This or Batman Returns
Which movie is better
shareThis.
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MovieChat Forums > Batman (1989) Discussion > This or Batman Returns
Returns. It's what I think Gotham should always look like.
shareReturns. I didn’t always feel that way, but the older I get the more I enjoy the all out Burton-ness of Returns. Batman ‘89 is still a classic, but Returns just has more to come back to each time.
shareI've flip-flopped on this many times over the years. I'm never quite sure... Right now, I'm leaning towards Returns.
I think my main reason is Catwoman. The Catwoman plotline and her relationship with Bruce really digs into the shadow-life thing, the inner lives of the masked people, and their psychology.
Beyond that, it just pushes a little more, and I dig that.
On the other hand, this movie has Nicholson's Joker...
This one is better. It was dark, and also just the right amount of cartoony. 'Returns' was more dark, but also WAY TOO cartoony. The only advantage 'Returns' has is Catwoman. And don't get me wrong, Pfeiffer's Catwoman was amazing. But not amazing enough to offset the cartoonishness of DeVito's Penguin, or his henchmen.
shareI never had a problem with Batman Returns being too cartoony because that is something that I would expect from a director like Tim Burton. If you look at his earliest films like Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, they literally felt like live-action cartoons. And Burton did after-all, cut his teeth as an animator for Disney.
Maybe it was too cartoony in the sense that it didn't mesh well to what had been established in the 1989 Batman movie, which featured more of a "heightened reality". Jack Nicholson's Joker seemed like a villain who could plausibly exist in our real world (I mean, there actually is a phobia of clowns) unlike Danny DeVito's monstrous, circus freak-show version of Penguin.
This by far. I will even go as far as to say I don't like Returns. This is the only Batman movie for me.
shareI like this one more. Which one is technically "better" is up for debate I suppose. But this is the one I can enjoy the most with repeat viewings.
shareNo question: Returns, bat-hands down. Michelle Pfeiffer knocked it out of the park. Nicholson was a disgrace. Ham wrapped in bacon with a side of pork chops.
shareThat's literally what the Joker is. An over the top psychopath with small moments of clarity or sanity.
sharehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGFbd-zF_Cg
shareThe film stock has a gorgeous look... even when compressed/encoded for Youtube.
It's been ages since I watched this movie. I'll have to give it another viewing soon.
That’s fine, but the performance was ANNOYING, not entertaining. It was clearly Jack Nicholson PLAYING a role, rather than BECOMING the role. I will happily stipulate that I’ve never liked the guy; so my comment is valid for me.
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