I remember the hype was at an absolute frenzied pitch and it seemed like everyone was going along for the ride. Everyone. Even my cinema-indifferent and quite old-fashioned mother - whose favorite film was Gone With The Wind - could not resist Nicholson's goofy psychotic portrayal.

While I liked the tone and textures, the pacing and action scenes just didn't do anything for me. In comparison, another film of the time that I felt ticked all the boxes - every single one of 'em - was Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

There were some elements of Batman Returns that I enjoyed, but overall it frankly gave me a headache, particularly everything about The Penguin was relentlessly loud, in what seemed to be for relentless loudness' sake.

It wasn't until The Dark Knight that I felt that I truly got the Batman film I'd been waiting for my entire life, not unlike two years ago with Dune.