Even darker than Batman, Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is many a man’s favourite, thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer’s sultry, PVC-clad turn as Catwoman.
The real bad guy of the piece is the Penguin (DeVito), a man with flippers for hands, whose parents abandoned him to the sewers as a baby (quite a distressing scene for younger viewers), where he was raised by penguins. Now he’s back, and with the help of businessman Max Shreck (a scene-stealing Christopher Walken), he wants to take over the city. Can our hero save the day, or is he too busy romancing secretary Selina (Pfeiffer), little knowing she slips into her own costume at night and is in fact Batman’s enemy?
As good as, if not better than, the first film, Batman Returns is packed with action, dark humour and stunning set pieces. Be warned, though, that the penguins featured in the film are surprisingly creepy, and the film’s overall sinister tone (and DeVito’s rather icky Penguin) is likely to upset preteen children.
Is Batman Returns suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
As mentioned above, the scene when the Penguin is abandoned in his baby basket is upsetting. And he’s very scary looking as an adult!
This is aimed at teenagers and adults so has a very dark tone not suitable for younger viewers, and parents may not be best pleased at young children seeing the vampy Catwoman clad head to foot in skintight PVC.
If you like this, why not try: