and The Penguin already exchanging threats. They’re alone, and they’re all three able to be honest about who and what they are. The moment is interrupted by the explosion of the store, but for just a moment, there is no one else in Gotham. We’re truly deep inside Batman’s warped head. Tim’s visuals in this film are extraordinary, and Bo Welch, his production designer deserves as much of the credit as Stefan Czapsky, his photographer. It’s appropriate that the film is set during the Christmas season, because it’s chilly, through and through. These people are all broken, in pain, and acting out. The ''normal'' people are just as freaky in their own ways. There’s the shallow, vapid Ice Princess, the ineffectual Mayor, and even Alfred, frustrated and growing impatient with the nightly prowls of his employer. There is humor here, but it’s the kind that makes you uncomfortable even as you laugh. Burton must have read every single review for the original BATMAN, because he addresses some of the most common complaints about that film. One bit of dialogue in particular has Wayne taking shots at Alfred for letting Vicki Vale into the Batcave, one of the first movie’s most unrepentantly stupid moves. There’s little oddball touches, like Batman in the Batcave answering the phone with his mask still on (just how well does one hear through several inches of rubber, anyway?) or Bruce Wayne doing a scratch on the CD he uses to ruin The Penguin. They’re small, though, not like the massive punchlines of the first film. And there’s genuine pathos, too. The final moments between Selina/Catwoman and Batman/Bruce are agonizing. Each of them desperately wants and needs a human connection, but Selina manages to recognize that she’s too far gone to turn back. Rather than drag Bruce down with her, she seems to sacrifice herself, taking Shreck out for good. The fact that Bruce pulls off his mask when he faces her shows him reaching out, trying to be ''normal'', trying for what he thinks everyone else has. The rejection destroys him, though, and sets the stage for a darker, even more troubled Batman that never surfaced, thanks to the guiding hand of Warner execs and the magic of Goldsman/Schumacher. It’s a shame... if Burton had kept at it, who knows where he would have taken the character? He proves conclusively with this film that he understands the complexity and psychological richness inherent to the character. It’s a shame we’ll never know how much further he could have gone.