The Official Batman Returns Thread - Part 3

[The Shape]

THE WILL TO ACT

The training is nothing.

Interesting 9th post in 2 years.

 

[Doc Ock]

A new member called The Joker, now? This is gonna be just as confusing when there became two Doc Ocks with similar avys.

I just noticed that the other day...

(and I think The Joker was called Doc Ock before me too!)

 

[Travesty]

Change your avy!

 

[BradenPickering]

Just out of curiosity, what "type" of Catwoman/Selina Kyle do you all prefer? A "normal" woman who also just happens to be a brilliant thief, or a person who's a little bit more mentally cracked, a la Batman Returns?

I understand the former is much more realistic and how she's generally portayed in the comic culture and of course DKR, but Pfeiffer was my first real introduction to the character and almost any other interpretation just seems underwhelming by comparison. The dual personality aspect was really played up in Returns, but that's what made it interesting, and is something I feel the character of Catwoman in general is lacking these days.

 

[Kane52630]

Whatever Kyle she was in BTAS and Arkham City.

 

[Travesty]

I liked Hataway's a lot, but she wasn't really fleshed out at all. I also love Pfeiffer, too. Actually, I've loved all of the Catwomen, although, I still haven't seen Halle Berry's, so I can't comment.

But I agree with Kane, I prefer BTAS and AC.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Nolan's version lacked that spark for me... however, Hathaway did the best she could and brought her own appeal to the character.

I suppose give me a Catwoman that's between Returns and B:TAS. That would be close to truly definitive for me.

Arkham Catwoman is just a tad too sex-pot for me. The whole ''I've been a bad kitty'' didn't do much for the character I'm afraid.

 

[Kane52630]

The big thing I enjoyed about Arkham City's Catwoman was her costume.

It was...


...





>.>

<.<


purrrrfection.

 

[Travesty]

Nolan's version lacked that spark for me...

All of Nolan's Batman characters lack a LOT for me.

But yes, I did like what Hathaway did with the character.

 

[Two-Face]

The big thing I enjoyed about Arkham City's Catwoman was her costume.

It was...


...





>.>

<.<


purrrrfection.

Best Catwoman in any media. that's how I want to be in films. Well maybe up a zip of course.

 

[The Batman]

I think Hathaway will go down as the most overrated version of Catwoman. I feel like a lot of people like her solely because she's has a lot in common with the modern version of the character in the comics.

Both Michelle and Julie are still better to me.

 

[Travesty]

I like her, cause she's the only thing I liked about TDKR.

 

[jaymes_e06]

I think Hathaway will go down as the most overrated version of Catwoman. I feel like a lot of people like her solely because she's has a lot in common with the modern version of the character in the comics.

Both Michelle and Julie are still better to me.

Though I agree with the last line. I think she did a fine job and don't find her "overrated" at all.

 

[Hellion]

I like her, cause she's the only thing I liked about TDKR.

I'll second this.

 

[AnneFan]

But yes, I did like what Hathaway did with the character.

You are safe, for now.

I think Hathaway will go down as the most overrated version of Catwoman.

You however, are not!

 

[Stu]

http://www.eatbloganddie.com/post/91338709830/bottom-line-she-tries-to-blackmail-me-ill-drop :

 

[The Joker]

Just out of curiosity, what "type" of Catwoman/Selina Kyle do you all prefer? A "normal" woman who also just happens to be a brilliant thief, or a person who's a little bit more mentally cracked, a la Batman Returns?

The former. Catwoman being mentally unstable never sat well with me. It just doesn't suit the character. The licking herself all over, putting pet birds in her mouth, the nine lives thing etc. It was too OTT and nutty. I could see Burton's Catwoman locked up in Arkham. I still enjoyed her immensely, but it's not Catwoman to me. I feel she's generally overrated when she's called the best Catwoman we've had. I'd put Julie, Anne, and BTAS Catwoman ahead of her.

It's why I can understand why people like hippie_hunter a couple of pages back call BR the worst "Batman" movie, in the sense it was essentially a Burton freak show.

 

[The Shape]

The former. Catwoman being mentally unstable never sat well with me. It just doesn't suit the character. The licking herself all over, putting pet birds in her mouth, the nine lives thing etc. It was too OTT and nutty. I could see Burton's Catwoman locked up in Arkham. I still enjoyed her immensely, but it's not Catwoman to me. I feel she's generally overrated when she's called the best Catwoman we've had. I'd put Julie, Anne, and BTAS Catwoman ahead of her.

It's why I can understand why people like hippie_hunter a couple of pages back call BR the worst "Batman" movie, in the sense it was essentially a Burton freak show.

Yeah, I agree.

Some could say Michelle gave the best performance out of all the actresses to play the role, but that doesn't necessarily make Burton's Catwoman the best one.

 

[Travesty]

I dunno, I just find it strange how you say you hate all that stuff about her, and then say Julie Newmar's version was any less over the top. Other than the "unstable" part from Pfieffer, Newmar's version played up the cat motif more than any other Catwoman. Way more over the top, IMO.

 

[The Joker]

Julie's Catwoman was in a campy Batman show. Everything was OTT in that to suit the campy colorful nature of the series. She would have stuck out like a sore thumb if she'd been played more serious and gritty. Any character would in that show. You expect and appreciate Batman doing a batusi dance in that show. We wouldn't appreciate Keaton's Batman doing the batusi in Burton's movies.

Furthermore Julie's Catwoman never went so OTT with cat like behavior as to do anything on the level of putting a bird in her mouth, or lick herself all over to give herself a bath etc. The most cat like thing I ever saw Julie's Catwoman do was pour milk into a saucer and take a sip from it.

Yeah, I agree.

Some could say Michelle gave the best performance out of all the actresses to play the role, but that doesn't necessarily make Burton's Catwoman the best one.

Exactly.

 

[Travesty]

I wouldn't really classify BR as a non campy, serious take on Batman. Is it as over the top and satirical as the 60s show? No, not to that extent, but I wouldn't call it a serious and gritty Batman movie, either. Sure, there are some of those elements, but it's not one or the other.

I dunno, I don't see Catwoman being more over the top than the 60s show. They just do their things a bit differently, because both versions ask for something a bit different. Preferring one version over the other I can understand, but to say this version is more over the top compared to the 60s version, I can not.

 

[BatLobster]

Newmar was good for the time, she helped make the character an icon so she definitely deserves some credit there.

Pfeiffer IS Catwoman to me, and likewise Hathaway IS Selina Kyle to me. In terms of performance alone.

BTAS version is very good, not a fan of Arkham City Catwoman at all though.

 

[The Joker]

Batman Returns was such a dark and violent take on Batman that it got a backlash from the soccer moms. It's the reason they camped up the franchise. It's as serious a take on Batman as Nolan's in terms of exploring real serious themes like child abandonment, feminism, child murder, society acceptance and rejection etc which I loved. The violence and imagery gets quite graphic, too. More so than any other Batman movie. Catwoman clawing a guys face, cats chewing her fingers, Penguin regurgitating sewage, eating raw fish, biting someone's nose, Batman picking Catwoman's claws out of his flesh etc.

Just because it has silly elements in it like a rocket toting penguin army, or Batman's fancy remote batarang being stolen by a poodle doesn't make it any less dark or serious IMO.

I never said Pfeiffer's Catwoman was more OTT than the 60's show. I said Julie's Catwoman being OTT suited that version of the character because that's the universe she was in. I also said Julie never took the cat persona to the extremes Pfeiffer did. Which is true. But she was OTT in other ways and it worked because that was the campy universe her Catwoman was based in. It wouldn't have worked any other way. That's why I made the comparison with the batusi dance. It's two different universes and two different takes on the character. Julie's works better for me because she was perfect for the campy style of the series, and her Catwoman embodied the Catwoman character better. I don't like the mentally unbalanced Catwoman, I don't like the silliness of the cat persona licking herself all over and eating birds, I don't like the social outcast Selina Kyle who has a mental breakdown or what ever. Pfeiffer did a great job playing it, and I enjoyed it immensely, but it didn't feel like Catwoman to me. For those reasons she ranks behind other on screen adaptions of the Catwoman.

 

[Travesty]

I said it shared elements of both seriousness and camp. I just said it wasn't one or the other.

 

[shauner111]

It's sort-of a macabre version of the Adam West tone. It's a visually darker, fantastical, more gothic. slightly "horror" mix...along with the same campiness and comedy that we are used to seeing from the 60s/Shumacher years. Adam Wests universe gone horror fantasy.

I felt the first Burton movie had more of that serious meets campy combo. While Returns went really crazy with it. Everything in the movie was like a nutty carnival.