From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:16:29 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:06:44 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!surfnet.nl!news.unisource.nl!newsgate.unisource.nl!fido.news.demon.net!demon!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!europa.clark.net!vienna1-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: chandlerb@geocities.com (Ted Prigge) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: BATMAN FOREVER (1995) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 24 Jun 1997 15:58:46 GMT Organization: - Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5ooqrm$62b@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: chandlerb@geocities.com (Ted Prigge) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07977 Keywords: author=Prigge Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Lines: 94 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7371 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1383 BATMAN FOREVER A film review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge Director: Joel Schumacher Writers: Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler and Akiva Goldsman Starring: Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Michael Gough, Drew Barrymore, Debi Mazar, Jon Favreau A new director, new cast, a new Batperson, new writers and a whole new Gotham city were created for this third installment in the series after a lot of moviegoers booed "Batman Returns" for being "too dark." Maybe they needed a renovation, maybe not - it's up to you. But is this change better than the first two directed with brilliance by Tim Burton with a classic music score by Danny Elfman? Hell no. This is a bright film with a huge lack of logic, a forced psychological approach (as opposed to the smooth one applied by Burton), and just too much. Yet, I still reccomend this one 'cause it's still fun. The plot deals with Batman (Val Kilmer) fighting two villains (it worked better in "Batman Returns," with a "partnership" influenced by a Sergio Leone spaghetti western) and gaining Robin (Chris O'Donnell) as a sidekick. He also has yet another romance after Selena never came back (Why the hell not?) with Chase Meridian (not a bank, but Nicole Kidman), a doctor who really looks like one, lemme tell ya. She's hot for Batman but not Bruce, who also tries to woo her. For villains we get the totally gone Two-Face, who used to be D.A. Harvey Dent (funny, in the original he was played by Billy Dee Williams - wasn't he kinda black? So where were the NAACP on this one?) but got acid spilled on his face. Batman tried to save him, but only saved half his face. So now he's a crook. But he gets himself some help from the totally wacky genius, Edward Nygma (great names here, lemme tell ya), who has a plan to rule the world by placing a box on TV sets that drains the IQ from people and into his head. He calls himself the Riddler for some reason, maybe 'cause for the hell of it he makes simple riddles that even my dog could figure out. So Two-Face is the brawn; the Riddler's the brains. The forced psychological approach is that Bruce and Batman are one person even though they're two. Nice idea, but it's applied with so much strain that it's laughably hokey. On one hand, he has his Bruce ego who loved Chase (added just to silence the whole Batman-Robin love thing going on); then his Batman ego who, well, cares for Robin. But doesn't Bruce care for Robin's alter ego, Dick Grayson (nice first name there - not symbolic at all)? So when the Riddler and Two-Face make him decide between Chase or Robin to save, it's not really a Batman/Bruce conflict. Oh well. The films is basically ruled like a toga god by Jim Carrey, who got the part after Robin Williams couldn't make his mind up whether or not he wanted the part. I like Robin better but Jim's as good as a substitute as you're gonna get. He's hilarious and makes off with the film easily. Tommy Lee Jones tries to steal the film and ends up making it less fun. Nicole does next to nothing but look good in satin sheets, but we all know she can act because she rocked in "To Die For" released later that year. And Chris is pretty good as Robin, making him plenty cocky (not a Freudian Slip for the Batman/Robin thing...). The worst thing is Val. Michael Keaton was the quintessential Batman and he why he left, I'm not sure. Maybe he was tired, which I can respect. But why Val? I love Val usually. He's a great actor and has turned in classic performances playing Jim Morrison flawlessly in "The Doors" and Doc Holliday in "Tombstone" to a "T." But here, he's just bored. Hence, he's boring. He says all his lines like he's Gort in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I know he's a great actor; he's just a horrible Batman. The writing, which is new, is poor. The dialogue sounds clunky and forced. "Chicks dig the car." Give me a break. And the music by Eliot Goldenthal is passable but not nearly up to the par presented by ingenius composer Danny Elfman for the first two Batmans. He even wipes out the older, more hummable theme and replaces it with something that's passable. But at least Elfman is doing the music for "Men in Black," which will rule. The direction by Joel Schumacher is passable. He hardly creates as interesting a Gotham as the first two. It's bright. That's it. And it's always night for some reason. Even Burton presented some daylight scenes. His action sequences are cool (much better than his next Batman effort) but overdone. When Batman falls down a building, he does way too many twists and turns and makes it seem too fake. And his characters aren't nearly as interesting as the previous two. In conclusion, Tim Burton (now the executive producer, I believe) does a way better job with the franchise in terms of just being better. Overall, "Batman Forever" is a good film and satisfying but it makes you yearn for the olden days, when Batman kinda meant something. Now it's all about money, villains, the hottest actors, and getting as much in two hours as humanly possible. But at least Tim Burton is returning to this genre with the Kevin Smith-penned "Superman Lives." MY RATING (out of 5): ***