After strong performances in supporting roles and getting a reputation as a ladies' man in Hollywood, Val Kilmer was exposed to mass audiences in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, and received critical praise for his portrayals of Jim Morrison in The Doors and Doc Holliday in Tombstone. It all built to 1995, which was a huge year for Kilmer: not only did he star alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Heat, but he played Batman in Batman Forever. It doesn't get any bigger than playing the Caped Crusader, right? While it looked like Kilmer dodged a bullet by deciding not to return for the abomination that is 1997's Batman and Robin, his next film was the box office disaster The Island Of Dr. Moreau, which he actually wasn't awful in. And that was about the end of that. Since then Kilmer has been prolific, but not successful; for every good film he is in (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), he seems to make a half-dozen bad ones. He appeared in seven movies that were released in 2009 and six that were released the year before, and a number of them were never even in theaters. His increased output also parallels his weight, which has ballooned significantly since his Batman days.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
