Forever had much more and much bigger action, incomparably bigger scale, special effects, tons of pretty boys (Kilmer, ODonnel)and poster girls (Kidman, Barrymore), comics (Carrey) and lots of superhero action. Returns was a quiet and very grim and claustrophobic tale of scarred souls, with the most bizarre and surreal humor. Person who liked Returns wont find Forever appealing and vice versa. Theyre just so different that it all depends on personal tastes
yes, they are much different, but lets be fair, Returns still had its epic action moments, though not nearly as much and as often as Forever did. the batmobile being taken over by the penguin is still one of my favorite acton moments of all batman movies. rocket fireing penguins blowing sh** up at the end is surreal comic book epicness right there. batman flying over the terrified crowds with bats flying around him and the moon high above him, just iconic imagery. such an awsome vehicle like the batskiboat i feel should have had more screentime, and you just gotta love that strange duck car that penguin drove.
what i also love about Returns is that its straight up classic Film Noir, from the 1940's, from the fashion style to the plot and characters. anyone who's into those old films could see the resemblance. even ebert pointed this out about the film. alot of film noirs, even the best ones like "out of the past" with robert mitchum, have alot in common with Batman Returns. ussually theres 3-4 lead characters, all throughout the films they are interacting with each other, ussually betraying each other, or falling in love with each other, "pairing up" with each other, etc. all ussually part of some crime scheme in a dark, forboding city with lots of shadows and the film ussually takes place at night. does this not sound like Returns? and the ending of the film is ussually how classic film noir ends, usually the "hero" of the piece winds up dieing, or the femme fatale gets shot up or something like that. the "good guys" arent really all that good. Returns has many of these same elements. also though the movie is in color, alot of the scenes are with that creepy black and blue/white hue, giving it an almost black and white look.
in the end though, yes, it wasnt exactly the "blockbuster" that the studio was hopeing for, though it did do well at the BO. i think it wasnt so much the money that was the problem, but the flack that the studio was getting at the time for making such a dark, twisted batman film that many people werent expecting or wanting at the time. flash foward 20 years and people are clamoring for dark batman films. my how times change. however i recently saw on IMDB that the films rateing has gone up considerably, from a 6.2 some years ago to a 7.0. NOT that i judge a film by its imdb rateing, but its always nice to see a film finally getting apperciated on the net. ive always wondered if tim burton was going through some kinda dark phase in his life at the time of making the 2nd film. i heard he was going through a breakup or something, and since he is a highly emotional director, maybe this had an influence on him while making the 2nd film?
i disagree that you cant enjoy both films. i voted for Returns as thats just a brilliant film any way you cut it and much more of a proper "batman" movie, but Forever is still highly enjoyable and fun movie i have memories of growing up watching a million times. screw the flaws, (im not nor ever will be a critic) the movie was fun and OTT and i just thought it was a fun ride. again, it all depends on what mood im in. there is a batman film for every mood pretty much lol. for me Forever was the last truly enjoyable batman movie. B&R is fun for a laugh and super OTT 60's action, but it really bites as a batman movie, and the nolan movies i just could never get into. i prefer batman to be more stylized so the original films is where its at for me.