Batman Forever

Synopsis:

Batman must battle Two-Face and the Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.

Movie Review:

“Batman Forever” is the third theatrical batman movie released in theaters. After “Batman Returns” was criticized for being too dark, the Warner Brothers franchise opted to go in a different direction with “Batman Forever” and make it more kid friendly. Instead of Tim Burton directing, they got the next best choice Joel Schumacher--not really and possibly a mistake. Also, Michael Keaton did not reprise the role of Batman probably because of the bad script. Unfortunately, talented Val Kilmer portrays the caped crusader in this one. Kilmer does a good job as Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne although the character is just pouty and sad the entire movie. This is not Kilmer’s fault but poor script writing and plot. Let’s talk about the villains in this movie. Two Face is played by Tommy Lee Jones. I usually applaud Jones, but not in this movie. Two Face acts like a cartoon character and joker throughout the film. After a while, he was just annoying to watch on screen. The Riddler is played by Jim Carey. Once again Carey plays the only role he knows how, “Jim Carey”, he is silly and dances around the entire movie. Nicole Kidman plays Bruce Wayne’s love interest. Kidman just stares in the camera, recites one liners, and looks bored in every scene. Finally, there is newcomer, Chris O Donnell who plays Robin. Robin moves in with Bruce Wayne after his parents are killed by Two Face, even though, Dick Grayson is 30 years old. So that part of the plot is kind of weird. Most of the supporting cast is wasted like Pat Hingle who plays Commissioner Gordon and Michael Grough who plays Alfred. Their parts are small and their dialogue is reduced to a few lines. The biggest problem I have with this movie is it feels like a cartoon, not a Superhero feature film. Also, the direction of the film is a mess with Joel Schumucher changing the tone of the entire movie from a Tim Burton gritty, spooky film to a kiddie cartoon that you could watch on Saturday morning television. The only good thing I can say about this movie is some of the action scenes are well done. Overall “Batman Forever” is a chaotic film with bad acting and a poorly written script with some above-average action scenes. I am giving “Batman Forever” a 2 out of 5 stars.

Director: Joel Schumacher

Cast: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carry, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Gough, and Pat Hingle

Runtime:122 minutes

Go check it out on Amazon.com