How does Batman ’89 compare to Batman Returns?

Credit: Warner Brothers; from Batman (1989)

Villains

Modern audiences have been spoiled because many Bat-Fans have seen The Dark Knight, which features Heath Ledger’s immaculate portrayal of the Joker. In hindsight, everything else falls flat. Still, of the various times the Clown Prince of Crime has been on-screen, Jack Nicholson’s Joker is one of the best. The writing for the character is mediocre, though; the Joker’s desire to create “art” is the primary reasoning for his crimes. In actuality, the man formerly known as Jack Napier is a killer because he suffered a psychotic break after his infamous accident. If Burton leaned more on this dynamic, Batman could have had a better villain. But the film’s campy tone makes it hard to take Napier seriously.

When you compare the villains in Burton’s films, the first installment is the clear winner. In Batman Returns, the Penguin is a sex-crazed weirdo, who delivers a number of cringe-worthy lines that are too appalling to write here. Somehow, after he gives a  few speeches, Gotham City looks at this penguin-man hybrid and thinks, “Yes, we want that guy to be our mayor!” Meanwhile, Selina Kyle becomes Catwoman when she’s pushed out of a window and a cluster of cats lick her back to life. (Seriously.) Like the Penguin, she’s always ready to unleash a sexual innuendo or an on-the-nose statement like “I am Catwoman, hear me roar.” Altogether? Yikes.

But looking beyond the writing, how do the films’ casts compare?