Batman Returns-poster

Director Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" is darker and stranger than his original "Batman." Michael Keaton returns as Batman and battles Danny DeVito's Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. (COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.)

Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and, with the excellent Burton-directed and produced “Wednesday” now on Netflix, it is the perfect time to revisit, quite possibly, the weirdest film in the Batman franchise.

“Batman Returns” falls in the middle of what could be called Burton’s Christmas trilogy bookended by “Edward Scissorhands” and “A Nightmare Before Christmas.” Similar to “Die Hard,” some debate calling “Batman Returns” a Christmas movie, but the iconography of the holiday is all over the film, including a major set piece centered around the public lighting of a Christmas tree. If there’s any doubt, look to the film’s final line: “Merry Christmas, Alfred. Good will toward men ... and women.”

Batman Returns

Michael Keaton as Batman in "Batman Returns." (COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.)

Batman Returns-Penguin and Max

The Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) have a chat in the Penguin's sewer lair in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns." (COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.)

Batman Returns-Selina and Bruce

Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) share a dance underneath the mistletoe in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns." (COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.)

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