4. Batman Forever - One Liners
Batman & Robin is (rightly) considered the worst comic book movie ever made. It is also widely accepted that it was the death of the character until Chris Nolan masterfully resurrected him 8 years later. This is all true, but in our eagerness to berate B&R at every opportunity, it is easy to overlook the dodgy groundwork laid by Joel Schumacher's first attempt. Batman Forever is nowhere near as bad as Batman & Robin but, then, not many movies are so that's hardly a rousing review. Watching it in retrospect it is easy to see the mistakes that had already been made in terms of tone and direction after Tim Burton's dark, gothic version of the Caped Crusader. In a desperate attempt to make Batman more accessible and family-friendly, Schumacher and Co. took the Dark out of the Dark Knight and laced the script with flat one liners that would make Adam West cringe. Retorts like "Holy rusted metal Batman," "It's the car right.... chicks dig the car" and the absolutely criminal "I'll get drive-thru" all contributed to a Batman movie which more closely resembled a badly-written Adam Sandler comedy (is there any other kind?). The problem lies with the fact that Batman is not, and should never be used as, a comedic character. It just doesn't work. Even accepting that Nolan's movies are fantastic, you have to say the Batman one liners still fall a little flat. Bruce Wayne can be used as the mouthpiece for the humorous side of the character but Batman should always be about business, not making wisecracks about chicks (seriously, chicks?). The inclusion of these ill advised attempts at comedy alongside Jim Carrey as an evil Ace Ventura, bat nipples and set design that felt like an acid trip, proved too much and it didn't take a genius to see that the franchise was on its last legs.