Batman week Part 3

After Tim Burton went from director to producer for the third Batman film, Joel Schumacher came in and directed the third installment, "Batman Forever," released in 1995. Michael Keaton left after being dissatisfied with how the new direction went. Who did he get to play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman? None other than: Val Kilmer. He's not the best actor who portrayed Batman, but that's all up for debate. His Bruce Wayne was actually done well, but his Batman was probably much better though. Also, they added Dick Grayson, played by Chris O'Donnell, to this one, who as Batman fans know, was the first partner of Batman's, Robin. However, his performance has him throwing a bad attitude about everything. Sure he complains, but it is a major change since the 60s show. Grayson's parents, played by Larry A. Lee and Glory Fioramonti, are circus performers (in this movie) who die at the hands of Two-Face, and he wants revenge. Not only that, there is a more detailed flashback as to how Bruce Wayne became Batman. This film decided to go mainstream and made it more for kids than adults. However, not being a horrible Batman film, it still has its own share of flaws. First off is the Bat-Nipples and Bat-@$$ on the suit. If this was supposed to be child-friendly, why put that on the Batman suit? Kids don't want to see that. Second are those awful one-liners. In the beginning of the film after Batman suits up and leaves to go fight crime, Alfred asks him, "Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?" to which Batman responds, "I'll get drive-thru." That doesn't make any sense, but I guess that was in there to be comedic and have kids laugh at that. I guess the point they were trying to make here is that Batman never goes through drive-thrus, so they were probably satirizing his character.

Now the villains in this film are Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones (interesting choice), and Edward Nygma aka The Riddler, played by Jim Carrey. What I find weird is that the film didn't follow up on Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face properly, which James Rolfe says there was "just a passing mention that he was burned by acid." This is not a good role that Tommy Lee Jones played, because he is just a goofball with silly makeup on. Two-Face is supposed to be a split-personality, much like with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Jones doesn't play the character like that. All he does is flip a coin and laugh around a lot, which is not what Two-Face does. I hate to say it, but I think Schumacher should have done his research before he made the film.

Now The Riddler is the primary villain, since he is given a lot more back-story than Two-Face, since we see how he became The Riddler. After the success of "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask," and "Dumb and Dumber," I find it no surprise that Schumacher decided to go with Jim Carrey as The Riddler, since he is a big child star, and also my second favorite comedian of all time. For fans of the 60s Batman series, they can see that Carrey's Riddler is much similar to Gorshin's Riddler, but if you just look at the performance fully, it's just Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey. Since he completely takes over the performance every single time the two villains are taking over Gotham, it's no surprise since he is the main focus. I especially like it when Bruce solves every single one of Riddler's riddles, since he has always been able to do that and is smart enough to. The end result is that all of the riddles were a number for an alphabet letter, which ended up being Mr. E, as in mystery or a synonym being enigma. Yes, the end result was Mr. Edward Nygma. However, the Riddler grabbing himself at one point is really disturbing, like what they did with the Batsuit, and also when he yells "Joygasm!" How about when The Riddler acts like a game show host near the end and he introduces Robin? He says, "Batman's one and only partner. This acrobat-turned orphan likes Saturday morning cartoons and one day dreams being... [whispers] ... bare naked with a girl!" Once again, if they wanted to be more child-friendly, then they should have thought those things over before shooting the film. Some of the funny scenes that take place with Two-Face and Riddler are one, when Riddler just tells Two-Face, "Kill the Bat! Sounds like a plan?" and all Two-Face does, obviously, is just chuckle along with him. Another one is at a party where Bruce and Nygma are at, and Two-Face makes an entrance, which signals Bruce to go suit up to stop him. When Batman makes an entrance, Nygma says, "You're entrance was good, his was better. The difference: showmanship!" Now that is classic Jim Carrey. Another funny Jim Carrey line is when Batman is in the Night-Wing, and Robin is in the Bat-Boat, Two-Face and Riddler are trying to shoot them down. When Robin is hit by Two-Face, Riddler yells, "YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP!" and Two-Face replies, "Who...me?" which I have to admit, is pretty funny.

Not only does The Riddler steal the show, but when watching this film, the color Green is all over. Talk about a film that you can watch on St. Patrick's Day. Lasers, all kinds of weird contraptions, everything is full of flashy neon lights. This one was brighter and more comical, probably to bring a comic book to life quite literally, which is eye candy. Speaking of eye candy, Two-Face's henchmen are Sugar, the "good" assistant, played by Drew Barrymore, and Spice, the "bad" assistant, played by Debi Mazar. But they are not the ones you want. The love interest is who you want, right? Well, Schumacher did deliver in this one, because the love interest is Dr. Chase Meridian, played by the sultry Nicole Kidman. Her character is pretty shallow, especially with that scene where she signals Batman onto the rooftop. She tries to seduce him, and he asks her that by saying, "You trying to get under my cape?" and she responds, "A girl can't live by psychoses alone." Well what can be the response to that? How about a stupid one-liner once again? "It's the car, right? Chicks love the car." Why are these one-liners done so wrong? Sure a kid would laugh at it without having to understand one-liners, but adults watching this will cringe at how horrible they are.

Later on, Batman grows more acceptable to having a partner, but I do have to say, I didn't like the conversation between Bruce and Dick on what Dick's name would be. He suggests Batboy or Nightwing (which is what Dick Grayson later becomes in the comics once he leaves Robin behind) and Bruce says, "How about Dick Grayson, college student?" and Dick replies, "Screw you!" That was uncalled for, but it's not something to really ramble on about. One of the things that this film did well on, which I give it credit for, is paying tribute to the 60s show. One is when Robin says, "Holy rusted metal Batman!" and the ending where they show Batman and Robin running up to the screen. Also, when Batman has to discover a way out of a death trap, it does have a nostalgic factor to when the 60s show left on a cliffhanger. Overall, it's a pretty entertaining film, not good, but not bad as well, and it's the Batman film that studios wanted: safe and marketable. Although I do have to say I don't like how Robin just tags along with Batman. Remember, Robin is Batman's partner, not sidekick. Seeing it as a kid, I thought it was entertaining, but now that I have re-watched it as an adult, I don't think it holds up very well today. I would probably consider this average, which is just an ok flick.

Although this film was met with mixed reviews, and may have been more positively received, Schumacher was signed on to do a sequel. How will this sequel turn out? Will those who liked "Batman Forever" like the sequel? Or will they be in for the biggest disappointment that Batman fans ever had? Tune in next episode! Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!