Batman Forever

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Batman Forever
"Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big, black bat?" - The Riddler (Edward Nygma)
Genre: Action
Adventure
Comedy
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Produced by: Peter Macgregor-Scott
Tim Burton
Written by: Akiva Goldsman
Based on: Batman by Bill Finger and Bob Kane
Starring: Val Kilmer
Tommy Lee Jones
Jim Carrey
Nicole Kidman
Chris O'Donnell
Michael Gough
Pat Hingle
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: June 16, 1995
Runtime: 122 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $100 million
Box office: $336 million
Franchise: Batman Motion Picture Anthology
Prequel: Batman Returns
Sequel: Batman and Robin


"Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won't know why."

Bruce Wayne

"And then you get even older, you can't run as fast, jump as high, sleep as well, and you realise something. You realise that young you, the four year old kid who watched that movie 427 times a day was a f***in' genius! Several geniuses, a flock of freakin' Freuds!"

Alex Hunter/HiTop Films

Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which tells the story of how while Batman struggles to manage both his dual identities and the presence of a new ward, Edward Nygma develops a powerful new technology and partners with one of Batman's former allies to take him down.

This film is the third in the Batman Motion Picture Anthology, being preceded by Batman Returns. The film received mixed to positive reviews on release, with criticisms mainly directed at the film's lighter tone. Aspects that were praised include the performance of Jim Carrey, the action sequences, and Elliot Goldenthal's soundtrack. Nonetheless, the film was successful, and the film was followed by Batman and Robin in 1997.

Plot

On the second anniversary of Harvey Two-Face's capture, he breaks out of Arkham Asylum to commit a bank robbery. Batman arrives to stop him, but fails in recapturing him. The following morning he meets WayneTech employee Edward Nygma, who enquires about extra funding into his brain wave manipulation project, initially developed for escapism. Bruce ultimately rejects his project, sending him down a dark path, developing an obsession with outperforming Bruce Wayne and unmasking the Batman. Now calling himself The Riddler, he teams up with Two-Face to put Nygma's brain wave tech in every house in Gotham and destroy the Batman.

Batman wonders if he can keep up his dual identities much longer when he meets Dr. Chase Meridian, a seductive psychologist and Richard Grayson, a hurting orphaned acrobat. Dr. Meridian is obsessed with the Batman and Dick Grayson wants to kill Two-Face in revenge for the murder of his parents and brother. Batman eventually has to make the choice on what lifestyle he should live when the Riddler and Two-Face kidnap Dr. Meridian, eventually reconciling both halves of his identity.

Production

Development

"I always hated those titles like Batman Forever. That sounds like a tattoo that somebody would get when they're on drugs or something. Or something some kid would write in the yearbook.""

Producer Tim Burton

Batman Returns was released in 1992 with financial success and generally favorable reviews from critics, but Warner Bros. was disappointed with its box office run, having made $150 million less than the first film. After Batman Returns was deemed too dark and inappropriate for children, with McDonald's even recalling their Happy Meal tie-in, Warner Bros. decided that this was the primary cause of the film's financial results and asked Burton to step down in favor of another director; while Sam Raimi and John McTiernan were considered, Joel Schumacher was selected by Warner Bros. after his job in The Client and approved by Burton. Husband-and-wife screenwriting couple Lee and Janet Scott-Batchler were brought on to write the script and agreed with Burton that "the key element to Batman is his duality. And it's not just that Batman is Bruce Wayne."

Their original script introduced a psychotic Riddler with a pet rat accompanying him. The story elements and much of the dialogue still remained in the finished film, though Schumacher felt it could be "lighte[ne]d down". Keaton initially approved the selection of Schumacher as director and planned on reprising his role as Batman from the first two films. Schumacher claims he originally had in mind an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and Keaton claimed that he was enthusiastic about the idea. Warner Bros. rejected the idea as they wanted a sequel, not a prequel, though Schumacher was able to include very brief events in Bruce Wayne's childhood with some events of the comic The Dark Knight Returns. Akiva Goldsman, who worked with Schumacher on The Client, was brought in to rewrite the script, deleting the initial idea of bringing in the Scarecrow as a villain with Riddler, and the return of Catwoman. Burton, who now was more interested in directing |Ed Wood, later reflected he was taken aback by some of the focus group meetings for Batman Forever, a title he hated. Producer Peter MacGregor-Scott represented the studio's aim in making a film for the MTV Generation with full merchandising appeal.

Casting

Production went on a fast track with Rene Russo cast as Chase Meridian but Keaton decided not to reprise Batman because he did not like the direction the series was headed in and rejected the script. Keaton also wanted to pursue "more interesting roles", turning down $15 million. A decision was made to go with a younger actor for Bruce Wayne, and an offer was made to Ethan Hawke, who turned it down but eventually regretted the decision. Schumacher had seen Val Kilmer in Tombstone, but was also interested in Keanu Reeves (who would later voice Bruce Wayne / Batman in DC: League of Super-Pets), Alec and William Baldwin, Dean Cain, Tom Hanks, Kurt Russell, Ralph Fiennes (who would later voice Alfred Pennyworth in The Lego Batman Movie), Daniel Day-Lewis and Johnny Depp. Cain was scrapped as he was well known for starring in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Kilmer, who as a child visited the studios where the 1960s series was recorded and shortly before had visited a bat cave in Africa, was contacted by his agent for the role. Kilmer signed on without reading the script or knowing who the director was.

With Kilmer's casting, Warner Bros. dropped Russo, considering her too old to be paired with Kilmer. Sandra Bullock, Robin Wright, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Linda Hamilton were all considered for the role, which was eventually recast with Nicole Kidman. Billy Dee Williams took the role of Harvey Dent in Batman on the possibility of portraying Two-Face in a sequel, but Schumacher cast Tommy Lee Jones in the role, although Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood, Martin Sheen and Robert De Niro were considered, after working with him on The Client. Jones was reluctant to accept the role, but did so at his son's insistence. Robin Williams was in discussions to be the Riddler at one point but the role was eventually given to Jim Carrey with Williams only finding out in the trades. In a 2003 interview, Schumacher said Michael Jackson lobbied hard for the role, but was turned down before Jim Carrey was cast. Other actors considered were John Malkovich, Brad Dourif (considered before by Burton to portray Scarecrow, and was his original choice to portray The Joker, before being rejected by the Studio), Kelsey Grammer, Micky Dolenz, Matthew Broderick, Phil Hartman, Steve Martin, Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider. Mark Hamill was going to get the role, but had to turn it down due to contract issues, especially with Batman: The Animated Series (being The Joker's voice). Robin appeared in the shooting script for Batman Returns but was deleted due to the use of too many characters. Marlon Wayans had been cast in the role and signed on for a potential sequel, but when Schumacher took over, he decided to open up casting to other actors. Leonardo DiCaprio was considered, but decided not to pursue the role after a meeting with Schumacher. Matt Damon, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Worth, Danny Dyer, Toby Stephens, Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Alan Cumming, Christian Bale (who would later star as Batman/Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight trilogy), and Scott Speedman Chris O'Donnell was cast and Mitch Gaylord served as his stunt double, and also portrayed Mitch Grayson, Dick's older brother, created for the film. Schumacher attempted to create a cameo role for Bono as his MacPhisto character, but both came to agree it was not suitable for the film.

Filming

Principal photography began on September 24, 1994, and wrapped on March 5, 1995. Schumacher hired Barbara Ling for production design, claiming that the film needed a "force" and good design. Ling could "advance on it". Schumacher wanted a design in no way connected to the previous films and instead inspired by the images from the Batman comic books seen in the 1940s/early 1950s and New York City architecture in the 1930s, with a combination of modern Tokyo. He also wanted a "city with personality," with more statues, as well as various amounts of neon.

Schumacher had problems with Kilmer, whom he described as "childish and impossible," reporting that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to Schumacher for two weeks after the director told him to stop being rude. Schumacher also mentioned Tommy Lee Jones as a source of trouble: "Jim Carrey was a gentleman, and Tommy Lee was threatened by him. I'm tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don't work with them again." Carrey later acknowledged Jones was not friendly to him, telling him once off-set during the production, "I hate you. I really don't like you ... I cannot sanction your buffoonery."

Design and effects

Rick Baker designed the prosthetic makeup. John Dykstra, Andrew Adamson, and Jim Rygiel served as visual effects supervisors, with Pacific Data Images also contributing to visual effects work. PDI provided a computer-generated Batman for complicated stunts. For the costume design, producer Peter MacGregor-Scott claimed that 146 workers were at one point working together. Batman's costume was redesigned along the lines of a more "MTV organic, and edgier feel" to the suit. Sound editing and mixing were supervised by Bruce Stambler and John Levesque, which included trips to caves to record bat sounds. A new Batmobile was designed for Batman Forever, with two cars being constructed, one for stunt purposes and one for close-ups. Swiss surrealist painter H. R. Giger provided his version for the Batmobile but it was considered too sinister for the film.

The film used some motion capture for certain special effects. Warner Bros had acquired motion capture technology from arcade video game company Acclaim Entertainment for use in the film's production.

Deleted scenes

Batman Forever went through a few major edits before its release. Originally darker than the final product, the film's original length was closer to 2 hours and 40 minutes, according to Schumacher. There was talk of an extended cut being released to DVD for the film's 10th anniversary in 2005. While all four previous Batman films were given special-edition DVD releases on the same day as the Batman Begins DVD release, none of them were given extended cuts, although some scenes were in the deleted scenes section in the special features.

Bad Qualities

  1. Executive meddling: After Batman Returns made less money than expected, the studio determined the reason to be the film being too dark and inappropriate for children. Consequently, director Tim Burton was replaced by Joel Schumacher and there were many changes made to the series' aesthetics and tone. The switch to a lighthearted and less dark direction was not only an attempt to increase the box office by making the film more accessible to families but also increase merchandise and licensing income from toys and promotional tie-ins.
    • Notably, fast-food giant McDonald's felt betrayed that their children's Happy Meals promoting Batman Returns were ultimately connected to the dreary and inappropriate end result and threatened to pull potential future promotional deals with the franchise barring a major change in the series' direction, going so far as refusing to sign any deal without full script access and having creative input on the costuming.
    • As a result of the tonal shift, Gotham City went from a depressing, industrial/gothic city (described in the '89 script as "Hell erupted through the pavements and built a city") and turned into a contrasty, neon-lit circus likened by the creatives to nighttime Tokyo.
  2. Thanks to copious amounts of footage being excised (most notably the subplot of Bruce's struggle to accept his role as Batman, which was the basis of the film's title) there is an inconsistent tone as the film shifts between attempts at drama or character development and scenes of cartoonish overacting without bridging material to help transition moods.
  3. The leads are given odd directions in this movie:
    • Val Kilmer's performance as Bruce Wayne is inappropriately reserved in contrast to both the surrounding film and previous actor Michael Keaton's portrayal of the playboy.
    • Chris O' Donnell gives a confusing performance as Dick Grayson, alternating between smug & assured and whiny & bratty, often without reason.
  4. Continuity Error: Harvey Dent was black in the previous two movies but now he's suddenly white?
    • It's most likely the movie was meant to be a reboot/standalone movie at the time, now it's considered non-canon or in an alternate timeline.
  5. The villain portrayals feel like a downgrade from the two previous films, with the Riddler and Two-Face vying for the same role of "manic, over-the-top cartoon character". While Jim Carrey is an obvious choice to fill the Riddler's tights (the Emmy-winning Frank Gorshin performance of the '60s being the most prominent pop culture reference point for the character), Two-Face is a conundrum of a character, and Tommy Lee Jones is woefully miscast in the part.
    • The only established trait of Two-Face is his belief in chance as the only means of divining justice, often flipping a coin to determine his actions. Yet a scene late in the 2nd act has him repeatedly flipping a coin until he gets the result he wants... worse yet, this isn't a clever revelation that the character has been pulling one over on our heroes but a straight-up misunderstanding of who he is, as he ultimately ends up dying over his inability to make a choice without his beloved coin.
    • Jones' discomfort with the role and his co-star is palpable, as his demeanor seems to shift whenever they share the screen. According to Carrey, Jones was not a fan, telling him at the time "I hate you. I really don’t like you.[...] I cannot sanction your buffoonery."
  6. Inconsistencies that seem baffling to the story in general:
    • Why would Batman even appear in court, as seen in a news broadcast?
    • Batman's stance that Robin shouldn't kill Two-Face is hypocritical: after telling Robin that killing his own parents' murderer brought him no peace and that he wouldn't help Robin do the same, he himself kills Two-Face at the end of the movie.
    • There's a scene where Batman says that he's never fallen in love before, despite having a love interest in both of the previous films. And yes, the word "love" was used in those movies, too.
  7. The movie tries to take on a more campy, toyetic approach than Burton's films did, such as the scene where the Batmobile drives up a wall, or where the Riddler and Two-Face are playing Battleship to sink Batman and Robin's vehicles.
  8. The origin story of Harvey Dent/Two-Face feels very forced as it's only less than 1 minute and in the court, the footage mentioned above
    • In the video, Chemicals in court were spilled over his face which made him insane, which is very similar to the Joker from the first movie.
  9. Dr. Chase Meridian is a creepy love interest, as she is stalkerish and deceitful, yet the movie seems to find no issues with it. Her sexual assault on Batman after calling him under the false pretense of a crime is treated as amusing and flirtatious.
  10. The pacing can be sluggish or cartoony at times and lacks that tight direction that Burton's films had. It can also be attributed to the fact Schumacher was told to make the movie more kid-friendly but instead, he ended up making it more campy and similar to the 1966 Batman Series, and the inconsistent tone that the movie portrays also can make the pacing seem disjointed at times.
  11. Bruce Wayne taking in Dick Grayson after his parents die doesn't make much sense; he's a fully grown man, with Bruce even calling him a "college student" derisively at one point. Gordon's handwave of Dick having nowhere else to go does a lot of the heavy lifting in this film.
  12. Vestiges of cut plot threads linger throughout the film, primarily scenes surrounding the aftermath of the death of Bruce's parents, ultimately leading nowhere.
  13. Numerous homoerotic oddities such as:
    • The Batman and Robin suits have sculpted nipples and oversized codpieces.
    • The infamous suit-up scene with a lingering closeup of Batman's foam rubber buttocks.
    • Edward has an infatuation with Bruce (the good doctor refers to his messages to Bruce as literal love letters) to the point of beginning to twin him when appearing in public, though it's ultimately portrayed as attempting to be a "bigger, better, smarter" version of Bruce.
  14. Some of the dialogue is phoned in and there are a few one-liners that don't sound clever or funny.
  15. Quite possibly the most awkward way of telling the audience a character knows how to fight without putting them in an actual fight: The Laundry Scene.

Good Qualities

  1. To start off strong, Jim Carrey's performance as Edward Nygma, aka The Riddler, is phenomenal. While he exudes an air of charisma and comedic charm, he never forgets to add a layer of mystery and creepiness to the character.
  2. Despite his reputation for being combative on set, Val Kilmer turns in a tragic performance as Bruce Wayne, playing the character straight and showing that Bruce Wayne does not want Dick Grayson to fall into the same cycle that he has.
    • Chris O'Donnell also follows suit, as Dick Grayson, aka Robin. Initially a hurting young man who wants revenge on the man who changed his life, he decides to spare him, deciding he'd rather see him in prison rather than dead.
  3. Joel Schumacher's direction is masterful, creating a team who brought his unique vision for Gotham City to life.
  4. Barbara Ling's set design is radically different from what came before or what came after, bringing life to Gotham, lighting it up with neon spotlights dancing over the skyscrapers at night and populating the city with statues and other impressive displays of the human physique.
  5. Stephen Goldblatt's cinematography is very deliberate, made to frame the characters in iconic ways, bringing the impossible scale of Barbara Ling's statue-riddled and neon-lit Gotham City to life.
  6. Batman Forever was one of the first major uses of CGI in filmmaking along with 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day and 1993's Jurassic Park, and while it may not hold up perfectly today, it still conveys the impossibly impressive scale of Gotham City.
  7. Not to be overshadowed, the film also uses practically built sets and vehicles, such as a functioning Batmobile, Batcave and the Riddler's Claw Island base. Furthermore, the use of miniatures helps to compliment the scale of Gotham City.
  8. This film was the first Batman movie to attempt to give Bruce Wayne an arc or character development, focusing on not only the lives he took (Jack Napier and Oswald Cobblepot), but whether he should give up the cape and cowl to try and live a genuine life as Bruce Wayne.
  9. The Batsuit has been redesigned, dubbed the "Panther Suit" during production. It reverts back to the muscular look of the first Michael Keaton Batsuit, increases the gloss finish, introduces real boots instead of disguised sneakers, redesigns and blackens the belt and introduces the infamous nipples associated with Joel Schumacher's Batman movies. The return to musculature and the addition of nipples was inspired by the beauty of Ancient Greek statues.
  10. Elliot Goldenthal's score is incredible, written to capture the feeling of a child playing make-believe, making him a worthy successor to Danny Elfman's mysterious and awe-inspiring compositions.
  11. Lastly, the film serves as a direct sequel to the Tim Burton Batman movies, as seen with a reference to Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, and the return of Pat Hingle as James Gordon and Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth. However, see below.

Reception

Critical and audience response

Batman Forever received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 40% based on 68 reviews, along with a 32% audience score. The site's critical consensus reads, "Loud, excessively busy, and often boring, Batman Forever nonetheless has the charisma of Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones to offer mild relief." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On IMDb, the film has an average user rating of 5.8/10. On Letterboxd, the film has an average rating of 2.4/5.Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

The movie currently has a Google users rating of "73% of users liked this film".

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said "Batman Forever still gets in its licks. There's no fun machine this summer that packs more surprises." Travers criticized the film's excessive commercialism and felt that "the script misses the pain Tim Burton caught in a man tormented by the long-ago murder of his parents", but praised Kilmer's performance as having a "deftly understated [...] comic edge". James Berardinelli of ReelViews enjoyed the film. "It's lighter, brighter, funnier, faster-paced, and a whole lot more colorful than before." Scott Beatty felt "Tommy Lee Jones played Harvey Dent as a Joker knock-off rather than a multi-layered rogue." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times both gave the film mixed reviews, but with the former giving it a thumbs up and the latter a thumbs down. In his written review, Ebert wrote: "Is the movie better entertainment? Well, it's great bubblegum for the eyes. Younger children will be able to process it more easily; some kids were led bawling from Batman Returns where the PG-13 rating was a joke." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle had a mixed reaction, concluding "a shot of Kilmer's rubber buns at one point is guaranteed to bring squeals from the audience." Brian Lowry of Variety believed "One does have to question the logic behind adding nipples to the hard-rubber batsuit. Whose idea was that supposed to be anyway, Alfred's? Some of the computer-generated Gotham cityscapes appear too obviously fake. Elliot Goldenthal's score, while serviceable, also isn't as stirring as Danny Elfman's work in the first two films."

Some observers thought Schumacher, a gay man, added possible homoerotic innuendo in the storyline. Regarding the costume design, Schumacher stated, "I had no idea that putting nipples on the Batsuit and Robin suit were going to spark international headlines. The bodies of the suits come from Ancient Greek statues, which display perfect bodies. They are anatomically correct." O'Donnell felt "it wasn't so much the nipples that bothered me. It was the codpiece. The press obviously played it up and made it a big deal, especially with Joel directing. I didn't think twice about the controversy, but going back and looking and seeing some of the pictures, it was very unusual."

Box Office

Batman Forever opened in a record 2,842 theaters and 4,300 screens in the United States and Canada on June 16, 1995, grossing $52.8 million in its opening weekend, breaking Jurassic Park's record for highest opening-weekend gross of all time (it was surpassed two years later by The Lost World: Jurassic Park's $72.1 million). For six years, it had the largest opening weekend for a Warner Bros. film until 2001 when it was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It was the first film to gross $20 million in one day, on its opening day on Friday. It grossed $77.4 million in its first week which was below the record $81.7 million set by Jurassic Park. Additionally, the film held the record for having the highest opening weekend for a superhero film until it was taken by X-Men in 2000. That year, How the Grinch Stole Christmas took Batman Forever's record for scoring the biggest opening weekend for any film starring Jim Carrey. The film started its international roll out in Japan on June 17, 1995, and grossed $2.2 million in 5 days from 167 screens, which was only 80% of the gross of its predecessor Batman Returns. The film went on to gross $184 million in the United States and Canada, and $152.5 million in other countries, totaling $336.53 million. The film grossed more than Batman Returns, and is the highest-grossing film from 1995 in the United States.

Awards and nominations

At the 68th Academy Awards, Batman Forever was nominated for Cinematography (lost to Braveheart), Sound (Donald O. Mitchell, Frank A. Montaño, Michael Herbick and Petur Hliddal; lost to Apollo 13) and Sound Effects Editing (John Leveque and Bruce Stambler) (also lost to Braveheart). "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2 was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (lost to "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas), but was also nominated for the Worst Original Song Golden Raspberry Award (lost to "Walk into the Wind" from Showgirls). At the Saturn Awards, the film was nominated for Best Fantasy Film (lost to Babe), Make-up (lost to Seven), Special Effects (lost to Jumanji) and Costume Design (lost to 12 Monkeys). Composer Elliot Goldenthal was given a Grammy Award nomination. Batman Forever received six nominations at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, four of which were divided between two categories (Carrey and Lee Jones for Best Villain; and Seal's "Kiss from a Rose" and U2's "Hold Me" in Best Song from a Movie). However, it won in just one category—Best Song from a Movie for Seal's "Kiss from a Rose".

Trivia

  • One of the trailers is narrated by Canadian voice actor Peter Cullen, also known for voicing the Predator in the first Predator film, and Optimus Prime in multiple entries of the Transformers franchise.

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