Batman Forever is another chapter in the cape crusader saga. Michael Keaton moved onto other things, and Tim Burton gave up the director’s chair. In their places, we find Val Kilmer behind the mask and Joel Schumacher in the chair. No offence to either, but they had a lot to live up to and failed on all attempts.
The first Batman movie featured three heavyweight superstars. Returns up the total to four, and Forever took it a step further with five headliners. From the poster, you will notice Jim Carrey as the Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Nicole Kidman is around to play a love interest while Chris O’Donnell will be the franchise’s first incarnation of Robin.
Together the chemistry isn’t there, and the performances are slightly over the top. Carrey does Carrey things to make people laugh. He’s always bouncing off the walls in most stories, and this one is no exception. Jim is almost the ideal candidate for the role because this is one is cartoonish. In the event the character was given a darker side, he would have never worked.
It was hard to see Tommy Lee Jones in such a role. Part funny and part dangerous, he seems so out of place in this role. Known for so many other characters, people probably forget he was the original Two-Face. I understand that it’s power in numbers, so of course, he teams up with Carrey’s character, and I can’t think of a worse on-screen pair.
Robin was added to the story, even though he really wasn’t needed. Looking back at it today, I can say that the Dark Knight trilogy is far better without Batman having a sidekick. Throwing another main character to Batman’s personal life was not needed. I won’t knock the way they introduce Robin, but he was a spoiled kid with a massive chip on his shoulder. It seemed pretty forced, which was the only way for you to get behind the character.
Things looked great for Batman in the beginning, two sequels later, and fans’ patience for something good had worn thin. We all know it only got worse from here, so brace yourselves. 3/10
Ten Stars or Less 