Batman V Superman: Ranking Every Movie From Worst To Best

16. Batman Forever

Batman Forever often gets something approaching a free pass due to it not being quite as bad as Batman & Robin. Which is a bit like saying The Quest For Peace is great because there's always Supergirl. Make no mistake, it's painful. From the very opening its clear that Joel Schumacher (or rather his studio overlords) has no interest in continuing in the style of Tim Burton, instead veering into a day glo sensibility that would ultimately put the character to sleep; it all feels like it was set on a soundstage and the drama never rises above that. It's a box-ticker, distilling the marketable aspects of Burton's first film and clicking repeat; Jim Carrey plays mid-90s Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones play Jack Nicolson's Joker and Val Kilmer is cast as Batman for no real reason. To its credit, Forever does have a narrative (Batman & Robin is merely a chronological ordering of events) and that may be its one redeeming factor. For all its sanitised laziness, the movie does offer one genuinely intriguing twist on the Batman mythos; Bruce Wayne gets over his parents' death. This will have explicitly motivated by Warners' desire to make Batman more kid friendly, removing his long-standing angst to have a more vibrant character, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was an interesting idea.