Batman Forever
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VHS Movie Reviews of Batman Forever
Movie Review: TERRIBLE! WHAT CRAP!
Summary: 1 Stars
What was Tim Burton thinking when he allowed this franchise to be directed by Joel Schumacher. If he had known that he was going to make a mess like this, he would never have allowed it. Bottom line; stick with the first two and Batman Begins. See you later.Movie Review: my favorite batman
Summary: 5 Stars
i used to be a rather large fan of batman and it really sickens me to see all the bashing reviews. if you are a newcomer to batman, this one shouldn't disappoint, nor should the first two!! i mean sure val kilmer is a new batman, but he is a really good one...maybe the best...ever. now on to the film. im sure its more of a 4 star for me because obviously, no batman film is perfect, but i feel the need to contribute somewhat to jacking the rating up.
okay, we get great atmoshpere here. the circus, city streets, batcave, riddler's island, etc. etc....did i mention the soundtrack? its good too, maybe the seal song is annoying, but anyways, it adds to the atmoshpere. i love jim carrey as the crazed riddler. two face is also very strong villain as well. we get to see robin for the first time in a batman film.
i would put this right next to the "overrated" tim burton batmans. dont get me wrong, they are amazing, but this one is is just as good.
i cannot believe some prefer batman begins to this. that movie was lame. all in all i say get it if you want a good action movie or something that resembles a crazy graphic comic book.
Movie Review: Where's Michael Keaton when you need him?
Summary: 2 Stars
The third Batman movie has a new director, a new Batman, and new writers. This would be a pretty good comic book movie - if it was about someone other than Batman. There's too much childish silliness in this film. This silliness will appeal to pre-teens, but will turn off Batman's older fans.
Gotham City is a much more technologically advanced city than it had been in the Burton movies. A city famously known in comic books for its dark and gloomy architecture is now as bright and colorful as the Vegas strip. Even the sub-machine guns of the goons are decorated with neon lights. I do not like the look of this movie - it's WAY too bright and colorful for a Batman movie. Danny Elfman was replaced by Eliot Goldenthal. His music for Batman Forever was OK, but his music SUCKS in the next Batman movie. And Robin (Chris O'Donnell) was a good character to have in the Adam West TV show, but Robin's incredibly annoying in this movie - and it never really seems like Batman needs his help either. The new Batmobile looks ridiculous - it seems to be too flashy for a Batman vehicle. And there's WAY too many one-liners, most of which fall flat.
Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey) is a disgruntled employee at Wayne Enterprises who becomes obsessed with his boss, Bruce Wayne (played by Keaton's replacement, Val Kilmer). Nygma hopes Wayne will agree to market a new item he created called "the box" which can beam TV images directly into the human brain, or something like that. After Wayne rejects his idea, Nygma wants revenge. So he becomes the Riddler, and goes to Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) for help. Two-Face and the Riddler are entertaining, but I don't like the way they're portrayed - and that's entirely director Joel Schumacher's fault. I always preferred to think of Two-Face as a cold, calculating, and humorless mob boss. Carrey's Riddler also seemed WAY too hyper. Needless to say, Jones and Carrey give the two best performances in the movie - everyone else gives a bland and/or irritating performance in Batman Forever. Jones is a great actor, but I didn't think he could play such a loud and obnoxious character as Two-Face. But he did a good job, and I commend him for the effort.
Bruce Wayne seemed to be a rather reclusive multimillionaire in Burton's movies, but in Batman Forever he's a multibillionaire who is outgoing and has substantial business interests - sort of an `ultra-capitalist' if you will. I guess inflation rates forced the writers to make Wayne's fortune even bigger. Wayne did make investments and such in Burton's movies, but as far as we know there was never such a thing as `Wayne Enterprises'. But I actually am glad that Wayne Enterprises and Arkham Asylum appear in this movie, because they're two of Gotham City's biggest landmarks in the comics. Kilmer showed promise the way he delivered the line "You need help Harvey." In that instant, it looks as though Kilmer might be able to recapture the malevolence that Keaton brought to the role. But after that moment passes, Kilmer is a crappy Batman for the rest of the movie. Kilmer's performance is so wooden it seems as though he's uncomfortable in his role. And Kilmer has even less than Keaton to work with as far as Bruce Wayne goes. Wayne is even more of a caricature than he was in the Burton movies. Batman's lack of character development and lack of malevolence are major disappointments in this movie.
Two-Face is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's family. Of course, Wayne feels somewhat responsible for their death. He can also relate to Dick, since Wayne's parents had also been murdered when he was a kid. So Wayne adopts him. And of course, Dick becomes Robin. Batman refuses to accept him as a partner for most of the movie. Then Batman decides to go after the Riddler and Two-Face, and he suddenly changes his mind, saying "Two against two are better odds." I have the impression Batman was more concerned about his own self-preservation than Robin's well-being.
Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) adds nothing to this movie. But a love interest for Batman is necessary for the final showdown, or else the movie would completely lose its punch - not that it has much anyway. She and Batman/Bruce Wayne have absolutely no chemistry - especially in the last scene of the movie.
There's some cool stuff in Batman Forever, like the rotating platform the Batmobile is parked on and the Bat Signal. There's some cool parts too, like when the Batcave gets destroyed, when the goons machinegunned the elevator, and when Two-Face shot the helicopter pilot. I was also impressed by the big fight Batman has with the goons when he comes out of the elevator. But I hated that tazer gun - it's too silly a weapon for Batman to use. There's also some horrible parts, like when the Batmobile drives up the wall of a building. Batman was always capable of doing stuff that's impossible in our reality, but there are limits to how much absurdity I can take in a Batman movie. Schumacher crossed the line with that scene. And seeing a dog using "the box" is another instance of something that doesn't belong in a Batman movie. And I wonder what the people of Gotham were thinking when they saw all that green stuff floating through the city's air? I refer to the green stuff that gets transmitted by each individual "box" to a "huge box" that obviously looks like it's channelling all the green stuff for EVIL purposes. You'd think that federal regulators would at least check out what that "huge box" was doing. I used to give Batman Forever three stars, but after seeing Batman Begins, it's flaws become even more glaringly apparent.
Movie Review: Guilty pleasure, a lot of fun, truly a comic book hero...
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, I know, loving this movie isn't a popular opinion, but I'm going to go against the grain and speak out for this guilty pleasure of mine, particularly after seeing the 2-disc special edition dvd recently...
Batman Forever and its' very different tone from the first two, Tim Burton-driven films, was made to appeal to a far wider audience than those very dark films, while keeping the spirit of the Batman mythos intact. I believe the film accomplished this. There were plenty of bright lights, new bat-gizmos and bat-gadgets, exciting action-fight scenes, and even a young, edgy, heart-throb in Chris O'Donnell's Robin to appeal to kids without worrying their parents too much, and at the same time, Batman/Bruce Wayne's tortured psyche, duality and isolation was presented respectfully. Batman's darkness was still there, just shown more subltely, less graphically, yet no less tragically because we don't actually SEE people dying horribly left and right.
The story had substance and was a worthy addition to the Batman mythos. Backstories not previously touched upon were explored to my satisfaction, and the added deleted scenes in this version of the dvd flesh things out even further and make me wish that time restrictions on theatrical releases weren't quite so stringent.
Bob Kane, the creator of the Batman comic character, has said that of all the actors who have played Batman over the years, he thought blond Val Kilmer was the best and I agree. Kilmer is statuesque and stoic in the cowl and cape, using his eyes and lips to formidable effectiveness; his jaw and mouth are strong and perfectly suited for the confines of the costume. He moved well in it, even doing some of his own martial arts (such as in the opening sequence, at the bank). The stuntmen, when they took over for him, were well matched to his body type, effective and visually exciting. And Kilmer's Bruce Wayne is suave, debonair, totally believable as the lonely billionare turned Dark Knight, comfortable with his wealth but still compassionate and aware of others' plight, just as Bob Kane intended this character.
Also, I want to put to rest the insistance of some reviewers here that several of the actors involved with the project didn't want to be. That is nonsense; no one forced them to do the movie, and Kilmer very much wanted to do the sequel, Batman and Robin, but was under contractual obligation to do the movie The Saint. (This fact documented on IMBD). He may have driven the director to distraction with his attention to minute detail and insistance on getting everything just so, but there was no bad blood between them and Schumaker still maintains that he respects Kilmer as an actor and performer. Kilmer took the role seriously (as he does everything) and doesn't need to make any apologies for his performance. How I wish they could have worked something out so that Kilmer could have reprised the role again, rather than bringing in the forever-smirking, abominable Clooney...
My favorite character always, Alfred, was back, played by the delightful Michael Gough, who can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. And everyone else is well-cast too.
Director Joel Schumaker offers interesting commentary in this dvd, and made a comment at the very beginning which I wish all the fans up in arms over the nipples in the costumes would take to heart: "Those people need to get out more." He also makes another point about whose codpiece is bigger...let's not take things so seriously, hmm?
Overall, this extended version and extras are well worth the higher price for anyone who enjoyed the movie or likes to know what goes on while making a film. Great extras, including shorts on costuming, scoring, special effects, stunts, and the actors/character, added to the overall positive experience. This is a lighter but no less legitimate incarnation of these characters.
Highly recommeded.
Movie Review: What If... Tim Burton Did This One
Summary: 3 Stars
So Tim Burton was a co-producer? We have just a faint whiff of what made the first two five-star features. I intend to buy this one on DVD, if only to grasp a fragment of what Batman was, and luckily the newest director, from what I've heard, has breathed more life into the franchise. I submit to you this, though... had Tim Burton directed the third movie as his last, how about Michael Keaton still as Batman, Robin Williams as the Riddler, and Billy Dee Williams, as he should've been, as Two-Face. How about, no Robin? Or Robin, if you must, in the last five minutes of the film? That version of the film still plays in my head.