                             BATMAN RETURNS

                                   By

                              Henry Doyle

     They say that a sequel is never as good as the  original,  but
     having  seen Batman Returns, in which we see Michael Keaton as
     the man behind the mask trying to keep  the  peace  in  Gotham
     City, I am not so sure!

     In  true  Batman  spirit,  this  film is totally over the top.
     Provided you expect this  before  viewing,  you  will  not  be
     dissapointed.   Keaton is joined this time by Danny DeVito who
     (as always) is superb in his role as The Penguin, and also  by
     the  lovely  Michelle  Pfiefer who spends a great deal of time
     clad in shiny black tight leather - as she portrays  the  part
     of Cat Woman.

     I  would not wish to give away too much of the plot, and would
     be hard pressed to do so anyway as the film  does  not  follow
     the tradition of having a main plot with a smaller sub-plot to
     hold  interest.   Instead it seems to have a string of several
     'sub-plots' in a row, with the the bad guys suddenly  becoming
     good guys and back again before you can say "Why is Robbin the
     Boy  Wonder  still  not  in this film?!". Needless to say, the
     film  does  therefore  require  you  to  pay  full   attention
     otherwise  you  are  quite  likely to be cheering on the wrong
     person at the wrong time.

     As with the  first  BatMan  movie  by  Warner  Brothers,  this
     offering  is  filmed  throughout  in  low  light giving a good
     sense of 'evil', although it makes it a  little  difficult  in
     parts  to see exactly what is going on.  Having said that, the
     camera work is truely excellent with some superb sequences  in
     which you the viewer appear to be 'flying' over the landscape.
     The  sets  are  beutifully constructed, and as we have come to
     expect nowerdays, the special effects are very good indeed.

     To sum up, BatMan  Returns  is  a  very  classy  film  -  well
     produced,  well  shot,  and  very  well acted.  Its variety of
     suspense,  excitement,  sheer  'daftness'  and  subtle  humour
     throughout makes it a winner.



                                 Ends.

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