Batman Forever was a film I used to watch a lot as a kid, and when I was a kid, I loved it, but as an adult, I see why Batman fans both love and hate this movie. Batman Forever is the third Batman film of the 90s, but Tim Burton left after complaints from parents about the movie being too dark, and McDonald's couldn't sell toys because of it.
That line was the moment fans realize they are going more family friendly, toy promoting, fast food promoting Batman film.
So Tim left, and Joel Shculmucer took over as director, and some fans were actually cool with it since he did make Lost Boys. Even though looking at it now, Sam Raimi would have been a better choice because I feel like he would have made it more family-friendly, he would have done it like the Batman animated series. Joel, on the other hand, made it more like the 1960s Batman.
When the film came out, many fans didn't like what they saw, especially the Bat nipples, which everyone, even Val Kilmer, agreed were stupid and unnecessary. Joel Schumacher defended them till the end of his days and told everyone to get out more.
The statues in Gotham City are also strange. It is odd that, in the first two films, Gotham is a regular city, but in this film it's more like Las Vegas with giant statues. I love how the Batman Lego movie made fun of the nipples on the Bat suit, calling it a weird phase.
The film explores more of Batman's past, and he must face off against Two-Face and later the Riddler. Val Kilmer takes over as Batman after Michael Keaton left because he did not like what Joel wanted to do, after reading the script. Fun Fact: Michael and Joel wanted to make a Batman Year One film, but Joel said the studio wanted a sequel, not a prequel. Val Kilmer did a good job as Batman, but I heard he had problems with the Bat suit, especially the nipples, and George Clooney could relate to that, too. He also admitted that he didn't read the script first when he got cast; he just did it because he was a huge fan. In another life, he got to play a Batman that's more serious and wore a better suit than this. I understand why he dropped out of Batman and Robin and went on to do The Saint, which was better by comparison.
One of the biggest scene stealers was the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey, and he was more of the star of the show. He was funny as the Riddler, and most of his lines are more memorable than Batman's. The Riddler worked for Bruce Wayne and wanted to create a device to read brain patterns and enter people's minds.
It is weird, and even Bruce said it raises too many questions. Now of course Riddler doesn't take this well and he goes crazy and kills his boss, he somehow makes it look like a suicide, and Commissioner Gordon just agrees it was a suicide. They should have investigated it more because that makes no sense. Like I mean come on if this were Nolan's Jim Gordon he would have question Riddler on why he was leaving because Riddler put on an act that he loved his boss like a father.
Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is less tragic here and more of a Joker-type villain. Two-Face is supposed to be tragic: he was trying to help Gotham, but ended up corrupted and became a villain. This movie butchered that. Two-Face is better suited as a serious villain than a goofy villain and if they made him serious it would have been a lot better.
Riddler and Two-Face team up and rob banks to fund Riddler's work, and the device is called the box, but it's a cone. There are some funny moments with the two of them and the scene were Two Face attacks Riddler's party was actually really funny. Also Alfred and Jim Gordon were played by the same actors and they do a good job.
Dick Grayson, aka Robin, makes his big screen debut, which Burton originally planned to do in Batman Returns, and he was played by Marlon Wayans there, but like Two-Face, they recast. Chris O'Donnell plays Robin, and he did a good job, but looking back, he was 24 years old playing a teenager, and it feels weird. If they had cast Elijah Wood or one of the actors from Sandlot, it would make more sense. Robin's origin is still the same, except he had a brother, and there is no family connection with Haley Circus, and Two-Face killed his family. When Dick finds out Bruce is Batman he takes the Batmoblie for a joy ride and I do like the scene where Bruce tells Dick that if he kills Two-Face, he will be no better, and his whole life will be revenge. That was a good scene because it actually teaches Robin that getting revenge will never make the pain go away. In the end, Robin doesn’t kill Two-Face, but Two-Face does end up dead at the end of the film.
I will give this film credit for exploring Bruce's origin and his path to becoming Batman. That was actually well done, showing his parents' death affected him also when Two-Face and Riddler attacked Bruce's mansion. I'm thinking, yeah, comic-book Batman would fight those guys off as Bruce Wayne; he wouldn't run away. Eventually, Bruce becomes Batman again and learns who the Riddler was. Dick becomes Robin and partners with Batman to save Dr. Chase and Gotham; there is even a deleted scene with Bruce in the Bat Cave, and it's really good. We get some fun action scenes with them, along with this funny meme.
There are a lot of plot holes and things that don't make sense in the film but despite that it's a fun movie to watch. The climax is kind of cheesy: Riddler has all those brain patterns in a giant cone, and Batman sets a target system, even though it is right there in front of him. Batman defeats the Riddler and Two-Face, saves Robin and Chase, and Chase promises to keep Batman's secret, and then we get the Dynamic Duo running.
We all know what this led to, and Joel apologized to Batman fans for Batman and Robin and said he wanted to make it up to them and make a darker film, which he had planned to, but it never happened. Instead we Nolan gave us a proper dark and gritty Batman film and was for the best.
Still, there were some funny moments in the film, and I love that song Kiss by a Rose. It feels weird to have that song in a Batman movie, but it actually does work. That song just works no matter what in any superhero film. Batman Forever is one of the nostalgia films from the 90s that was fun to watch, but nowadays, when you rewatch, you can have a fun time with how stupid it is, or look at it and say thank god for Christopher Nolan and Matt Reeves, because fans prefer a Dark Knight over 1960s Batman.
I give Batman Forever a 5 out of 10, and I would rather watch this again than Batman and Robin.
So many fans now want the Schumacher cut of Batman Forever, I'd be down to see it. After Joel died, WB and DC announced that his Batman films are no longer canon to Burton's. That's why they release the Batman 89 comics as their way of retconning his films. There are some fans who didn't like that as they felt it was disrespectful to Joel’s work and still consider it canon, but some fans are for it because, you know, they didn't like what Joel did, as he is the reason the Batman franchise died down until Chris Nolan saved it.
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