Batman Forever (1995) Warner Bros./Action-Adventure RT: 122 minutes Rated PG-13 (strong stylized action and violence, some mild language) Director: Joel Schumacher Screenplay: Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler and Akiva Goldsman Music: Elliot Goldenthal Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt Release date: June 16, 1995 (US) Cast: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Drew Barrymore, Debi Mazar, Elizabeth Sanders, Joe Grifasi, Rene Auberjonois, Ed Begley Jr. Box Office: $184M (US)/$336.5M (World)
Rating: ***
I suppose the tonal shift in Batman Forever was inevitable after all the criticism directed at the previous film (Batman Returns) for its dark, dark tone. It turns out not many people like the combination of noir and superhero movie. For the third installment, new director Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys) lightens up the mood considerably with a campier take on the material. He takes the main character much less seriously as well. Batman/Bruce Wayne doesn’t brood nearly as much. In fact, he developed a sense of humor somewhere along the way.
It is with sadness that we bid a fond farewell to Tim Burton, composer Danny Elfman and star Michael Keaton. They are replaced by Schumacher, Elliot Goldenthal (Alien 3) and Val Kilmer (Tombstone) as the Caped Crusader respectively. This time, our hero finds himself up against two formidable villains, Two-Face (Jones, The Fugitive) and The Riddler (Carrey, The Mask). Two-Face, formerly Gotham City’s district attorney Harvey Dent, was one of the good guys until a mobster he was prosecuting threw acid in his face leaving him disfigured and criminally insane. With half of his face horribly scarred, he goes on a crime spree in order to lure Batman into deadly traps.
Meanwhile, Edward Nygma, a brilliant, eccentric and eager young researcher at Wayne Enterprises, begins to lose it after Bruce rejects his invention, a device called “The Box” capable of beaming television signals directly into a person’s brain. He’s concerned it could be used to manipulate minds. Nygma, while continuing to experiment with it, discovers it can be used to steal people’s thoughts and increase his own intelligence. He becomes dangerously psychotic, stalking Bruce and leaving him riddles to solve. His ultimate goal is to put a Box on every TV in Gotham. Of course, the two villains eventually team up to deal with their mutual foe.
Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce has a new love interest, criminal psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian (Kidman, To Die For). I know, her name sounds more like a bank. She specializes in split personalities which means she’ll have a field day in GC. She first meets Bruce in the guise of Batman and is immediately attracted to him. She wants to get inside his head and Batsuit, not necessarily in that order. Although less awed by Bruce, she accepts his invite to a huge charity circus. The fun screeches to a halt when Two-Face and his goons show up threatening to detonate a bomb unless somebody reveals the true identity of Batman. A family of acrobats, The Flying Graysons, helps dispose of the bomb at the cost of their lives. The sole survivor, youngest son Dick (O’Donnell, Scent of a Woman), is taken in by a guilt-ridden Bruce. The understandably angry teen vows to kill Two-Face out of revenge. I guess I don’t have to tell you that Dick eventually assumes the identity of Batman’s partner-in-crimefighting Robin.
Batman Forever is totally a live-action comic book with its brightly-colored visuals and OTT villains. In terms of tone and appearance, it’s the polar opposite of its two predecessors. It’s actually more similar to the goofy TV series from the 60s. I kept waiting for “POW!”, “BAM!”, “BIFF!” and “KLONK!” to appear between blows and kicks. Under Schumacher’s direction, the series is starting to veer dangerously into camp of the highest degree. Instead of adhering to Burton’s vision of Gotham City, he creates his own design, a neon-lit nightmare city with giant statues, imposing skyscrapers and streets overrun with gangs right out of The Warriors. It draws heavily on 30s-era NYC and modern Tokyo. The dizzying camerawork by Stephen Goldblatt really brings it to life. He shoots exteriors of GC in the manner of a theme park ride. I have to admit I’m pressed with this aspect of Batman Forever.
I’m less impressed with Kilmer as Batman/Bruce Wayne. He’s a fine actor. He played Doors lead singer Jim Morrison to perfection in The Doors. He was great as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. He’s not so good in Batman Forever. He’s the wrong choice for the role(s). He doesn’t possess the necessary gravitas to portray the hero/vigilante already troubled by his dual nature now haunted by repressed memories of his childhood. They’re starting to surface and he doesn’t know how to deal with them. Instead of exploring his character’s issues, Kilmer seems more concerned with softening his dark persona by dropping one-liners like “The Batsignal is not a beeper.” when Chase uses it to summon him to a late-night rendezvous. The final deal breaker is when Batman smiles. They may as well have invited Adam West to reprise his role for what little Kilmer does with the role. Simply put, he’s a bore.
The Batman movies are typically defined by their villains and the actors playing them. Jones goes gloriously OTT as Two-Face, a malicious maniac that makes choices based on the toss of a coin. His makeup, the work of Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London), is suitably hideous and frightening in a comical way. Carrey brings his trademark manic persona to The Riddler, playing him as a raving megalomaniac with dreams of world domination through electronic brainwave manipulation. In other words, Carrey does Carrey. It’s fun, but everybody knows Carrey was cast solely for his box office appeal at the time. I would have preferred to see Robin Williams in the role. Kidman is okay as the love interest. The script doesn’t give her anything interesting to do outside of psychoanalyzing Batman and Bruce.
O’Donnell is pretty good as the future Robin. He’s the one that does the brooding in Batman Forever. He’s bent on revenge and won’t stop until he gets it. Nobody better understands what he’s going through than Bruce who saw his own parents murdered as a child. At the same time, Dick is every bit the wild, reckless teen as proven by his nighttime joyride behind the wheel of the “borrowed” Batmobile. Gough, as usual, is great as loyal butler and confidante Alfred. Drew Barrymore (E.T.) and Debi Mazar (Goodfellas) show up as the good and bad molls of the two-sided Two-Face. Rene Auberjonois (Police Academy 5) appears briefly as the head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum while Ed Begley Jr. (Transylvania 6-5000) appears uncredited as Nygma’s ill-tempered, ill-fated boss.
In general, Batman Forever is a pretty good movie. It’s entertaining for the most part. It has a decent storyline, colorfully surreal sets and visuals and a few well-mounted action scenes. Batman still has neat toys. The new Batsuit still strikes fear in the hearts of evildoers. It has a good soundtrack, especially “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (by U2) and “Kiss from a Rose” (by Seal). Alas, it’s not a great movie. The narrative tends to be a bit disjointed. It gets too silly for its own good with bits like Dick/Robin exclaiming “Holey rusted metal, Batman!” when they reach the bad guys’ lair made of…. you guessed it. It’s not the same as the Tim Burton movies, but at least it’s watchable. I’m just relived Schumacher didn’t try to work in the theme song from the TV show somehow.
