BATMAN FOREVER
A film review by Brian Lehr
Copyright 1995 Brian Lehr
Riddle me this ... which film which is already one of the biggest hits of the year made just about as much money on it's third weekend as POCAHONTAS did on its first? Holy Big Bucks Batman! But was this film as good as it's marketing? Yours truly went on the opening weekend (and had to buy tickets two hours early, then arrive at the theater half an hour before the movie began to get a decent seat) to find out....
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this movie. From the very start, with the WB logo morphing into the bat shape and the credits flying all over the screen, you knew this was definitely different. And after the McDonalds intro with the "new" Batmobile zipping off to get drive-through on its way to stop Two-Face ... I blinked when I saw Gotham. It had been transformed from Burton's gothic, mysterious town into Tokyo, with neon lights flashing in every corner. But let me be one of the first (or not) to say I didn't give a rip. The movie certainly doesn't wait for you, it zips right to the action, maybe a little too quickly, but after awhile the audience gets used to it.
As for the *big* change in Batmen, all you can see are the lips when they're in those suits, so who cares? I felt Val Kilmer did fine in his role as the Dark Knight, though the Knight wasn't so dark anymore, along with the rest of Gotham. He even cracked a few jokes, while Keaton's Batman just kept his mouth shut and stayed off the screen for as long as possible. Possibly Keaton did a better Bruce Wayne, but the movie's called BATMAN, right? :-) Tommy Lee Jones did pretty well as Two-Face, screaming out his lines with a flourish that he doesn't get to as lawyers or police officers (THE CLIENT and THE FUGITIVE, both good). A little more history about him would have been nice, instead of another of those news clips that Bruce Wayne watches all the time to give us plot points. Jim Carrey certainly got his background stuck in there as the Riddler, and more. He played very nicely off of Jones, every once in a while stealing the stow entirely with his charisma. Chris O'Donnell did pretty well for the role he was cast for, as a 20-something teen idol for the girls in the audience to ooo and aah over (when they weren't showing off the Bat Buns). Nicole Kidman was just *there*. She wasn't all that bad, she just lacked Michelle Pfieffer's oomph ;-) (possibly the only good thing about Batman Returns). She has lost some of her own oomph from great flicks like MALICE; and along with it, she has lost all of her Australian accent in this film. I mean, when you don't get your own McDonalds collectible glass, you know something's gone wrong (Holy Licensing Agreement Batman!). Returning from the first two "Batman" movies are Michael Gough as Alfred (who is superb!) and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon (who is as okay as his 7-8 lines and static character let him be).
Joel Schumacher does job directing this, with new, interesting, and strange shots of things from every angle, along with decent special effects. The score is great, so great I bought it ... well worth the US$17.99. Elfman's theme from the first two movies isn't in here, but Elliot Goldenthal makes up for that nicely by making his own recurring themes heard throughout the movie.
All in all, I'd say this is a movie worth seeing, even though the first two films might scare you away. Let me tell you this if you haven't figured it out: This is nothing at all like them. The plot is light as fluff and has no "deeper underlying purpose or story" like Burton tried to convey in his films, but that's the beauty of it. It's not made for the meaning, it's made for the ride! It reminds me distinctly of another movie with dinosaurs I saw awhile back ...
This movie scores with 4 out of 5 bats with me!
--
Brian's rating system: No checks- none : Total crap. Burn this.
One check- : Really poor. Don't see if you you have a choice.
Two checks- : Fair, could be better.
Three checks- : Pretty well done. Go see it if you can.
Four checks- : Great movie! I'm going back!
Five checks- : Holy Testicle Tuesday! A MUST-SEE!!!!!
-Brian the Snorf (Brian Lehr)
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