Batman Forever. This is the point I felt that the movies really took a U-turn. Most audiences didn't care for the disgusting Penguin character in Batman Returns so the marketing of the movie just wasn't what Warner Bros. was hoping for. They wanted something they could plaster all over McDonalds drinking cups and make a fortune on merchandising. Instead they got something that wasn't appropriate for kids at all. So, Tim Burton was released and in comes Joel Schumacher.
With the new director came an entirely new cast. Val Kilmer took over for the aging Michael Keaton and Chris O'Donnell was hired to play the faithful sidekick, Robin. For Batman's villians we are treated to the enigmatic Riddler and Harvy Two-Face. And my God is this movie bad.
Gotham City itself was taken out of the shadows and got a much more colorful overhaul. What once was shadowy and gothic, is now glow in the dark neon colors. It became this weird mix of the Burton Batman movies and the 1960's tv show.
Batman Forever came out in 1995 and one of the biggest stars at the time was Jim Carrey. He was fresh off his big hits Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask. Kids loved him because Jim Carrey himself is a cartoon character. Much of his demeanor and acting style was in the same vein as Daffy Duck. He's wild, expressive, and very enjoyable to watch doing comedy. And that right there is why this movie is so bad.
Batman isn't supposed to be a comedy. Tim Burton set the stage for a very serious and dramatic character and now we have a mugging Riddler character who nobody could take seriously. The dialogue given to Riddler and Two Face was just God awful. Nothing ever built any dread of sense of urgency. Chris O'Donnell had no clue who he was playing. Instead of being a strong character and almost a carbon copy of Batman; this Robin is whiny. I personally got the impression that O'Donnell didn't do his homework and read anything about the character. What really boils my blood is that O'Donnell beat out hollywood titans like Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Ewan MacGregor. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise they chose between O'Donnell and DiCaprio by asking 11 year-olds who would win in a fist fight.
Tommy Lee Jones was tasked with being Two Face and much like everyone else in the movie, I felt like they had no idea who they were supposed to be. Two Face is a tragic character pushed too far by the criminals he tried to put away. After a serious accident left him disfigured, he became obsessed with duality thanks to his multiple personality disorder. His obsession with the number 2 and using a coin to determine the future. Much of the movie had that but really no understanding of the character other than he's "quirky."
Similarly, Val Kilmer had no idea how to distinguish Bruce Wayne from Batman. Michael Keaton disguised himself. He spoke in quiet tones and that gave Batman a real sense of horror. The way he could smile at a criminal and without saying a word could make even the most simple of sentences seem to go through your soul. As Bruce Wayne Keaton was charasmatic but always had this feeling of being guarded. He never wanted anyone to get too close because he was hiding something. With Val Kilmer the two are indestinguishable. Again I don't know who to blame: the bad acting, the bad research, or the bad writing. And this also irritated me when I read it, Johnny Depp was also being considered to play Batman! Can you imagine what a Depp/DiCaprio dynamic duo would've been like?
I up until now haven't talked much about the female love interests in all these movies. Mostly because the romantic angle in the movie is largely irrelevant. Batman gets a new love interest every movie. First, it was Vicki Vale. The first woman Batman ever trusted with his darkest of secrets. Then there was Catwoman who figured out Bruce was Batman by kissing him. Believe me, it was done better than how I'm describing it. But now we have Dr. Chase Meridian played by Nicole Kidman. If I were Batman, I would've asked Commissioner Gordon for a restraining order. Her only defining character is that she is sexually attracted to Batman. Vicki was a reporter investigating the Joker killings and was a great help to Batman in getting important information to the public. Catwoman was a very complicated character. She had her own motivations and wants. She was a sympathetic character and we go as much on her journey as we do Batman's or Penguin's. But with Chase we are just given nothing. She's a vacant stare covered up with lusty intentions. An absolute waste of time.
What I take most out of this movie is a cautionary tale about letting Corporate America dictate art. Burton's movies, despite how disturbing they were, were artful and very well done. But they weren't "marketable" the way studio executives wanted. So, in order to placate their key demographic, they sold out. Bringing in things kids would like and abandoning any sense of identity. Major decisions were done by survey and what we have here is the very definition of junk food entertainment: lots of pretty colors and crazy stories. In an effort to make things 'edgier' without resorting to actually being 'edgy' they instead redesign the bat suit with nipples. Is there any other more perfect symbol of this atrocity? Bat Nipples? Why? Who in their right mind would look at the bat suit and say, "Do you know what this needs? Nipples!" Only to have some other moron immediately shout back, "That's BRILLIANT!"
The only saving grace this movie has, is that it isn't the abomination we are going to see in part 5 of my Batman Retrospective.
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