1. Too Many Villains
Films can often leave legacies behind them, and often times these legacies become detrimental in the long run. The Dark Knight trilogy for example may be one of the most perfect film compilations of all time, but many people are (understandably) getting a bit tired of the concept of blockbuster films that take themselves really seriously, because that novelty has worn off now. Unfortunately, Batman Returns has a very stark legacy it has left behind, but unlike other film legacies people have tired of, this one wasnt good in the first place. And that legacy is the annoying trend of putting in multiple villains for the sequel to a successful comic book movie. Batman Returns was the first successful big comic book adaptation that incorporated two major villains into the narrative. In fact the film actually has more than two considering how much screen time Max Shreck takes up and how essential his motivations are to the character of the penguin. But clearly the Penguin and Catwoman are the two that people were going to see, and the two that people knew about before entering the cinema. All this does is create clutter. It was hard enough to shoehorn Batman and Bruce Wayne into the first film as it was, particularly since Burton is so infatuated with the Joker. Having to try and fit two origin stories into the film, and tangle them all amongst each other, while trying to keep the hero and his alter ego amongst the fray as well, absolutely destroys the pacing of the film, and turns into a waffling illogical mess that moves at a glacial pace. The film could have easily been a passable ninety minutes with the material they had - but it could have been a spectacular ninety minutes if the focus was just on Batman and Catwoman. They steal the show with one spectacular scene at the gala when they are dancing together and figure out each others identities. The whole thing is moving, poetic, and perfect filmic storytelling but it is interrupted by the Penguin because he just has to get in there somewhere. If the film had a tighter focus and played up the relationship between Kyle/Catwoman and Wayne/Batman we would have had something totally different to the original that could have built on it and enhanced it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeEz9oE17ac Instead we got a giant duck, terrible looking penguins, and wall to wall cat puns from the Penguin and Max Shreck who add nothing to the film. All while we looked at our watches and asked ourselves when it would all be over.