Spoilers
Tonight should be my classic concentrate on a film friday night but for some reason its not. Im not sure why. So ive gone through my dvds to see what i havent seen in ages which is a bit tacky & whacky… & my mind has gone Watch Batman Forever… yea my brain is weird sometimes. Lets do this.
Im gonna say it now, this was the first batman film i saw as a child. I had watched some of Adam West in reruns on TV but this is the first batman i saw as i kid. Probably because i wanted to watch Jim Carey or Tommy Lee Jones as id seen Men in Black. So 8 year old me didnt pick a good un, however ive never actually seen Clooney’s Batman ever, so maybe i did have some decent taste as a kid… maybe.
People hate on Val for his portrayal of Batman, even in the 90s they did, however it is the poor script & the not so epic performances of Nicole & Chris that make it awkward. When the two people other than Michael are the people that you speak to the most, arent the best actors in the world & are a bit all over the place to say things nicely at points, it means you have to do all the heavy lifting. It really does. He is very dark & deep which you expect from batman but at points when he looks a little vacant, im not sure if thats his acting or him being like seriously people let me work on something here.
Tommy Lee Jones is already two face in this film, hes been split in half. & i actually like the massive visual representation they have of him being innocent on one said & not the other, down to the dual girlfriends (very 90s thing to do that). He is also very purple on his evil side i mean its cool. I get his point that he want the batman, & will do anything to do it, but all he does is rob stuff & chase after people, until he meets the Riddler. Where was he going up to that point. & i love how his coin he gets hack off that it keeps landing on heads to stop him from killing him. If you want to kill him, JUST FUCKING DO IT! Urgh.
Jim Carey is so cool as the Riddler. His clues were cool. The way he tried to impress & then seaked revenge was good & clever but it was his ultimate pride that cost him everything. He was happy just being a tech guy, but being rebuffed & embarrassed cause him to go on a killing spree, to turn evil, join with 2 fce & then be corrupted. Bless him.
Killing the boss, then staging the death another way & then all the notes & all the things that are convenient are hilarious. I love that. So cleverly done & well planned even if rushed through in the film.
Poor Robins Family, bless them (also Ben Stiller is the circus ring master ahhhhhhhhh crazy love that). Its also crazy that he actually is sitting there screaming i am batman at 2 face & not one famous person around him hear him even say it in the panic one person would have picked it up for sure. The identity is out of the window & then more people would be shouting its him. It takes the Riddlers device for them to work it out. Idiots. Also all it takes for Robin to stay with bruce is a motorbike promise. Also even if people are meant to be younger than they are as actors, he is clearly at least 16 if not 18 so probably doesnt need him & they didnt leave him either with the circus people or look for any other next of kin. No they go straight for the lets give him to the billionaire to look after him.
Him discovering the batcave is so cool, alfred is so obvious in this deception. Why not have a huge sign that just say Batcave this way, your forster dad whos only actually 10 years older than you is batman. Its crazy. But its even more crazy that the Riddler destroys the batcave in the cheesyest way possible, but doesnt take out the boat or plane. Idiot. Id take them out. Also where did he suddely make all thsoe riddler bombs?
When he hijacks the batmobile that is cool. seeing him be arrogant & try to prove he is batman & then batman has to save him is clever. & then later on when Batman needs him hes just like no fuck this kid i work alone. Batman really in all the films needs to work on his people skills not just in this one.
No way can comissioner Gordan see batman do the thumbs up to him in that plane earlier, bollocks to that.
The ball with the TV givign you mind wants is insane, however if that was a thing… ahem… id be in toruble, me & Dave York would be… yeah… lets not talk about that… (mind wonders for too long).
after 2 face being so clever for the entire film it then takes 8 decoy coins for him to fall to his watery death. Seriosuly mate. As muchas the coin is you flaw & tell, its a bit much isnt it that it take that for you to then slip & fall to your death. Idiot.
Kidman fantasying about batman i get, but she really is crap. She wants hi then shes like well whos Bruce i aint into you & then when batman offers himself on a plate shes like nope i want Bruce… seriously girl. Also is her office where she lives. Although using the bat signal for a make out booty call is a much quicker way then to call or fax someone back in the 90s.
It is so 90s its cringe. Its so bad. Its not aged well at all. Even the batman gimmicks is like okay this was toy marketing wasnt it. I mean i guess i watched it as a kid but i didnt ask for a bat boat, not that i remember. The colours are all over the place & its just so out there. & its score is not good & some of it computer generated bits with green screen are just so bad to look at now, its a little bit painful.
Child me would be glad ive re-watched this again & realise its faults, but adult me can still see a few bits of fun in here & a good performance by Carey. It is just a product of the 90s & makes you appreciate the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy so much more than you already do, because they are all masterpieces. Clever but the supporting cast & atrocious script & action at points just make it feel really dated & lazy, but id prefer this to come of the MCU & DCEU weve had in the last year or so.