Flush with the Yuletide spirit, Sean and Cody leave the mountain forests of Rwanda for the gritty streets of Gotham City in search of the Caped Crusader—sorry, the Dark Knight—who is to be found only sparingly in this 1992 superhero blockbuster. In Batman Returns, fed up secretary Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer) suffers the ultimate #MeToo moment when her megalomaniacal boss (Christopher Walken) pushes her out a window and unwittingly transforms her into the vinyl-clad Catwoman. Meanwhile, sewer-dwelling crime lord Penguin (Danny DeVito) is terrorizing the streets with an army of Juggalos. Looks like a job for Batman (Michael Keaton), if he ever manages to show up. Environmental issues discussed include the history of sewer and sanitation infrastructure in modern New York, the rise of cats as America’s most popular pets and the ecological consequences of that popularity. Oh, and Christmas, as this is ostensibly a “Christmas special” episode.
What happened to your poop in 19th century New York after you flushed it? How many miles off the coast of New Jersey was it legal to dump sewage sludge in the 1980s? What did Ronald Reagan and austerity economics have to do with the rise of cats as apartment-dwelling pets? Under what circumstances will your adorable feline fluffball transform into a cold-blooded killer? Can zoo penguins go feral? What was Batman's involvement with Japanese-American internment during World War II? How did Michelle Pfeiffer put on that skin-tight suit? What did Michael Keaton need the money that he made from his movie to pay for? Why are these films so dark, meaning, why can’t you ever see anything? How did the McDonald’s Happy Meals made to sell this movie turn into a big sad for parents and their kids? What’s the definition of a “Christmas Movie” and does Die Hard qualify? Why does this picture make so little sense? Is Adam West still the best Batman? All these questions and more are riding the Batmobile in this holiday-themed episode of Green Screen.
Batman Returns (1992) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/
Batman Returns (1992) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/batman-returns/
Next Movie Up: Great Expectations (1946)
