It's easy to see why some Batman fans don't like either of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies: if Batman & Robin is almost irredeemably terrible save for Arnold Schwarzenegger's hilarious mugging, Batman Forever deserves to be distinguished from that mess. It may simply be too flamboyant and silly for some, but there is a lot of greatness in the film: firstly, the movie looks fantastic from start to finish, thanks to some outstanding production design and stellar visual effects (which have held up pretty well). It's hard to argue against the fact that Val Kilmer was a middling Batman, and Nicole Kidman didn't exactly get much of interest to work with, but the villainous performances are a lot of fun: Tommy Lee Jones is in a rare outlandish mode as Two-Face, while Jim Carrey steals the show as the maniacal, bombastic Riddler. To its credit, Forever made $336 million against a $100 million budget and was nominated for 3 Oscars (including Cinematography), but the critical reception sits at just 41%, and the comparisons to Christopher Nolan's unarguably superior Batman movies certainly don't help. But that doesn't mean we should forget Batman Forever. It's very much its own thing, and though this approach didn't work for the super-camp Batman & Robin, Forever earns a lot of esteem for its go-for-broke tone, visual grandeur and excellent work from Carrey.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
