Batman ReturnsBatman's box office clout emboldened Burton to invest even more of his own sensibility in the sequel.
Plumbing even murkier psychological depths in the Dark Knight's tormented pathology (and those of his antagonists), Burton likewise went full tilt stylistically, enlisting his Edward Scissorhands Director of Photography Stefan Czhapskey (who would work again with Burton on Ed Wood) to realise a heightened sense of dream-like violence.
Michael Keaton reprised his role as the conflicted caped crusader, with destabilising psychosexual energy unleashed in the latex-clad form of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Danny De Vito's grotesque, demented Penguin elicits unexpected poignancy when the super-villain's destructive instincts are seen through the prism of repressed childhood trauma.
Screens in an imported print.
