Batman Forever (1995)

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers (WGA):

Bob Kane (characters)
Lee Batchler (story) ...

Release Date:

16 June 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Courage now, truth always....

Plot:

Batman must battle Two-Face and The Riddler with help of an amourous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.

Plot Keywords:

Batman | Gotham | Acrobat | Circus | Sidekick

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Two-Face / Harvey Dent
Jim Carrey	...	Riddler / Dr. Edward Nygma
Nicole Kidman	...	Dr. Chase Meridian
Chris O'Donnell	...	Robin / Dick Grayson
Michael Gough	...	Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle	...	Commissioner James Gordon
Drew Barrymore	...	Sugar
Debi Mazar	...	Spice
Elizabeth Sanders	...	Gossip Gerty
Rene Auberjonois	...	Dr. Burton
Joe Grifasi	...	Bank Guard
Philip Moon	...	Male Newscaster
Jessica Tuck	...	Female Newscaster
Dennis Paladino	...	Crime Boss Moroni

Also Known As:

Batman 3 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong stylized action.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2005) | Brazil:10 | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | South Korea:All | Norway:11 (heavily cut) | Norway:11 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (re-rating, cut) | Norway:15 (Original rating) | Ireland:PG (cut UK version) | Ireland:PG (re-rating) (uncut) (2005) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33850) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:10 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

ARCO Refinery, Carson, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Joel Schumacher had asked Bono of 'U2' to reprise his role of Macphisto that he played during the band's ZOOTV tour, but Bono denied, saying that when ZOOTV ended so did Macphisto, so instead 'U2' contributed the song "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" to the soundtrack.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Two-Face hides behind the baby buggy and shoots at Batman and misses, he throws the gun away in frustration. When it hits the street the handle breaks and flies off.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alfred Pennyworth: Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?
Batman: I'll get drive-thru.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight - Reinventing a Hero (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

One Time Too Many

Where is keaton and burton when you need them?

I liked the first two batman movies, they were very, very dark, broodish and more in line to the actual dark comic book style. Burton is an amazing director and brought the best out of Keaton(when batman was out he became the coolest man around - and now he's not even given an eyelid!).

So what went wrong with this film. Was is Schumacher? Apparantly Keaton had doubts over wanting to do another Batman movie and after meeting Schumacher dropped out. It is amazing that such an actor can be put off a film such as this. But after seeing the film I can see why.

The film starts off pretty well, a helicopter crash into a statue of libery look-a-like - with Batman trapped inside, struggling to get outside before it crashed and blew up - it kinda took me back to old James Bond movies. The background song "Kiss from a Rose" provided by Seal is romantically well placed - but it isn't in the same OTT style as the film - unlike the U2 version.

The film lacks anything other than a flimsy plot of revenge. Batman (played by a boring, Val Kilmer) plays master to a vengeful Robin who wants revenge on a flat villan, Two-Face (underplayed by Tommy Lee Jones), who is working with the Riddler - played by an OTT Jim Carrey (I personally would have gone for Robin Williams, but I guess Williams is too old - he's probably fits "the Mad Hatter" rather than the Riddler).

I know Carrey was payed MegaBucks to carry this flimsy film, but this is no reason to make him the only star of this film. Why, when Carrey gets all the minds off tv-zombies, doesn't realize Batman's true identity sooner is beyond me.

Carrey's character is never explained properly, why is eccentric? OK - he never got praise for his work, but if you didn't get praise for your job you don't come crazy and wear green spandex overnight do you?

This film is pretty poor compared to the previous versions, Nicole Kidman although looking pretty - figures out Batman's true identity far too quickly. She's supposed to be head strong, but instead comes across as a dasmel in distress.

Overall I suggest you return to the old versions. And I would suggest avoiding the PAINFUL Clooney version: Batman and Robin.

Overall: 4/10