10 Positives Joel Schumacher Actually Brought To Batman Movies

8. Two-Face's Introduction

Admittedly, Tommy Lee Jones’s Harvey Two-Face deserved a lot more screen time and character development than he got in Batman Forever as, let’s face it, Jim Carrey’s The Riddler completely stole the show.

However, Jones’s introduction in the film is both inspired and excellently achieved, even though it is not an origin story. Robbing the Second National Bank of Gotham, Two-Face taunts a captured security guard and waxes lyrical about how luck is the only true form of justice, before using the guard as a pawn to ensnare Batman – a perfect two-part scheme that is worthy of the villain.

It was certainly a missed opportunity for the first live action depiction of the villain (but not the first live action depiction of Harvey Dent) that he did not receive a proper origin story, as Tommy Lee Jones could have provided us with a performance for the ages as Gotham’s no-nonsense crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent before spiralling into the madness of Two-Face, not unlike Aaron Eckhart’s later performance in The Dark Knight (2008). Indeed, just imagine how much more satisfying Batman Forever may have been if it had taken the lead from Tim Burton’s original film and been fronted by only one villain: Two-Face.

However, Jones’s earliest chronological scenes in Batman Forever are among his best and, indeed, introducing Two-Face with his trademark scarred coin spinning in mid-air before we even see him stands as one of the most haunting and effective introductions of any live action Batman villain.