Harbour Highlights: Batman Returns

“Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it” “But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it."

Welcome to Harbour Highlights, a monthly series of cult and classic films handpicked by the Harbour Lights staff.

For December’s pick, Stephen takes us to Gotham City at Christmas to spend time with The Bat, The Cat and The Penguin and celebrate the 30th anniversary of Batman Returns.

After the huge success of 1989’s Batman, Warner Bros. were desperate for a sequel and, with director Tim Burton fresh off the success of Edward Scissorhands, it gave him the freedom to make a follow-up more aligned to his own tastes than the original blockbuster.

Taking Scissorhands’ theme of outsiders, its gothic-tinged look and its Christmas setting, it added a pun-filled script from Heathers writer Daniel Waters along with a quartet of perfect (and purr-fect) performances from Keaton, Pfeiffer, DeVito and Walken.

The result was more cynical black comedy than superhero film which led to outcry from parents and a reworking of the franchise to make it more kid-friendly – a change that ultimately led to 1997’s Batman & Robin. But thirty years later, Batman Returns stands out as a truly auteur-driven comic book film with a gorgeous visual style, a fantastic Danny Elfman score and, for many, the iconic screen versions of Catwoman and The Penguin.

Before Keaton’s Batman returns in next year’s The Flash, revisit his finest hour on the big screen – with all the missile-firing penguins a Christmas film deserves.