Batman Returns, the black comedy

[Catwoman]

This is a cut and paste from the reply box in the "still the darkest" thread. I was replying to it but I went another direction and I'm an egotistical bitch anyway so I thought I would give it its own fresh thread to stir a new discussion and see if anyone else looks at it in this way. Sooo...

The great thing about these movies is that everyone sees them in their own way, but at the same time there's no expiration date on what they can teach you and the way you can start to see them from a different side. After 25 years I finally look at this movie from an angle that portrays it a lot less dark as I always saw it and more as a Burtonesque black comedy in a lot of ways. It's a drama, a tragedy, an action-adventure, and a romantic thriller, and yet every single aspect of it is tinged with that black humor that is Tim's trademark. A lot of the stuff in this movie that I found dark or tragic for so long is actually funny as hell when you think about it in a depraved, devious Tim Burton way. Take the Ice Princess' demise, for instance. That used to haunt me as the tragic death of an innocent girl and was my single least favorite part of the whole movie. But think about it. She doesn't know the proper order of operation for lighting the Christmas tree, then she falls off a rooftop overlooking Gotham Plaza and of all the places she could have landed in the Plaza, she lands on the switch to the tree and lights it right up. It's f***ing hilarious.

Even the intense drama of the finale (my fav movie scene ever) has that dark humor to it if you look at it from that angle (Selina's nursery rhyme as Max blasts bullet after bullet into her, Max learning that there actually is such a thing as too much power, Emperor penguins serving as pallbearers, etc). I still love the intensity and the "death and death" (as opposed to life and death) of it, but that added an extra layer.

For me Batman Returns had always been the dark tragedy of Selina Kyle, with everyone and everything else (even Batman) as nothing more than background. It was the almost pitch black tale of a woman's shattered innocence which is a big part of why it resonated with me. Don't get me wrong it still does and it's still my favorite movie and probably always will be but there's so much more to the movie that I'm finally seeing that makes it that much broader and much more lovable to a crazy chick like me as opposed to Selina's story just appealing to my own shattered innocence. The issue with all of this is I no longer see it as darker than dark or that "almost pitch black" that I used to. It's crazy and colorful, but under a heavy shroud of darkness with a beautiful snowfall. Full on masterpiece. God I love this movie.

[Catwoman]

*sigh* Only one, huh?

[The Dark Knight]

The issue with all of this is I no longer see it as darker than dark or that "almost pitch black" that I used to. It's crazy and colorful, but under a heavy shroud of darkness with a beautiful snowfall. Full on masterpiece. God I love this movie.

Good you realize this. Batman Returns has elements of darkness but it's not a horror movie or anything. It's a balance of dark themes (Penguin's abandonment, Selina's breakdown, Penguin's children plot) mixed in with social commentary and humor. The fact it has this balance is what makes it special.  I think of the film as a heightened version of the 66 Batman show. Usually people would see that as a putdown, but I don't see why. B66 had all the social commentary/public service announcement angles covered. It also a sense of playfulness. Burton added a darker palette to the world and the characters, but that escapist vibe remained. That's part of why these films are so re-watchable for me.

[The Laughing Fish]

The great thing about these movies is that everyone sees them in their own way, but at the same time there's no expiration date on what they can teach you and the way you can start to see them from a different side. After 25 years I finally look at this movie from an angle that portrays it a lot less dark as I always saw it and more as a Burtonesque black comedy in a lot of ways. It's a drama, a tragedy, an action-adventure, and a romantic thriller, and yet every single aspect of it is tinged with that black humor that is Tim's trademark.

True. Another example was the scene where Catwoman falls into a truck - literally full of kitty litter - after her first confrontation with Batman. The absurdity of Burton's humour was definitely taken up a notch. She either lost one of her nine lives, as the film's supernatural nature implies, and/or she literally was saved by kitty litter.

Even the intense drama of the finale (my fav movie scene ever) has that dark humor to it if you look at it from that angle (Selina's nursery rhyme as Max blasts bullet after bullet into her, Max learning that there actually is such a thing as too much power, Emperor penguins serving as pallbearers, etc). I still love the intensity and the "death and death" (as opposed to life and death) of it, but that added an extra layer.

It's probably a stretch, I'll admit, but I find it a bit amusing that the taser she uses to give Shreck the kiss of death is shaped a little bit like a cat. Then again, lots of tasers look like that, so perhaps it's just a coincidence.

[Catwoman]

It would not surprise me one bit that a taser's resemblance to a cat was the whole reason they used that instead of some other weapon.

And you're totally right about the kitty litter truck!

I will repeat my earlier comment, this movie is a freaking masterpiece.