Why Batman Returns is a Christmas Movie

[Silver Nemesis]

Inspired by the 'is Die Hard a Christmas movie' debate (it is), James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd, has made a new video about Batman Returns. I'm posting it in a separate thread from all the AVGN Batman videos because this one's about the movie itself and is unrelated to the games.

[Travesty]

Yeah, I've always considered it a Christmas movie. And since I just got a new 4k LG and bought the anthology on 4k, I'll be watching it very soon.

[The Dark Knight]

I think Batman Returns qualifies. I think the main hooks are the importance of family and hope.

The Penguin mourns his parents, but he has the Red Triangle Circus Gang and his penguins.
Bruce mourns his parents, but he has Alfred.
Selina lives on her own, mingles with others but remains elusive.
She's the mysterious prize that gives Penguin and Bruce hope.

After Selina rejects the Penguin his life starts to unravel. He tried to live a civilized life but after frustrations he reverted to animalism. He lashes out at the world in a self destructive last stand and the Circus Gang flees. But his penguins were always there for him, and that's true in his last moments.

When Selina rejects Bruce he is melancholy, and he's back to square one romantically. However there's a reassuring and warm vibe I get despite what transpired. It's a case of being thankful for what you do have, and being thankful for those who always remain loyal to you no matter what. Alfred is always there for him. The Penguins were always there for Oswald. Bruce also reclaimed his sense of justice and morality with his comments about Max going to jail. The story didn't break him. Seeing the Catwoman silhouette gives Bruce hope. Christmas is about hope, and it's still alive.

[BatmanFurst]

Yeah, I've always considered it a Christmas movie. And since I just got a new 4k LG and bought the anthology on 4k, I'll be watching it very soon.

I have my issues with the audio on those 4K's, but those films have never looked better on home video. I think this is the first time that a home video release has accurately captured how Batman 89 looked in theaters.

[Azrael]

Was there ever any doubt?

Haven't watched James' video. He's a fan of B'89, I know, but he's never been a big fan of BR, I gather. Didn't watch it because I didn't want to hear something I might not want to hear, opinions differ, and thus somehow spoil the love I have for his AVGN and Film Retrospective work (which are still brilliant, after all these years, perfect binge watch for dark nights).

I can't think of another movie that captures the spirit of Christmas cold, depression, disintegration, like this. In the form of an operatic, fancy, visually brilliant fairy tale, instead of a gritty drama. Burton mentions fairy tales a lot in various old interviews - this alongside Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas are his own. To me these are a sort of unofficial "Dark Christmas" trilogy.

It's also the epitomy of mixing darkness with humour - Burton has said something like this in an interview I read many years ago (paraphrasing) "when things get dangerously dark, laugh". The movie has a lot of campy moments, the scenes where The Penguin and Catwoman interact are like a visually updated tribute to the 60s series, the action scenes of Batman vs the Circus are almost slapstick, penguins with rockets seems ridiculous, there's cheesiness throughout, but the movie always has a tortured heart (the music during the night patrol outside Hall of Records), especially when it reaches its climax in the aptly named Arctic World.

The situations and actions are totally fantastical, the characters and their emotions, they ring true.

This year, on Christmas Eve, I emptied a Gordon's watching it. Amazing film. It snowed and rained, a lot. But like a review said, it's a film one doesn't want to endorse as much as protect.

This song could be in the movie's OST. Batman Returns, among other things, is also like vintage Cure, in movie form.