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Batman Forever (1995) - Directed by Joel Schumacher
"Wholly rusted metal, Batman!"
When I first watched the first Schumacher entry of the 80's-90's Batman movies, I kind of enjoyed it for Jim Carrey's performance. But that was years ago. Now I'm not that fond of it. Batman's famous film series was turned into a barrage of colors that don't match well with black.
This time, Batman might need some help dealing with two villains at once! Not only does the former district attorney-turned-gambling crime lord Two-Face run rampant on Gotham, but a vengeful scientist sends riddle to Bruce Wayne in an attempt to get back at him for rejecting a "grand invention." It's time Batman got a sidekick, which might be the young acrobat bent on revenge against Two-Face.
My first criticism is very blatant: the colors. There were colors and colors all over the place. I'd say they put Superman's costume to shame if it weren't for the fact that THIS IS A BATMAN MOVIE. Pretty colors and Batman don't mix at all. Maybe for the Joker, but adding them anywhere you go and turning a beloved DC Comics landmark into Pastel-Gotham City doesn't help the franchise's dark mood which was so powerful in the first two movies that it hurt. I'm no homophobe or anything, but I, like many critics, believe it's Schumacher's sexuality that might have had a say, and in the end that backfired. Homosexuality in Batman is a long-debated topic. There's even a Wikipedia article. You wanna add some gay, fine. But closing the camera in on fake Bat-Nipples and glossy Bat-butts doesn't help a Batman movie, especially since Schumacher tried to defend himself by saying the suits were influenced by ANCIENT GREEK STATUES. There's the naked truth for you.
Secondly, the story. There I things I liked about the story, which I'll get to later, but part of it was thrown together with too much sci-fi influence for Batman. Maybe it's fine for a typical cheesy 60's comic book, but the Burton Batman movies already had a feel about them that was dark and quirky, and the sci-fi elements were too quirky for the darker elements to really work.
I'm mixed about the characters. They mostly felt unrealistic. But I loved some of the acting. I especially love Jim Carrey's performance as The Riddler, because he's perfect for the role of a quirky, yet kinda insane inventor who loves to tease you with riddles. Val Kilmer also did a good job as Bruce Wayne. I thought Bruce's role in the movie was a little emotionally weaker than usual, which annoyed me, but I can't deny Kilmer did a good job maintaining an air of strength throughout the role, which helped a lot. I wasn't that impressed with Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. He had charisma, but he felt more like a cartoon character than the Two-Face from Batman: The Animated Series.
I won't deny there's a good amount of action. Some of the story elements worked well with the action, and it's clear Schumacher payed close attention to the cinematography to give the film an artistic feel. The only real problem with that is that it was a little too artistic for Batman standards. But it was still movie quality. Schumacher's great with cinematography.
Batman Forever is very easy to have problems with. Thankfully I look at enough of the good things about the movie to give it a decent rating, but Schumacher shouldn't have been put in charge. Thankfully, we had the Nolan series and the animated Batman films to satisfy all of the fans.
"Wholly rusted metal, Batman!"
When I first watched the first Schumacher entry of the 80's-90's Batman movies, I kind of enjoyed it for Jim Carrey's performance. But that was years ago. Now I'm not that fond of it. Batman's famous film series was turned into a barrage of colors that don't match well with black.
This time, Batman might need some help dealing with two villains at once! Not only does the former district attorney-turned-gambling crime lord Two-Face run rampant on Gotham, but a vengeful scientist sends riddle to Bruce Wayne in an attempt to get back at him for rejecting a "grand invention." It's time Batman got a sidekick, which might be the young acrobat bent on revenge against Two-Face.
My first criticism is very blatant: the colors. There were colors and colors all over the place. I'd say they put Superman's costume to shame if it weren't for the fact that THIS IS A BATMAN MOVIE. Pretty colors and Batman don't mix at all. Maybe for the Joker, but adding them anywhere you go and turning a beloved DC Comics landmark into Pastel-Gotham City doesn't help the franchise's dark mood which was so powerful in the first two movies that it hurt. I'm no homophobe or anything, but I, like many critics, believe it's Schumacher's sexuality that might have had a say, and in the end that backfired. Homosexuality in Batman is a long-debated topic. There's even a Wikipedia article. You wanna add some gay, fine. But closing the camera in on fake Bat-Nipples and glossy Bat-butts doesn't help a Batman movie, especially since Schumacher tried to defend himself by saying the suits were influenced by ANCIENT GREEK STATUES. There's the naked truth for you.
Secondly, the story. There I things I liked about the story, which I'll get to later, but part of it was thrown together with too much sci-fi influence for Batman. Maybe it's fine for a typical cheesy 60's comic book, but the Burton Batman movies already had a feel about them that was dark and quirky, and the sci-fi elements were too quirky for the darker elements to really work.
I'm mixed about the characters. They mostly felt unrealistic. But I loved some of the acting. I especially love Jim Carrey's performance as The Riddler, because he's perfect for the role of a quirky, yet kinda insane inventor who loves to tease you with riddles. Val Kilmer also did a good job as Bruce Wayne. I thought Bruce's role in the movie was a little emotionally weaker than usual, which annoyed me, but I can't deny Kilmer did a good job maintaining an air of strength throughout the role, which helped a lot. I wasn't that impressed with Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. He had charisma, but he felt more like a cartoon character than the Two-Face from Batman: The Animated Series.
I won't deny there's a good amount of action. Some of the story elements worked well with the action, and it's clear Schumacher payed close attention to the cinematography to give the film an artistic feel. The only real problem with that is that it was a little too artistic for Batman standards. But it was still movie quality. Schumacher's great with cinematography.
Batman Forever is very easy to have problems with. Thankfully I look at enough of the good things about the movie to give it a decent rating, but Schumacher shouldn't have been put in charge. Thankfully, we had the Nolan series and the animated Batman films to satisfy all of the fans.