Analyzing The Batman Franchise (Pt. 2 of 8) : Batman Returns (1992)

Batman Returns (1992)

Directed By: Tim Burton

Batman/Bruce Wayne: Michael Keaton

Love Interest: Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Played By: Michelle Pfeiffer)

Villains: The Penguin (Danny Devito), Catwoman (MP), and Max Schreck (Chris Walken)

Score: Danny Elfman

High Points:

• Michael Keaton's Batman was serviceable, but still killed people.
• Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was dark, mesmerizing, and seductive. Make note that I said her "Catwoman" and not her Selina Kyle.
• The opening fight sequence against the Red Triangle Circus Gang was fun. (Even though Batman burned some poor bastard to death).
• Bo Welch took over the Art Direction from Anton Furst and brought us a beautiful Gotham Square during Christmas time. (There was no reason for this movie to be set during Christmas other than Gotham looks cool in the snow).
• I will outright say that I fucking love Danny Devito in whatever he is in, so I give him props here for at least trying. (Christopher Walken sure as hell didn't)
• The Penguin wore his monocle. (For like a second)
• Bruce calls Alfred out for being a dickhead when he let Vicki Vale in the Batcave in the last movie.
• I will also say I dug the Penguin for Mayor angle. (It just could have worked better with the comic book version of the character)
• The Masquerade dance sequence when Selina and Bruce discover each other's alternate identities was an emotional charged scene.
• Catwoman and Penguin do a good job framing Batman for the murder of the Ice Princess. (Then decide to do nothing with this leverage)
• The sexual tension between Batman and Catwoman was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.

Favorite Line: "Seems like every woman you try to save ends up dead... or deeply resentful. Maybe you should retire." - Catwoman

Favorite Scene: The Bat, The Cat, and The Penguin finally meet; Batman fights Catwoman

Why?: Batman may all of a sudden forget how to fight, but that's probably becuase he was mesmerized by Michelle Pfieffer.

Low Points:

• Needless Biblical references: Penguin got thrown into river like Moses, then later on wanted to kill the first born sons of Gotham. He was also 33 years old in the movie like Jesus in the Bible. So if you are religious (I am not, but to each his own) this movie is try to tell you that the Penguin is the true God.
• Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle was underdeveloped and her transformation was totally unexplained. Were the cats that bit her fingers, magical street cats? I feel like you are more likely to get Hepatitis or herpes from street cats than superpowers.
• It felt like Batman was barely in his own film.
• Penguin's terrible plans were easily thwarted. There was no tension whatsoever.
• The only time any plan worked was when Penguin framed Batman for the murder of the Ice Princess, but less than 5 mins after that occurred it was resolved.
• What the fuck was leaking from the Penguin's mouth?
• Penguin gets the Tim Burton treatment. Instead of being a high brow criminal, he is turned in a deformed perverted freak, who wants to murder children.
• Batman stopped two of Penguin's schemes by jamming frequencies with Alfred. First he pumped in audio to destroy Penguin's mayoral run, then he jammed the signal that was guiding the penguin's with missiles. Batman really could have just stayed at home the whole movie if this was all it took to stop this chubby asshole. (Seriously Danny was a more menacing villain in Lethal Weapon 5).
• Hijacking the Batmobile had no rhyme or reasoning to it. Was Penguin trying to kill Batman? Or defame him further? Just made no sense.
• Max Shrek = Cliched greedy businessman played by Chris Walken, who really didn't give a shit.
• Once again Batman and Gordon's relationship is non-existent.

Worst Line: "My dear penguins, we stand on a great threshold! It's okay to be scared; many of you won't be coming back. Thanks to Batman, the time has come to punish *all* God's children! 1st, 2nd, 3rd *and* 4th-born! Why be biased? Male and female! Hell, the sexes are equal with their erogenous zones blown sky high! Forward march! The liberation of Gotham has begun!" - The Penguin

Worst Scene: Penguin's pump up speech. 

Why?: It was the worst line for a reason. It was just such a ridiculous moment.

Verdict: Tim Burton won a lot of good will with Warners Bros because Batman (1989) was such a finical success. So with that good will came more creative freedom for Burton when he worked on Batman Returns (1992). And with that creative freedom came Tim Burton's version of the Penguin, an ugly, deformed, perverted, plump, aquatic bird boy freak. A total and complete departure from the character's comic book counterpart. As I said yesterday, Tim Burton loves his freaks. So because he didn't have another Joker to toy with, he turned the Penguin into one. Well actually Tim didn't do it alone, the screenwriter Daniel Waters (Heathers) can take some of the credit as well. Besides destroying my boy Ozzie, Water's script contained zero tension because all of the problems presented to Batman were easily resolved. For god sakes Penguin's plot to kill the firstborns, that he was working on the whole film, was stopped in two seconds. All we got to see his Batman's hands grab the train driver. But despite all those problems, I still love this movie for some reason. Could it be nostalgia, or because I had a boyhood crush on Michelle Pfieffer's Catwoman, or maybe it's because I have a massive Danny Devito bias? I don't know what it is, but I watch this movie every year around Christmas. Gotham just looks great in the snow you know? But at the end of the day I got to give this flick a reasonable rating, so Batman Returns gets a 6.5 out of 10. Danny Devito was born to play the Penguin, the real Penguin, not this fucking strange perverted version. 

Now here is a real villain!

Thanks for reading. Stayed tuned for an analysis of Batman Forever tomorrow. And make sure to follow us on Twitter @Caped_Informers or follow me @cstrand73 for all your comic book and Caped Informers news and stories.

Check out the rest of our look back at Batman's film history by clicking the link below.

Batman (1989)

More great are by Francesco Francavilla

Gotham "Viper" Review/Thoughts

Free Drugs! Get your free drugs here! Gotham is overtaken by a new "super" drug. Mild SPOILERS!

Synopsis: Gordon and Bullock search for the source of a new street drug that causes euphoria then death. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot works his way deeper into Maroni’s inner circle and Fish Mooney continues her plot against Falcone.

High Points

• Bullock likes pickles
• Bruce is the best detective on the show
• Bullock and Gordon's interplay still fun
• Edward Nygma didn't make me puke this week
• Penguin tells Maroni the truth
• David Zayas is a great Maroni
• Penguin compromises Gordon again

You haven't earn the right to call me Mama, Jaden!

Low Points

• No one questions random guy handing drugs to everyone
• Viper (Later Venom) leads to milk addiction
• Low grade special effects
• Cases are very linear
• Jada Pinket Smith's overacting has worn its welcome
• Van Gough wannabe and Super Old Man were shit villains
• No suspense
• Awful villain motivation
• Villains only exists to show Wayne Enterprises sucks
• Another episode more dead villains to never return
• Falcone is thinking with his dick

Verdict: Arrow is great. The Flash is great. The Walking Dead is usually fun. But unfortunately Gotham is quickly becoming The Agents Of SHIELD (otherwise known as Agents of SHIT) of DC comics shows. This week the new Fox hit decided to bastardize Bane's favorite drug Venom (I NEED MILK!!!). By having it created by two badly motivated villains who's grand plan was thwarted by simple having people run out of a room. The whole situation just had no suspense and was just plain boring. Five straight weeks of uninteresting cases and undeveloped quickly dead villains. Once again the redeeming part of the ep. was the Penguin. His confession to Maroni and how it subsequently affected Jim was the only exciting event to take place. Otherwise this episode was just a set up to show that Wayne Enterprises is run by shitheads. Huge surprise, since we have yet to find one decent person in the city besides Bruce, Alfred, Jim, and maybe Harvey. Well at least this WE plot thread allows lil' Batman to go on a detective case into his parents' company. Could actually be something worth watching. Unlike Fish Mooney's scheme to trick Falcone to fall in love. I thought this was a mob war not Gossip Girl. I understand Mooney is playing both sides of the coin by banging the Russian dude too, but this fake girlfriend plan is overused on TV. Overall I give "Viper" a 5.0 out of 10. Scarecrow looks to be the villain next week perhaps he can get this show out of it's early growing pains.

Thanks for reading. What did you think of Gotham's fifth episode? Sound off in the comments. Make sure to check out our reviews every week and follow our live action tweeting of every episode @Caped_Informers and @cstrand73. See you next week folks!

What did you do to Venom?

Gotham Conspiracy Theory: Is Harvey Bullock actually Bubble Bass from SpongeBob Squarepants? I don't see anyone saying he isn't the Sponge's arch nemesis. Expect the crossover soon. You heard it here first!

Gotham "Pilot" Review/Thoughts

After months of anticipation and hype Gotham is finally here. Ben Mckenzie steps up to the task of portraying a young Jim Gordon, but this pilot isn't without it's flaws...

Episode Description: Rookie detective James Gordon battles villains and corruption in the premiere of this action-adventure series set in pre-Batman Gotham City.

High Points

• Jim Gordon does a little bit of detective work
• Selina Kyle is agile
• Solid characterization of Carmine Falcone
• Fish Mooney was interesting
• Robin Lord Taylor is an intriguing yet different Oswald Cobblepot
• Donal Logue is a solid Bullock and Mckenzie is a solid Gordon
• The look of Gotham is beautiful
• Barbara Kean is pretty :)
• Gotham City is a shithole like it should be
• Enjoyed the final 10 minutes

Low Points

• Overall slow pace
• Boring action pieces
• Terrible shootouts
• Hardo Alfred is a Hardo
• Ivy Pepper and her family cause volatile body reactions
• Shoving several classic villains into the pilot
• Would like more Bruce
• People already calling Oswald "Penguin"

Verdict: I'm not going to lie, I had low expectations for this show. My heart belongs to the Batman universe and anyone who I believe is attempting to harm it automatically becomes my enemy. Everything I heard about this show going into its premiere made me think that I would detest it. To my surprise that wasn't the case. I didn't hate Gotham, but I sure as hell didn't love it either. The show has a good cast and the potential to be a new take on the tale of the early days of the comic world's most infamous city. Yet this first episode felt very slow. It also felt like a chance to cram every DC villain the general audience knows into one episode. Hopefully this series overcomes pilot syndrome and can turn into a interesting take on the early Batman mythos. Oswald Cobblepot was a standout character for me though. I wanna see more of him climbing the ranks and being a slippery fuck. Overall I give the pilot episode of Gotham a 6 out of 10. This show has potential, lets hope it lives up to it.

Thanks for reading. What did you think of Gotham's premiere episode? Sound off in the comments. Make sure to check out my reviews every week and follow our live action tweeting of every episode @Caped_Informers and @cstrand73.

New 'Gotham' Trailer and Poster

As SDCC approaches Fox has been revving up their media campaign for their Batman prequel series Gotham. As I have stated before I want this show to succeed, but everything that has come out from the pilot episode so far has made me skittish. Check out the new trailer and poster and tell us what you think.

Forget it! I just can't. 2 minutes from an episode and I have seen enough. Fuck this show. "Well aren't you a cool glass of milk" and "If I want riddles I'll read the funny pages." Are you shitting me? Where is the Bruno Heller who wrote Rome? Not the hack who is writing lines that make Arnold's Mr. Freeze quotes seem Shakespearean.

Now for the poster. Maybe this will help my better my expectations.

Nope! Ivy Pepper and Fish Mooney. Who is coming up with these names? Was Pamela Isley too real of a name for them? And on second thought why is she even on the show? How many villains are in this damn pilot episode?

Fox will be airing the pilot for Gotham at SDCC in two weeks and the show will airing episodes on Mondays starting in September. I can't wait...

Source: Batman-News

Carol Kane Cast As Penguin's Mom on 'Gotham'

Carol Kane (Taxi) has joined the cast of Fox's Gotham as Oswald Cobblepot's Mom, Gertrud Kapelput. TVLine broke the news earlier today and was also able to grab a brief character overview, Gertrud will be a "proud and faded beauty with delusions of grandeur." Kane will be working closely with Robin Lord Taylor to bring the Cobblepots to life.

Listen, I have given this show a lot of shit. Most of it is unjustified since it has yet to air an episode. The pilot will air at SDCC in a few weeks and we as fans will hear the first reactions soon. I really am hoping this shows turns out well. I am a Batman fan through and through. What irks me though is from what I have heard about this show, it is very much like the usual cop bullshit on TV today. I just don't want to watch them destroy an iconic Batman villain every week with some crappy cop drama. Every week a fucking goose chase to find out pre-supervillain assholes like Waylon Jones (Killer Croc) were stealing Snickers bars from 7-11's to feed their drunk parents or some shit.

Source: TV Line

Does that mean Pee Wee Herman is no longer his Dad?

First Trailer of Fox's Gotham Released

You've read the questionable plot synopses. You've seen the questionable pictures. Now prepare to view the first questionable trailer for Fox's DC based project Gotham! As mentioned earlier, Gotham just recently got the green-light after Fox strongly approved of the pilot episode and mere moments afterwards they released a sneak-peek of what is to come. Personally, I am still a bit skeptical about a show that heavily advertises Batman's villains without the Caped Crusader himself. Perhaps they are banking on the general public to not realize that the villains arrived in Gotham because of Batman and not the other way around? That being said, I am still excited to see what the show has in store. And who knows? Maybe Cobblepot and Nygma weren't so much as villains back in the day, as they were just misunderstood men brimming with redeeming qualities. We all know how much America loves the redemption story, am I right Avi Arad? Anyway check out the trailer and feel free to give us your input on how you feel this show is shaping up. And be sure to pause it at 1:17 to get the first official glimpse of creepy Alfred in the background. Enjoy!                    
                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                      -Ryan

FOX Releases Official Image of Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin

Here we are again folks, Fox released yet another character image from it's upcoming series Gotham. This time it is Robin Lord Taylor who will be playing Mr. Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin. Lets start with the nose. The iconic Penguin has that pointed nose, as does Taylor. Thats a good start. Next where is the monocle? You mean to tell me that the owner of the prestigious Iceberg Lounge isn't going to have his monocle? This worries me. At least humor us with a cheap pair of reading glasses. Another thing is, this is just a head shot where as the other images that have been revealed were all full body. We all know The Penguin is a plump little man with a big temper, it's hard to even tell if Robin Lord Taylor packed the pounds on, or if he is still the skinny lad we saw in Accepted. I guess we will just have to wait and see. As we always say continue to look for the images and material being released. Heres the image let us know what you guys think!

Also, follow us on Twitter! @Caped_Informers

Source: Fox.com/GOTHAM

             http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=96742

First Images of Harvey Bullock, Gordon, and Penguin from GOTHAM TV series

Comic Book Resources has revealed the first images from Fox's upcoming television series GOTHAM. These images give us the first look at Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), Detective Jim Gordan (Ben Mckenzie) and Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (Lord Taylor). At first glance Logue looks a lot like the classic Batman TAS Harvey Bullock. He's got the trench coat, the hat, and the scruffyness that we love to see. Second, Ben, where is the mustache and glasses??? The people are demanding the iconic Jim Gordan here man. This is just an opinion from the one picture so hopefully we will see the glasses/mustache look. Lastly that news paper Cobblepot is holding we can make out something about a young detective and something about the Wayne Family. Is it the article revealing the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne? Can't be 100% sure but we should continue keeping our eyes open for more on-set pictures.

Feel free to speculate and form your own opinions!! here are the pics and article

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=96298

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=51537