Every Batman Movie Opening Scene Ranked From Worst To Best

With Batman Forever, Joel Schumacher had the tricky task of acquainting audiences with not only Val Kilmer's new Batman - after Michael Keaton opted not to return - but also this more campy, neon-tinged visage of Gotham City compared to the Tim Burton films.

The first words we hear out of Batman's mouth are "I'll get drive thru," which doesn't exactly set a great vibe out of the gate, if at least making it abundantly clear that the tone is skewing far more kid-friendly this time around.

The entire opening is pretty goofy as Batman foils Two-Face's (Tommy Lee Jones) high-wire hostage situation, saddled with a poorly-acted security guard Bats has to rescue.

It's certainly handsomely mounted, but throws a lot at the viewer at once - namely a new Batman, a new main villain, and Bats' love interest Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) - while most of the action settles for being a bit of a sensory assault.

The fusion of VFX and practical effects holds up fairly well today, but as Batman openings go it's sadly not particularly imaginative.