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Batman Returns (1992)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 47
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 10

Director Tim Burton's dark, brooding atmosphere, Michael Keaton's work as the tormented hero, and the flawless casting of Danny DeVito as The Penguin and Christopher Walken as, well, Christopher Walken make the sequel better than the first.

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 3

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 559,754

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Movie Info

In this first sequel to 1989's Batman, the Caped Crusader (Michael Keaton) is up against the Penguin (Danny DeVito), the hideously deformed scion of a wealthy Gotham City family. The Penguin plots with evil businessman Max Schreck (Christopher Walken) to become mayor and then turn Gotham into a cathedral of crime. Upon overhearing these plans, Schreck's mousy secretary Selena Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) is tossed from a high-rise window by her boss. Rescued by a covey of kittens, Selena transforms

PG-13, 2 hr. 6 min.

Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: Tim Burton

Written By: Daniel Waters, Sam Hamm

In Theaters: Jun 19, 1992 Wide

On DVD: Apr 29, 1997

Warner Bros. Pictures

Batman Returns Trailer & Photos

Cast

Michael Keaton
Batman / Bruce Wayne
Danny DeVito
The Penguin/Oswald Cobb...
Michelle Pfeiffer
Catwoman/Selina Kyle
Christopher Walken
Max Shreck
Michael Gough
Alfred Pennyworth
Cristi Conaway
Ice Princess
Michael Murphy
The Mayor of Gotham
Pat Hingle
Police Commissioner Gor...
Andrew Bryniarski
Chip Shreck
Jan Hooks
Jen
Paul Reubens
Penguin's Father
Vincent Schiavelli
Organ Grinder
Steve Witting
Josh
Steven Brill
Gothamite 1
Debbie Lee Carrington
Emperor Penguins
Lisa Coles
Volunteer Bimbo
Joey de Pinto
1st Shreck Security Gua...
Frank di Elsi
Security 1
Joan Giammarco
Female Victim
Robert Gossett
TV Anchorman
Doug Jones
Thin Clown
Anna Katarina
Poodle Lady
Henry Kingi
Mugger
Stuart Lancaster
Penguin's Doctor
Neal Lerner
Gothamite 2
Travis McKenna
Fat Clown
Erik Onate
Aggressive Reporter
Branscombe Richmond
1st Terrifying Clown
Diane Salinger
Penguin's Mother
Felix Silla
Emperor Penguin
Ashley Tillman
Gothamite 3
Marlon Wayans
Sean Whalen
Paperboy
Biff Yeager
Security 2
Rick Zumwalt
Tattooed Strongman
Margarita Fernandez
Emperor Penguin
Elizabeth Sanders
Gothamite 4
John Strong
Sword Swallower
Gregory Scott Cummins
Acrobat Thug One
Steve Whitting

Critic Reviews for Batman Returns

All Critics (47) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (10) | DVD (23)

Something about the filmmaker's eccentric, surreal, childlike images seems to strike a deep chord in the mass psyche: he makes nightmares that taste like candy.

July 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Newsweek

| Comment

David Ansen

Newsweek

Top Critic

Exhaustingly inventive.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

More of the same, but nowhere near as good (funny, disturbing, obsessive) as the uneven original, revealing arrested development on every level.

April 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comments (4)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Where Burton's ideas end and those of his collaborators begin is impossible to know, but result is a seamless, utterly consistent universe full of nasty notions about societal deterioration, greed and other base impulses.

April 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Todd McCarthy

Variety

Top Critic

Because the film's predominant motif is that of wounded individuals re-inventing themselves as wily villains, its most memorable episodes are early ones explaining each main character's transformation.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

Burton uses the summer's most explosively entertaining movie to lead us back into the liberating darkness of dreams.

May 12, 2001 Comment (1)

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

A darkly violent take on the comic-book hero.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Ed Grant

Common Sense Media

O design de produ��o � inspirado e Keaton busca conferir peso dram�tico ao her�i, mas o roteiro � pedestre e Ping�im jamais se torna um vil�o interessante. Por outro lado, a sensualidade de Pfeiffer quase redime o filme. Quase.

July 21, 2008 Comment (1)

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

Bigger, better and more sophisticated than the first outing.

November 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

The fights and chases are incoherent and over-the-top, with the result being confusion rather than suspense.

April 16, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

This is less of a sequel than reworking of the first film's themes, with greater attention paid to the villains (all colorful and more intriguing than the hero) and more visually inventive set pieces, albeit contained in a less coherent work.

April 20, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Bigger, louder, more relentlessly action-packed than its predecessor, Batman Returns batters its audience into submission.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment (1)

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

We can finally look back on these films and give them their due without undue feelings of frustration getting too much in the way...

December 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

| Comment

Scott Collura

Now Playing Magazine Source: Now Playing Magazine

A bizarre mixture of poetic brilliance and clumsy ineptitude.

October 20, 2005 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

[The villains have] fascinating stories to crowd Keaton's hero out of the picture.

October 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

| Comment

Brian Thomas

Now Playing Magazine Source: Now Playing Magazine

About the only thing it had going for it was Pfeiffer in a catsuit, stiletto heels, with a whip. Wowsers.

October 7, 2005 Comments (2)

Widgett Walls

Needcoffee.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Batman Returns

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A corporate shark teams up with a mutant sewer dweller to try and take over Gotham City not counting on interference from both Batman and a vengeful employee reborn as the patent leather clad Catwoman. Tim Burton's sequel to his "nice try but no cigar" re-invention of Batman is a big improvement in every department.

November 5, 2006

xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

Perfect casting choice and a worth sequel, it's always films like this that keep you truly entertained until the credits.

October 27, 2011

Scott Green

Super Reviewer

Batman Returns Quotes

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1. The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: Why is their always someone who brings eggs and tomatoes to a speech?
– Submitted by Rocky F (2 months ago)
1. The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: [while being bombarded by food] Why is their always someone who brings eggs and tomatoes to a speech?
– Submitted by Filipe M (2 months ago)
1. Catwoman/Selina Kyle: You poor guys. Always confusing your pistols with your privates.
– Submitted by Jozef H (5 months ago)
1. Max Shreck: Selina? Selina Kyle, you're fired! And Bruce Wayne, why are you dressed up like Batman?
2. Catwoman/Selina Kyle: Because he is Batman, you moron!
– Submitted by Damian O (5 months ago)
1. Max Shreck: Bottom line: if she tries to blackmail me, I'll drop her out a higher window. Mean time, I got better fish to fry.
– Submitted by Damian O (5 months ago)

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