BATMAN FOREVER
A film review by Terri S. Buchman
Copyright 1995 Terri S. Buchman
It's rutting season in Gotham and everybody is feeling the heat. BATMAN FOREVER seems to be as much about desire as it is about which criminals are battling which superheroes. Nicole Kidman plays a criminal psychologist with a thing for men in "black rubber." Tommy Lee Jones plays schizophrenic Harvey Two-Face whose darkest desires is to consummate his relationship with Batman by killing the Dark Knight. And Jim Carrey plays Edward Nygma, who really wants to be Bruce Wayne, but will settle for humiliating and destroying Wayne and his alter ego Batman.
This third installment in the Batman series is easily the most fast moving and colorful of the series so far. Instead of the dark painterly settings of the first two Tim Burton directed films, this movie is all slam, bam action. Which is a good thing, since the character building doesn't really seem to be director Joel Schumacher's strong suit. He is very good with the action sequences and has some marvelously inventive dilemmas for the heroes to escape from. But a lot of the inner turmoil that the script alludes to just isn't up there on the screen. The result is a film that is popcorn light, but still lots of fun.
Val Kilmer takes over the reins of Batman and does an adequate job in a difficult role. His Batman is gorgeous to look at, fills out the Batman costume rather well and moves gracefully. I had no problem believing in Kilmer as Batman. I did have some trouble with Kilmer's portrayal of Bruce Wayne. His way of showing inner turmoil involves slowing down his voice and gazing unfocused off into the distance. I thought that Michael Keaton handled the moody melancholy of the character better. Still, Kilmer does have wonderful lips and that is definitely a plus in a role in which he has to wear a mask for half the movie.
Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face is the most flat and one-dimensional character in the movie. Two-Face starts off completely bonkers and degenerates from there. Jones' character is given very little support from the script. There is a 30-second scene that reveals how Two-Face came to be and after that it's all homicidal mania and cocktails. Still, Tommy Lee Jones is a great actor and it is still fun to watch him emote his heart out while intoning such great lines as "Let's start this party with a bang!" while blowing up banks vaults and such.
Nicole Kidman lacks screen presence. Her character is written as another blond bimbo. About the only thing holding her character up is her wonderbra. It's hard to imagine what Batman/Bruce Wayne sees in her. It is sort of interesting though to see a character on screen whose sole motivation is lust. Edward Nygma riddles, Two-Face fiddles, and Dr. Meridien wants to be diddled.
Jim Carrey is very good as Nygma, the nerdy scientist/social misfit turned criminal genius. His Riddler is sort of a cover for insanity's greatest hits and he generates wonderful wacko energy on-screen. But there's more to the the nuttiness than just scene-stealing. Carrey's Riddler contains more than a hint of lust and desire directed towards both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Carrey is quite good at playing the loser with a heart of ice. His best scene involves a stolen moment in the Batcave and revolves around the undeniable joy to be found in blowing shit up. "Joygasm" He makes disassociative personality disorder look like more fun than a trip to Disneyland.
Chris O'Donnell is absolutely hunky as Robin. He is sweet and innocent as the young Dick Grayson and wonderfully forceful and meaty as Robin, the no-longer-a-boy Wonder. Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazur fill out their teddies nicely as Sugar and Spice, Two-Faces' love interests. And Michael Gough returns as Alfred, the Wayne family butler, and does a nice job of holding the ensemble of O'Donnell and Kilmer together.
All-in-all, a good summer movie. See it for the action, the amazing bat-toys, the hunky, form fitting bat-outfits, the wonderful special effects, and for the sheer joy that comes from watching shit blowing up. Quite a nice ride.
Rating: B+
TerriB.
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