6. Batman Forever - It's Not As Bad As Batman And Robin
The Argument: Batman Forever saw Val Kilmer replace Michael Keaton as Batman, Tommy Lee Jones replace Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent and Joel Schumacher replace Tim Burton as director. That's a major franchise shift, brought about after Burton's free-reign on Batman Returns (which is actually the best of the pre-Nolan Bat-flicks) created something too twisted to be child friendly. Forever boasts Jim Carrey over-acting as 1995 Jim Carrey does and sees a noticeable increase in merchandisable designs. But through all that, some would claim it's still a good film; its reputation has merely been dragged down by its association with Batman And Robin. Why It Doesn't Work: The whole notion of basing a film's quality on how it shapes up to another movie can really skew quality, particularly when the benchmark is woefully low. Batman And Robin is widely regarded as the worst comic book movie of all time (now Guardians Of The Galaxy winked to Howard The Duck, Marvel's eighties mess-up can now be viewed as kitsch) and has certainly done no favours for Batman Forever's (or director Joel Schumacher's) legacy. But don't let that kid you into thinking Forever has some worth; it's a garish misreading of one of the world's best superheroes.
