Batman Forever (1995)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers (WGA):

Bob Kane (characters)
Lee Batchler (story) ...

Release Date:

16 June 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Courage now, truth always....

Plot:

Batman must battle Two-Face and The Riddler with help of an amourous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.

Plot Keywords:

Batman | Gotham | Circus | Riddle | Acrobat

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Two-Face / Harvey Dent
Jim Carrey	...	Riddler / Dr. Edward Nygma
Nicole Kidman	...	Dr. Chase Meridian
Chris O'Donnell	...	Robin / Dick Grayson
Michael Gough	...	Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle	...	Commissioner James Gordon
Drew Barrymore	...	Sugar
Debi Mazar	...	Spice
Elizabeth Sanders	...	Gossip Gerty
Rene Auberjonois	...	Dr. Burton
Joe Grifasi	...	Bank Guard
Philip Moon	...	Male Newscaster
Jessica Tuck	...	Female Newscaster
Dennis Paladino	...	Crime Boss Moroni

Also Known As:

Batman 3 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong stylized action.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2005) | Brazil:Livre | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | South Korea:All | Norway:11 (heavily cut) | Norway:11 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (re-rating, cut) | Norway:15 (Original rating) | Brazil:10 (re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33850) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:10 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

ARCO Refinery, Carson, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Chris O'Donnell's sister can be seen directly behind him in the party scene where Robin is first introduced to the public.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: A statue in the tunnel shakes during the car chase.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alfred Pennyworth: Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?
Batman: I'll get drive-thru.

Movie Connections:

References The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Soundtrack:

Crossing The River

Joel Schumacher... I hate you

Tim Burton got good actors to star in the first two Batman films, but Joel figured that he'd just use the Batman ploy to get as many top-quality actors as he could so that Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer could say: "Hey! I was in a Batman film! Shows you what a great actor I am!" He also used Burton's ploy from 'Batman Returns' of using two villains at once. Personally, I wonder why he would want to use two villains when he can barely get one character right.

Don't get me wrong, Nicole and Val have been great in other performances like Moulin Rouge and Tombstone, but Joel is simply incapable of getting any good performances out of his actors. This is probably the worst I've ever seen Nicole. Don't believe me? There's a scene where she tells Batman to meet her at her place at midnight. Even though she's expecting company, she decides to sleep in the nude before he shows up. I can understand her character trying to seduce Batman, but you don't go to bed and fall asleep while you're expecting company. Hell, just listen to her character's inner conflict when she says "I can't believe it. I've imagined this moment since I first saw you... And now I have you and.... Guess a girl has to grow up sometime." I guess I can't blame Nicole on doing the best with the crap she was given. Someone needs to fire Mr. Script Writer.

Joel turned Harvey TwoFace, a maniacal mad-man into a laughing idiot that hops up and down whenever he blows something up. And whereas Burton took time in his films to explain the villain's transformation (Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, they all have great scenes explaining why they're evil) they just did a quick twenty second explanation of how the lawyer Harvey got acid thrown on him during a trial, so he swore revenge on Batman... what? For the record, I have to say that Two-Face is pretty much Tommy Lee Jones copying Jack Nicholson's performance as the Joker with different makeup, and the Riddler wasn't too far behind in persona, Jim Carrey was acting like... well... Jim Carrey. As "good" as Carrey's performance might be, there's really no room for non-sequitur dance sequences and goofy voices to be thrown into the middle of a scene-- but that's what Jim is good at doing, I guess. As for Edward Nigma, they briefly went into how he became the Ridler (he was fired from his job, I know that tends to make people become super-villains), but never explained why he likes making riddles. His plot: become the smartest man alive by reading the minds of Gotham's citizens and then... and then... uh... aw hell, it doesn't matter because we all know Batman will save the day.

Don't forget Robin, the most hated side-kick in the world (I say that because in the comic book he was overwhelmingly voted to be killed off). Let's introduce this guy who wants revenge on TwoFace and offers absolutely nothing else significant to the story. He's just eye-candy to let the ladies (and Joel) swoon over in the action film. But then again, most male actors in Joel's movies are pretty much like that.

The biggest crime in Gotham was how Joel rebuilt the city. He demolished Burton's Gothic atmosphere and added colored lights and large bronze statues to turn the desolate wasteland of a city into a sparkling Las Vegas wonderland. He also introduced the phosperhous gang, a group of guys who glow in the dark and play heavy metal music... wait-- that wasn't in the comic book? I'll never forgive him for giving Batman rubber nipples.

I've heard some arguments standing up on Joel's defense, claiming that the movie would've been better with the deleted scenes put back in. Namely, two scenes: one which shows TwoFace escaping from Arkham, writing some sort of anti-Bat message in a victim's blood, and other scene where Bruce gets amnesia and has to remember why he's Batman. The first scene was supposedly cut for being too scary for kids, but I can safely say that it was filmed and edited to fit into the rest of this crap fest perfectly. And the amnesia scene was utter crap. Honestly: AMNESIA. As if a bullet grazing Bruce's forehead and causing amnesia isn't far fetched enough, how about the fact that he cures it in under five minutes? That scene wasn't cut for being too dark, or too slow, it was cut for being too stupid.

Could be worse though... you could be watching the next installment "Batman and Robin." At least the plot for Batman Forever wasn't as poorly juggled as that movie. The worst you get with this movie is a bunch of clichés, poor acting direction, unbelievable (not in a good way, unbelievable as in "why would only thirty or so members of the circus audience slowly form a circle to look at the only casualties in this scene?") moments, and basically undoing everything dark and dramatic that made the first two films good so it can be spat up as this kind of campy, kid-friendly movie that anyone with a brain would tell is just a cheap knock off of the first two Batman films.