Batman Forever - Review

This was the very first Batman movie I ever saw. I remember buying it at a garage sale for like 10 cents on VHS when I was about 10 or 11. I watched it and remember liking it, but I never really grew up with Batman. Spider-man was my superhero growing up. I didn't watch a single Batman film until The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. Now I consider myself a fan, but I wanted to revisit the film that technically started my interest in the character and all these years later, I still enjoy it. However, this is a very different take on Batman from either the Christopher Nolan films or even the previous Tim Burton films. Right off the bat, the first line of dialogue in this movie is a corny joke about the Batmobile going through a Drive-Thru. Add on top of that Nicole Kidman's forward approach to try to sleep with Batman, Tommy Lee Jones's over the top performance as Two-Face and that security guard in the opening heist screaming "Oooooohhhhh NOOOOO!!! HELP ME BATMAN!!!" and Jim Carrey's Riddler, this is an extremely over-the-top cartoon come to life. Not too mention that Robin is in this movie too. However, with all this over-the-top goofiness and silliness, this film also handles some of its serious moments rather well. It dives more into Bruce Wayne's past, the origin to Robin becoming Batman's partner is rather dark and tragic, and the serious talk about ethics and why Bruce Wayne chooses to be Batman between Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman are actually pretty well done. So yes, there are some silly moments and over-the-top characters and plotlines, but I believe it actually does have a nice balance. Val Kilmer as Batman is actually not a bad choice, however, Michael Keaton played him better, in my opinion. So if you like Batman, and you like schlock, then you know what, this film really isn't as bad as the Rotten Tomatoes meter would have you believe. However, I'm a little scared to watch Batman and Robin. I might just have to stick with that entry being the one that I never see. Batman Forever gets a thumbs up from me. Not as good as the two Tim Burton films, but an enjoyable film nonetheless.