Batman Forever (1995)

By MegaNaught
Contributor Max Minutiae

Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Akiva Goldsman
Cast
Val Kilmer: Bruce Wayne/Batman
Chris O'Donnell: Dick Grayson/Robin
Tommy Lee Jones: Harvey "Two Face" Dent
Jim Carrey: Edward Nigma/Riddler
Nichole Kidman: Dr. Chase Meridian
Michael Gough: Alfred Pennyworth

PLOT

     Harvey "Two-Face" Dent has escaped from Arkham Asylum and immediately hatches a plan to rob a bank. Batman arrives and foils the plan, but Two-Face escapes.
     At Wayne Enterprises Edward Nigma shows Bruce Wayne an invention that beams 3D TV signals directly into the human brain. Nigma, demanding an immediate response, is stunned that Bruce doesn't want to mass produce an untested technology, especially one invoving the human brain. Enraged at the perceived slight, Nigma kills his supervisor and makes it look like a suicide.

     Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne takes his new love interest, police psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian, to a charity circus. Two-Face shows up at the circus and demands Batman and plants a large bomb. The Flying Graysons, a trapeze act including Dick Grayson, manage to get rid of the bomb. But after putting the bomb into Gotham River, Dick Grayson is horrified to find that Two Face has killed Dick's family.
     Watching the events unfold on live TV is Edward Nigma. Inspired by Two-Face, Nigma becomes a costumed villain and calls himself the Riddler.
     Bruce takes in the orphaned Dick Grayson and Dick soon discovers that Bruce is Batman. Dick, hellbent on revenge, wants to partner with Batman and kill Two-Face. Bruce/Batman is hesitant to take Grayson as a partner because Bruce/Batman knows where the path of revenge leads.
     The Riddler has teamed up with Two Face and the pair go on a crime spree to fund the Riddlers 3D TV that he calls the Box.
     Bruce quits being Batman and confesses his secret identity to Chase. Two-Face and Riddler, having discovered Batman's true identity, show up at Wayne Manor and destroy the Batcave. They take Chase captive and leave Bruce unconscious after Two-Face shoots at Bruce, grazing Bruce's head with the bullet. When he awakens, Bruce puts on his only remaining Batsuit and then partners with Grayson, now calling himself Robin.
     On the Riddler's private island Robin defeats Two-Face, but saves Two-Face from falling to his death in an act of mercy. Two-Face repays him by pulling out a gun and taking Robin hostage. Two-Face and Riddler have put Chase and Robin in a situation where only one of them will be able to be saved by Batman. Batman distracts Riddler with a riddle and then defeats him and saves both Chase and Robin and then defeats Two-Face who falls to his death. Riddler is taken to Arkham Asylum and Batman and Robin run into the night, now full partners.

The Main Part

     What makes Batman Batman? Is it his rougues gallery of villains? Is it the fact that he's "merely" human, yet can hold his own against nearly all enemies? Is it the tragedy of his youth?
     And who is Batman? Is he the world's greatest detective? Is he just a good tactician with cool gadgets? Is he a ninja dressed up in a bat themed costume? Is he dark or campy? Batman, in truth, is many things to many people. To a certain extent, Batman is whoever someone wants him to be. He has aspects that are grounded in reality and villains that are, too, yet has fantastical aspects and fantastical villains as well.
     When I think of Batman I think of the Batman from Batman: The Animated Series from the early 1990's and the Batman from Justice League in the early 2000's. He's dark and brooding, dedicated to protecting Gotham City, a city that in some regards is both his greatest enemy and conversely, his one true love. I think of Batman with a rougues gallery of both colorful and tough foes, enemies that can give the Dark Knight a run for his money. Enemies that, while they may seem goofy, are anything but. I see a Batman who has dedicates his every waking moment to fighting crime in Gotham, whether as Batman or as Bruce Wayne. And I think that's why I don't care much for Batman Forever.

     In Batman Forever, Batman doesn't seem to care about the city, demonstrated by the fact that Bruce Wayne quits being Batman in the middle of a Two-Face/Riddler crime spree. In fact, up to and including this movie, we have yet to see a proactive Batman, only reactive. Batman doesn't go out on "patrol" attempting to stop crime (except for the first scene of the first movie) he only responds when called or if he learns of a crime. Sure, that's how many superheroes are, but not Batman. Batman is always trying to clean up the streets of Gotham; it's a never ending battle.
     It seems to me that Joel Schumacher was trying to distance his Batman from Burton's Batman, but still fall into the same universe. That's why the movie has all the neon colors, glowing body paint, and complete overacting by the villains. I have said before that I thought Nicholson was being Nicholson, but I don't think he was overacting at all. DeVito may have been a little guilty, but I don't think Pfeiffer was. Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey, however, were way over the top. Jim Carrey has a few very funny moments (to Two-Face "Your entrance was good, his was better. The difference?...Showmanship". Still cracks me up) and he is likeable enough, but the Riddler isn't a comdian. He's basically a terrorist that is obssessed with leaving clues to his crimes. Even Frank Gorshin was more menacing as the Riddler in the old Batman TV show from the '60's. Two-Face, up until this point, had only really been depicted in Batman: The Animate Series.
     Two-Face is a tragic character and is so debilitated by his split personality that he cannot make big decisions without his coin. The Two-Face of Batman Forever clearly has a choice already made in at least one scene and will flip the coin until he gets it to be what he wants. That's not really Two Face. Forever also went WAY overboard on the whole split personality issue. Two Face has two girlfriends, two separate sides of his apartment (or lair or whatever), always refers to himself as "us" and "we" and it feels as if the film has gone to great lengths to play up the whole two aspect. It got redundant very quickly.
     Jim Carrey played himself. Or to be more specific, he played a very similar character to characters he plays in many if not most of his films. He was very funny in several scenes but I just don't buy him as a villain. A good villain should come across as threatening, scary, remorseless, or some other aspect that creates an air of danger for the hero. Cruella De Vil was a very good villain in the 1961 Disney adaption of 101 Dalmatians and with that black and white hair thing going on, was Two-Face-esque. With Two-Face and Riddler, despite Two-Face killing Dick's family, Riddler destorying the Batcave, and both of them going a crime spree, I never got the sense that they were a threat for Batman. Which is why Batman teaming with Robin to fight them seems so absurd. Batman could take on Penguin and Catwoman alone, but Two-Face and Riddler are too much? If Batman Forever is supposed to be part of the same universe as Batman and Batman Returns (and it most certainly is), then this just doesn't fit.
     Val Kilmer is a good actor...but not in this movie. At all. He's terrible as Batman and worse as Bruce Wayne. His performance is wooden and it seems like he is just going through the motions to get a paycheck. Kilmer, in this role, was a downgrade from Michael Keaton. His Bruce Wayne was more of a Clark Kent than Bruce Wayne and was bumbling and silly. I honestly cannot think of anything I liked about his performance in this movie.
     In the comics Robin was a circus performer and his parents were killed in a circus accident, but Robin was much younger than the college age Dick Grayson that Chris O'Donnell played. My only real problem with Robin in this movie is that it was trying to shoe horn in his origin to mirror that of Batman's and then they basically had to spell it out for the audience, as if we were to stupid to get it. I'm not sure why a college age kid would need to be taken in by Bruce Wayne or have to deal with social services. He was old enough that he could get a job and make his own way. If it was simply Bruce Wayne trying to be kind to another person because Grayson's family is killed, OK. I am fine with that. But if the reasons are that Grayson was "too young" to be on his own, that's bullshit. O'Donnell was 25 years old when this movie was released and there is NO way he can pass for a 15 or 16 year old. Then he steals the Batmobile and pretends to be Batman because "he forgot his suit". *Sigh* Whatever. Adding Robin didn't feel organic as if it were the natural progression of a story line, it felt shoe horned in. That whole story line is crap.

     I really do like the soundtrack to this film. In fact, it's one of the best parts of this film. "Kiss From a Rose" was a smash hit in 1995 and the music video was directed by Joel Schumacher. It was also much better than the movie. Plus, it's a damn good song. Some of the best songs from the soundtrack are:

1. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2
2. "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal
3. "Bad Days" by Flaming Lips
4. "The Riddler" by Method Man
5. "Where Are You Now" by Brandy

Overall, I give this movie a "Cheapie" rating. It's not worth spending the money on unless you can get it for a dollar or less.

Max Minutiae's Minute Medley

1. Batman Forever was in theaters for 147 days, and on its last day, 11/9/1995, it only made $9,471. To be fair, the other 146 days combined made $186,930,020
2. The Batmobile was usually driven by stunt drivers, but Chris O'Donnell insisted on driving it himself in the joyride scene - but he crashed it into a curb and dented a fender
3. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Cinematography, Sound, and Sound Editing
4. It was nominated for a Razzie Award for worst original song, performed by U2 ("Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" It was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Orginal Song, but lost)
5. The roll of Gossip Gerty was played by Elizabeth Sanders, who also happens to be the wife of Batman creator Bob Kane