The Guilty Pleasures: “Batman Forever”
Warner Brothers just announced that Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway have joined the cast of The Dark Knight Rises. Hardy will be playing the main villain Bane, while Hathaway will be playing the fan-favorite Catwoman. Christopher Nolan, who saved the Batman franchise with his vision and direction, says this will be his last Batman film.
I have always been a huge Batman fan. The first movie I remember seeing in theaters was Batman. I remember my jaw dropping as I watched the unlikely Michael Keaton morph into my favorite comic book hero. I’ll never forget how frightening Jack Nicholson could be every time the Joker came on-screen.
One of my favorite debates is, “Which Batman movie is the best?” You can make cases for all of them, save Batman and Robin. What’s that you say? You can’t make a case for Batman Forever being awesome? Well, challenge me all you want and tell me I’m nuts, but Batman Forever is totally a guilty pleasure for me.
So, let’s break down Batman Forever. After Batman Returns, Warner Brothers decided to move Batman away from a dark and moody style to make the movies even more accessible to the mainstream. Tim Burton, who directed Batman and Batman Returns, was asked to take a backseat so Joel Schumacher could take the helm. Schumacher brought in an all-star cast to make the movie bigger and brighter then the first two.
As a huge Batman fan, I know I should hate this movie. The Riddler is way over the top, Two-Face’s make-up is laughable, Chris O’Donnell can’t act, and there is no chemistry at all between Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman. But I’m a fan anyway. Joel Schumacher did in fact kill the Batman franchise, but I have to give him a standing ovation for Batman Forever. Sometimes, you can’t explain why you love a movie, but I’ll try to explain why I love Batman Forever.
Batman Forever vs. Batman (1966)
Back in the 60s, Batman was a big hit, but he wasn’t the serious character he’s known as today. Batman then, was more of a joke. You had Adam West in the title role and let’s just be honest: he didn’t have one muscle on him. This version of Batman was more about having fun doing things like the Bat Dance. But the look of Batman and Batman Forever are similar. Both are very bright, pokes fun at itself, and boast over the top Riddler characters.
Batman Forever vs. Batman Returns
I was never a fan of Batman Returns. In the first hour, Batman/Bruce Wayne is on-screen for maybe eight minutes. Maybe it’s just me but when I watch a Batman movie, I actually like to see Batman in the movie. The movie is all about the Penguin. The weird part about the Penguin in Batman Returns is that he’s almost like a man-penguin instead of the mobster that he is in the comics. It really doesn’t make sense. I usually find Tim Burton movies to be fascinating, but Batman Returns left a bad taste in my mouth.
Batman Forever vs. The Dark Knight
The first four Batman movies don’t even come close to the Christopher Nolan Batman films. With the two newest movies, Batman is finally given the respect he deserves. Both Forever and Knight have Two-Face as a villain. In both films, Harvey Dent acts as one of Gotham’s district attorneys until a horrible accident leaves him scarred and is forever changed into Two-Face. Dent then begins to battle within himself for control as half of his mind wants to be evil while the other half tries to stay good. In Forever, Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t explore this as he’s just portrayed as pure evil. Well, as evil as someone can be when he’s covered in hot pink paint all over his body and dancing around with the Riddler. The Two-Face in the The Dark Knight unfortunately isn’t much better. I love the The Dark Knight, but I just wasn’t a fan of Two-Face. The character comes off silly on-screen, which is a shame because Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent extremely well.
I know for a fact that I will be at the midnight show when The Dark Knight Rises is released, but the movie is going to have a lot of hype to overcome after the success of The Dark Knight. Will it live up to your expectations or will it crash and burn like Batman Forever did for most people?
Oh, nonsense! I tire of seeing people retroactively behave as though “Batman Forever” was disliked or shunned. It went over like gangbusters in 1995 for most audiences and it wasn’t until “Batman & Robin” that fans retroactively claimed to hate Joel Schumacher’s Bat-work. I loved it in ’95 and just re-watched it on Blu-ray a few days ago and found I still enjoy it.
It’s not without its flaws, of course, but I think a lot of fans need to get this straight: it’s not “Batman & Robin,” was never “Batman & Robin” and should not be dismissed like “Batman & Robin.” There’s no guilt to be had here.
A little disappointed you failed to compare it to Batman (1990) A popular criticism of Jones performance is that he is basically riffing on Nicholson’s joker.
I also have to say I disagree with you about Batman Returns. Yes it’s a little sloppy and didn’t know what to do with the Penguin character other than make him grotesque but the triangle involving Batman/Bruce Wayne, Catwoman/Selina Kyle & Max Schreck is very compelling and makes the final showdown between the three the deepest the Burton films have ever taken it’s characters. Also the last scene/shot is one of my favorites in any Batman film. It’s filled with so much hope after such a dark film and also provided hope for the films that could have followed were it not for the studios changing the tone.
JOYGASM!
Well, I wanted to compare Batman Forever to all Batmans but I decided to keep it to these three.
I just can’t get into Batman Returns. I remember HATING it when I was younger. I rewatched it not to long ago and I just can’t get into it. Maybe I’ll give it one more try.
Screw it; I like Batman Forever. (In fact, I agree with Travis.) It’s one of my favorite theater memories; I was in high school, I went with a group of friends, we had fun. Always like Tommy Lee Jones, even when he’s hamming it up as Two-Face. (Incidentally, I disagree with you about Two-Face in TDK, Michael; I think Aaron Eckhart is just as fantastic in that movie as Heath Ledger.)
Batman Forever certainly isn’t in my Top 100, but it comfortably belongs in the top third of my Flickchart.
Interesting (and messed up) that the studio cast Burton aside for Schumacher. I didn’t know that. And I certainly didn’t know anything was screwed up until Batman & Robin…
I haven’t seen Batman Returns in YEARS (which pisses me off), so I can’t really comment there…
Nice post.
Yeah, Warner became concerned with Burton after Batman Returns. It made money, yes, but there was a sense that the live action movies weren’t going anywhere. Burton was pushed aside, and it was clashes with Schumacher that led to Michael Keaton leaving. The movie made a ton of money, and all the merchandise licensees that had been reluctant to take on Batman Forever bombarded Warner for the next one. That’s why Batman & Robin was rushed into production, and the studio execs were so greedy they even had the toy designers sitting in on the development stages to make sure they had product on shelves by the time the movie opened. Few seemed concerned with there even being a story; Chris O’Donnell called the movie a “toy commercial.”
It’s seriously worth buying the 2-disc DVD (or Blu-ray) just to hear everyone describe the making of that movie. Also, Joel Schumacher personally apologizes for it, stating that even though this merchandise-crazed chaos was forced on him, “I was an adult and I was there.”
But none of that was true of Batman Forever. Aside from the fact that I always felt they squandered the character of Two-Face, failing to make him the sympathetic and tragic figure that he has traditionally been, the movie is pretty solid. It’s one thing that Batman Returns wasn’t: fun. Yet, amidst the bright colors and bad puns we see some of the most interesting character development in the series with Val Kilmer’s mature, nuanced Bruce Wayne. This is a Bruce Wayne trying to be a functioning adult outside of being Batman. I always felt Kilmer was wrongfully overlooked for what is actually a very strong performance.
Also, I appreciate that Elliot Goldenthal didn’t ape Elfman’s themes and introduced his own musical aesthetic to accompany the production. His music isn’t iconic in the way Elfman’s has become, but it serves the movie well with a lot of strings and frenetic motifs. I prefer the Gotham of Burton’s films, but I have to admit that the production design n Batman Forever is recognizable to me as Gotham (be it of the Silver Age of comics).
Again, though, I think fans are at best misinformed and at worst disingenuous to put down Batman Forever. It may be too flashy for some Bat-fans, and I know there were groans over the introduction of Robin, but the film was well-received at the time and holds up fairly well. To punish it for Batman & Robin is not just unfair; it’s wrong.
nice post
It was very well authored and easy to understand. Unlike additional blogs I have read which are really not tht good. I also found your posts very interesting. In fact after reading, I had to go show it to my friend and he enjoyed it as well!
Yeah, Warner became concerned with Burton after Batman Returns.
It made money, yes, but there was a sense that the live action movies
weren’t going anywhere. Burton was pushed aside, and it was clashes
with Schumacher that led to Michael Keaton leaving. The movie made a
ton of money, and all the merchandise licensees that had been reluctant
to take on Batman Forever bombarded Warner for the next one. That’s why Batman & Robin
was rushed into production, and the studio execs were so greedy they
even had the toy designers sitting in on the development stages to make
sure they had product on shelves by the time the movie opened. Few
seemed concerned with there even being a story; Chris O’Donnell called
the movie a “toy commercial.second hand car
Nice blog
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