Batman Returns (1992)
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 63
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 12
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: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 4
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.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 559,754
My Rating
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
Jun 19, 1992 Wide
Apr 29, 1997
Warner Bros. Pictures
Watch It Now
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 -
-
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 -
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (12) | DVD (24)
As Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands reminded us, Burton always has been more absorbed by what his audience sees than by what his movies say.
Top CriticBatman Returns is the rarest of Hollywood beasts -- a sequel that's better than the original
Burton, once an animator at Disney, understands that to go deeper, you must fly higher, to liberation from plot into poetry. Here he's done it. This Batman soars.
As in the first movie, Burton gives the material a luxurious masked-ball quality and a sly contemporary wit without violating the myth's low, cheesy comic-book origins.
Burton and company return to the prickly humor that gave such a jolt to the earlier film -- frequently finding it in unexpected places.
This time the richness of the Batman movie is not in its production design but rather in Burton's and screenwriter Daniel Waters' Freudian view of adult human behavior.
DeVito and Pfeiffer make formidable foes and formidable fun.
Batman has begun to exhibit more of the qualities Burton finds so interesting.
It's not really a movie. It's a painting and Burton is a painter, a Hieronymus Bosch for our time. The thing seems to come straight from his subconscious and unspool in dream-logic.
It's the kind of film which has great stills but never quite comes alive when it actually moves -- likely to win at the box-office quicker than it does in the mind.
Batman Returns is as bitter as it is biting. Ingenious though it is, it makes you squirm as often as it makes you laugh.
Retains the original's dark currents while adding some colorful new characters.
Kind of a lousy Batman film, and also kind of a great Burton film.
A step up from "Batman" but not by much, unfortunately...
Batman was no longer torn from the pages of a funny book, but peeled off the bottom of a pair of Dr. Martens.
A darkly violent take on the comic-book hero.
It's a triumph of style over substance, a romantic tragedy both as a story and as a movie.
Audience Reviews for Batman Returns
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: You've gotta admit, I've played this stinking city, like a harp from hell!
-
- The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: I saw her first, got to fly.
-
- Max Shreck: Bruce Wayne, what are doing dressed up as Batman?
- Catwoman/Selina Kyle: He is Batman, you idiot!
-
- Catwoman/Selina Kyle: I am Catwoman, hear me roar.
-
- The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: It's time... These are the names of the first born sons of Gotham City, just like I was. And just like me, a terrible fate awaits them. Tonight, while their parents party, they'll be sleeping in their safe cribs, their soft beds. And we will catch them, carry them into the sewer and toss them into a deep, dark watery grave!
- Fat Clown: Um, Penguin? I mean, killing sleeping babies... isn't that a little...
- The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: [shoots Fat Clown] No, it's a LOT! [kicks him into water]
-
- Volunteer Bimbo: Oh, Mr. Cobblepot... You're the best role model a young person could have.
- The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot: And you are the best young person a role model could have!
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Batman Returns yet.
Latest News on Batman Returns
May 22, 2013:
Comic Book Movies You Can Watch OnlineComic book movies are all the rage these days, and every year we see more of them hitting theaters...
July 11, 2008:
Revisiting Old Batman TrailersWe've all enjoyed the long parade of trailers for The Dark Knight -- but do you remember the...
June 2, 2006:
"Heathers" Creators Reteam for Indie "Sex"Fans of the dark comedy classic known as "Heathers" should be pleased to learn that...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Trailer for new Coen Bros movie
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More 0
- Video: The Hangover Part III Cast Interviews 0
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 36
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 9
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
- Digital Multiplex: Warm Bodies and Aftershock 9
Top Headlines
-
Evan Peters Joins X-Men: Days of Future Past
0
-
Toby Jones Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier
0
-
The Poltergeist Reboot May Actually Be a Sequel
1
-
Will Forte Promises MacGruber 2
0
-
Universal Plans Timecop Reboot
0
-
Return of the Jedi Turns 30
0
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Batmans Rückkehr (DE)
- Batman, Le Défi (FR)
