2. Batman Forever (1995)
Ah Joel Schumacher. You see now we get into the worst Batman films. Schumacher's first entry Batman Forever, following on after Tim Burton and to put a non too finer point on it, was pretty embarrassing to watch and borderline insulting for the fans. If there was one thing that Schumacher got a quarter right, it was the casting of Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and outside of the filmmaking arena he helped create some appealing toys for a five year old like myself at the time. Apart from those two positives, his Batman Forever was pretty rubbish. Schumacher's vision was the complete opposite to how Bob Kane's comics and Tim Burton's movies had envisioned the Batman universe. Batman wore a metallic suit, Gotham's aesthetic was transformed into a harsh, neon mess and the villains of Two-Face and especially the Riddler, were incredibly camp. Jim Carrey might as well of just turned up as himself, which he did anyway. And while he might consider it a low point of his acting career, Tommy Lee Jones actually turned in a half decent performance as Two-Face, for what it was all worth. Michael Keaton left the role of Batman and Val Kilmer replaced him. Was he a bad Batman or not? Was he a good Bruce Wayne or not? Did we even care? He was nothing special but nothing awful either but this film was not about Batman. The script shunned Batman back into the shadows and aimed to have as much fun with the villains as possible, to our extents. Batman showed up a few times, in a re-vamped Batmobile, kicked some ass, and then went back to Wayne Manor to speak to Alfred about just who was making this film. It goes without saying that Batman Forever was a critical and a hardcore fan flop but an overall big box office success, which of course Warner Brothers were jumping through hoops at, rubbing their greedy hands together for a money making sequel. However, surely Schumacher could not make it all any worse for the Batman fans out there? Oh but he can. And he did...