| Batman Returns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Batman Returns |
| Director: | Tim Burton |
| Writers: | Daniel Waters; Sam Hamm |
| Producers: | Ian Bryce; Tim Burton; Denise Di Novi; Larry Franco; Peter Guber; Benjamin Melniker; Jon Peters; Michael E. Uslan |
| Composer: | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography: | Stefan Czapsky |
| Editors: | Bob Badami; Chris Lebenzon |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | PolyGram Pictures Warner Bros. |
| Released: | June 19th, 1992 |
| Rating: | PG-13 |
| Running time: | 126 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $80,000,000 [1] |
| Gross: | $162,831,698 (US) [2] $266,822,355 (Worldwide) [3] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | Batman (1989) |
| Next: | Batman Forever (1995) |
Batman Returns is an American feature film of the superhero fantasy genre. It is the second installment in the original Batman film series, and follows the events of the 1989 summer smash hit, Batman. The film was directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters based on a story treatment plotted out by Waters and Sam Hamm. The movie was produced by PolyGram Pictures and Warner Bros. and released theatrically in the United States on June 19th, 1992. Batman Returns stars Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne, better known as Batman. Other returning actors to the series include Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon. This film features two primary antagonists taken from the comics, which includes Michelle Pfeiffer as the vinyl-clad seductress Catwoman and Danny DeVito as the grotesque Oswald C. Cobblepot, aka the Penguin. Also taking on a villainous role in this movie is Christopher Walken as criminal business mogul Max Schreck.
Plot[]
Batman is on the scene.
Tucker and Esther Cobblepot, an aristocratic couple, throw their deformed infant child in a river, feeling that Gotham City's high society would not approve after witnessing their son kill their pet cat. However, a flock of penguins living in an abandoned zoo's arctic exhibit connected to the sewers rescue and raise him. Thirty-three years later, the child becomes The Penguin and the leader of the Red Triangle Circus Gang, who appear in Gotham City during the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and cause a riot. As the police and Batman deal with the riot, one of the guests at the ceremony, a businessman named Max Shreck, is kidnapped and taken to Penguin, who desires to become a citizen of Gotham and blackmails Shreck into helping him by threatening to expose evidence of his corporate crimes.
Meanwhile, Shreck's secretary, Selina Kyle, has learned of her employer's plan to build a power plant which will drain Gotham of its electricity. When Shreck confronts her after returning from his visit with Penguin, he pushes her out of a window to her death, and a flock of alley cats lick her corpse, reviving her. Selina returns home, suffers a mental breakdown, and designs a black vinyl catsuit to become the costumed vigilante Catwoman.
The Penguin. Friend or Fowl?
Penguin sends one of his costumed henchmen to kidnap the mayor's baby while he "saves" him, becoming a hero to the people of Gotham. However, Batman is suspicious of Penguin's true motives. After some time in the Hall of Records, Penguin discovers that his parents are dead and his name is Oswald Cobblepot, though he has secretly been taking notes on the first-born sons that live in Gotham City. Meanwhile, Batman's alter-ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, is dealing with Shreck's persistence in having his new power plant built. As both Bruce and the current mayor will not approve of the power plant, Shreck decides to pull strings and make Penguin the new mayor. To do this, Penguin has the Red Triangle Gang create a riot, causing the citizens to lose all faith in the mayor. During the riot, Catwoman vandalizes Max's Department Store to gain revenge on him. When Batman and Penguin confront each other, she intervenes just as the store blows up and slips away. Penguin escapes as Catwoman fights Batman and gets pushed off a rooftop, but she is saved when she lands in a dump-truck filled with kitty litter.
Meow.
Penguin and Catwoman meet and collaborate on a plan to kill Batman out of mutual hatred for the Caped Crusader, but Selina finds herself developing a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne as the two of them start to spend time together. That night, the Ice Princess, an actress chosen to turn on the Gotham City Christmas tree lights, is kidnapped by Penguin and a Batarang (which one of his henchmen took from a prior fight) is found in her dressing room, framing Batman for the crime. After a fight with Catwoman, Batman finds the Ice Princess on a rooftop where the Penguin releases a swarm of flying bats and makes her fall to her death, further incriminating Batman. As he escapes to the Batmobile, Batman discovers that Penguin has control over it due to a device that his gang installed. The Penguin takes it on a devastating rampage, but Batman regains control over it and escapes death.
The next day, Penguin and Shreck are using Batman's rampage to push for an impeachment of the mayor. Batman, having recorded the Penguin's demeaning attitude of Gotham's people during the rampage, plays it during the speech, turning the people and Shreck against him. Enraged, Penguin takes his notes from the Hall of Records and orders the Red Triangle Gang to kidnap all the first-born sons of Gotham so that he can throw them to their deaths in the sewer like his own parents did to him, and he personally kidnaps Max Shreck as revenge for being manipulated. Batman saves all the children, forcing the Penguin to execute an alternate plan to destroy the entire city with his army of rocket-armed penguin commandos. However, Batman foils the plan by luring the penguins back to the Penguin's sewer base before confronting Penguin directly and knocking him into the sewer water from a great height.
On his way to save the day.
Catwoman appears and again tries to kill Shreck, but Batman stops her and reveals himself as Bruce Wayne, and she does the same as Selina. This distracts her long enough for Shreck to draw a gun and shoot her four times. She survives all the shots and puts an electrical taser between their lips while grabbing an electrical cable, causing a tremendous explosion that kills Shreck but leaves no trace of Selina. As the dust settles, Penguin rises from the water and tries one more time to kill Batman, but fails and dies from his internal bleeding. The emperor penguins hold a funeral for their former master and drag his corpse into the sewer water, his resting place.
Afterwards, Alfred Pennyworth drives Bruce home, but Bruce spots a shadow in the alley and has the car stopped so he can check. All he finds is a black cat trying to keep warm, and so Bruce takes her with him as he exchanges Christmas wishes with Alfred. As they leave, the Bat-signal lights up in the night sky as Catwoman watches from afar.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Supporting Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Vincent Schiavelli | Organ grinder |
| Steve Witting | Josh |
| Jan Hooks | Jen |
| John Strong | Sword swallower |
| Rick Zumwalt | Tattooed strongman |
| Anna Katarina | Poodle lady |
| Gregory Scott Cummins | Acrobat thug #1 |
| Erika Andersch | Knife thrower dame |
| Travis McKenna | Fat clown |
| Doug Jones | Thin clown |
| Branscombe Richmond | Terrifying clown #1 |
| Paul Reubens | Tucker Cobblepot |
| Diane Salinger | Esther Cobblepot |
| Stuart Lancaster | Penguin's doctor |
| Cal Hoffman | Happy man |
| Joan Jurige | Happy woman |
| Rosie O'Connor | Adorable little girl |
| Sean M. Whalen | Paperboy |
| Erik Oñate | Aggressive reporter |
| Joey DePinto | Shreck security guard |
| Steven Brill | Gothamite |
| Neal Lerner | Gothamite |
| Ashley Tillman | Gothamite |
| Elizabeth Sanders | Gothamite |
| Henry Kingi | Mugger |
| Joan Giammarco | Female victim |
| Lisa Coles | Volunteer bimbo |
| Frank DiElsi | Security #1 |
| Biff Yeager | Security #2 |
The Penguins![]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Batman, and all related characters are based on concepts originally developed by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane. Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May, 1939.
- Batman Returns (1992) redirects to this page.
- Executive producer Michael Uslan is credited as Michael E. Uslan in this film.
- Co-producer Larry J. Franco is credited as Larry Franco in this film.
- Actor Sean Whalen is credited as Sean M. Whalen in this film.
- Actor Erik Onate is credited as Erik Oñate in this film.
- Actress Lisa Guerrero is credited as Lisa Coles in this film.
- Actor Bobby Bell is credited as Robert N. Bell in this film.
- Production on Batman Returns began in June, 1991. Principal filming commenced on September 3rd, 1991 and concluded on February 20th, 1992. [4]
- This movie was shot entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. [5]
- This is Tim Burton's fifth feature film as a director. It is his second and final work in the Batman film series. In addition to the first film, Tim Burton is also known for directing the 1988 supernatural fantasy film Beetlejuice, the 1996 sci-fi/comedy Mars Attacks! and the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes.
- A novelization of the film was published in 1992. It was written by Craig Shaw Gardner (who also wrote the novelization for Batman), and published by Grand Central Publishing.
- DC Comics published a one-shot comic book adaptation of the film in 1992. It was released in both standard and deluxe newstand edition. The adaptation was written by longtime Batman scribe Denny O'Neil with artwork by Steve Erwin and José Luis García-López.
- The character of Max Shreck is unique to the continuity of the Batman film series and does not have a counterpart in the standard DC Universe.
- This is Michael Keaton's final film in the series playing the role of Bruce Wayne.
- The Emperor penguins that serve as Cobblepot's pallbearers at the end of the film were actually played by actors.
- Actress Cristi Conaway, who plays the Ice Princess, is best known in sci-fi circles for playing the part of Claire Hemmings in the ABC television series Timecop.
- Actor Paul Reubens, who plays Cobblepot's father, is best known by his stage name Pee-Wee Herman. He got his big break in film when he took on the lead role in the 1985 comedy Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, which was also directed by Tim Burton.
Recommendations[]
See also[]
Batman Media
The World of Batman
Batman miscellaneous
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ IMDB; Batman Returns (1992); Box office & business.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo; Batman Returns (1992); Total Lifetime Grosses; Domestic.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo; Batman Returns (1992); Total Lifetime Grosses; Worldwide.
- ↑ IMDB; Batman Returns (1992); Box office & business.
- ↑ IMDB; Batman Returns (1992); Filming locations.