As much as it pains me to have to think back to the Schumacher Batman movies, I'm going to do it for the sake of 30 Days of Dark Knight. I'll be whatever Gotham needs me to be. Here's my review of 1995′s Batman Forever.
After Tim Burton's Batman burst onto the scene and then fell short with his follow-up Batman Returns, director Joel Schumacher took over and decided to change the tone up a bit. Gone was Burton and Keaton's collaborations that found Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne toiling in the dark shadows. In with a wisecracking Val Kilmer as the caped crusader complete with nipples on his batsuit. Gotham City is still a place full of criminal scum but they seem to be outlined in neon bar light and have fun campy dialogue to go with it. The camp is definitely the big departure from Burton's Batman films. Accept it's not so easy to accept as it is in the popular 1966 TV series starring Adam West.
Batman has to face-off against Two-Face (Tommy lee Jones) and Riddler (Jim Carrey) as they plot together to brain wash Gotham's citizens with a mysterious box on their televisions. Batman's love interest is the beautiful Dr. Chase Meridian (an unusually hollow Nicole Kidman) and audiences get to meet the franchise's first appearance of Boy Wonder. Robin (Chris O'Donnell) sports a buzz cut, an earring, and a superhero sized cod piece. The cod piece along with his and Batman's matching nipples that adorn their suits are merely par for the course in Schumacher's bloated spectacle. Carrey and Jones over do it over and over and never really settle in as overly entertaining super-villains. Maybe in somebody else's Gotham Universe they would have thrived as the classic baddies, but unfortunately Schumacher's kiddy land of toys is bad style with no substance. Val Kilmer does a fine job stepping in for Keaton as Bats but he is only able to work with what he is given here. Sometimes the direction looks like Schumacher asks Kilmer to stiffen up a bit more while playing Batman making for lamer than lame fight sequences and a climactic third act that never takes off. Jokes that miss, a buffet of overacting, and visuals that act as eyesores more times than not, Batman Forever is just something this Batman fan would rather soon forget.
See you tomorrow for Day 16 of 30 Days of Dark Knight!
-JB
