Batman Forever – 1995

For the next film in the Batman series, Warner Brothers made the decision to make some radical changes to the franchise.  No more of the dark brooding atmosphere, Tim Burton would no longer be directing the series, Michael Keaton wouldn’t return at the caped crusader, and heck even Danny Elfman would no longer be responsible for musical score.  The ironic thing is that despite my negative review of Batman Returns it still had mostly positive reviews and still made a lot of money in the box office.  Joel Schumacher was hired to make a film that was more colorful and had more elements of more of a comic book look and Val Kilmer was selected for the lead.  Batman Forever would be a test case to see how durable the franchise was and if the new changes would bring life new life to the series.

In this film, Batman’s main nemesis in the movie is Two Face, who previously was the district attorney.  Due to an accident that resulted in the disfigurement of half his face, Two Face becomes a criminal, and is now bent on vengeance to Gotham City.   After failing to capture him, Batman soon encounters a psychologist, Dr. Chase Meridian who becomes aroused and fascinated with his persona.  She of course doesn’t know his identity as Bruce Wayne, who is also her patient, as he struggles with reconciling his dual nature and the trauma of the murder of his parents as a young boy.  Bruce who himself is in charge of Wayne Enterprises is also experiencing problems with an employee, Edward Nygma who has developed a machine to probe the thoughts of people to watch television.  After his idea is rejected by Wayne, Edward is soon fired from Wayne Enterprises.  After his dismissal, he becomes the Riddler and becomes a threat to the city and Batman due to the unrestrained power of his invention.

Meanwhile during a date between Bruce and Chase at a circus event, Two Face arrives and causes mayhem during the performance.  During the battle, an acrobat family, the Graysons are caught up in the action and Two Face ends up killing everyone in the family, except for a young man name Dick Grayson.  Bruce takes pity on Grayson and becomes his guardian after the death of his parents.  Due to his great athleticism, he offers his assistance to Bruce to fend off Two Face and The Riddler who have kidnapped Dr Chase.  He becomes Robin, as he and Batman join forces to not only rescue the doctor, but also stop the Riddler’s mind control powers over the entire city.

I have mixed emotions over the overall feel of the setting of the picture.  While I thought the previous film was way too dark, this film goes  a little overboard in trying to rid of itself of the  dark past.  It’s bright colors and setting gave me the feeling that the action was being done in a fun house which takes away some of the realism and grit.  This also results in the lack of tension in any of the action scenes and cheapens some of the more dramatic moments of the film. The look is ok, not great.

Val Kilmer was an interesting choice to be Batman/Bruce Wayne.  On one hand he comes across as a more assured and outwardly cool version of the billionaire, but on the other hand there’s not much beyond that.  His emotions are very guarded and doesn’t offer very much humor or personality.  There’s not much electricity between him and his love interest, Dr Chase, which might be more to due with the screenplay than the two actors.  Overall, I like Val and felt empathy for his struggles physically and emotionally, but he was ok, not great.

As for the rest of the cast, Tommy Lee Jones is too over the top as the crazed Two Face.   Jim Carrey while humorous as the Riddler, doesn’t seem to be having much fun in the role.  It’s almost as if he feels a little restrained and his humor even seems to be forced and done half heartedly.  Nicole Kidman has never looked more attractive in a film and actually does add some intrigue in the story.  However, due to all the action going one, her relationship with Bruce and Batman, is never really explored.   Chris O’Donnell is good as Robin, but he is also limited in his screen time and his only purpose to be an extra body in the final battle with the two arch villains in the film.   The cast overall is ok, not great.

The flow and direction of the film relies heavily on the non-stop action, while giving the courtesy peaks at Bruce Wayne’s psyche.  Some of the action scenes are actually quite well done, with the usual great special effects.  However, there’s not much to them other than traumatic deaths of the Grayson family.  Other than the final battle, there’s not a whole lot at stake.  Gotham City is not so much a character, but an accessory in this version as it simply becomes more cartoonish.  I don’t remember much interaction between the characters other than the two romantic leads, as the screenplay is very fast and frantic.  Sometimes it’s a nice change from the original two films, but it’s ok, not great.

Batman Forever is successful in regards to escaping the legacy of the first two films in style and mood.  It’s not nearly as frightening or scary as the first two films, the action scenes are more elaborate, and even a touch of romance mixed in as well.  On the negative side, the characters aren’t very strong with a Bruce Wayne lacking in personality and the villains with too much personality.  I thought the film was entertaining, but also left with a sense of emptiness as the film is lacking in any true deepfelt emotion.  It’s almost like eating a bag of Munchos, sure it’s a good snack, but there’s not a whole lot there and you’re yearning for more.  This film is an improvement from Batman Returns, but it’s ok, not great.

Brian Rating 5/10

– Flying Brian

Follow along the Batman series with Batman 1989 & Batman Returns 1992