DVD Review
by Chris Alexis
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Val Kilmer as BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE Tommy Lee Jones as TWO-FACE Jim Carrey as THE RIDDLER Nicole Kidman as DR. CHASE MERIDIAN Chris O’Donnell as ROBIN/DICK GRAYSON Rated PG-13 Studio: Warner Bros. Directed by: Joel Schumacher Back to DVD Review Home |
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A lot of people are split in opinion over this film. For some, Batman Forever was the beginning of the end for the franchise with director Schumacher taking over from Tim Burton. For others, it was a fun summer movie that took Batman in a new direction.
I’m in the latter category. I’m a huge Batman fan and I was able to enjoy this movie. Batman was still fairly dark, the action was great, and Nicole Kidman in a mini skirt most of the movie didn’t hurt either.
Val Kilmer filled Michael Keaton’s shoes well enough, I think. He was much better looking than Keaton, which was a plus for Bruce Wayne and much younger - in the comic Bruce Wayne is 29. -- has been for the last sixty-some odd years. Although Keaton was great as Batman, he wasn’t quite the Bruce Wayne he should have been. Too old, too small.
I did take some issue with the villains. I admit that Two-Face’s character was completely mangled here. In the comics, Two-Face is usually a villain - but not always. Two-Face decides the fate of his surroundings by tossing his coin - one side is scarred - the side that spells curtains for his victims. However, he’s been known to take the side of good over evil when the coin decides. In one storyline in the comics, he betrays the Joker and the Penguin whom he worked with the poison Batman - all in the flip of a coin. That’s part of what makes the character so interesting - you really don’t know what he’ll do. In this version, Tommy Lee Jones just cackles a lot and tries to be as interesting as Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Jim Carrey’s Riddler.
Two-Face also always accepts the coin flip no matter what. In the movie, Two-Face keeps flipping the coin over and over until he gets the result he wants when it comes up on the good side. That’s just the writer having no respect for the character whatsoever.
I like Jim Carrey in movies and I liked his version of the Riddler. He was funny and entertaining, with the right amount of menace to him I thought. The only complaint with his character was his extreme effeminate nature. When the Riddler first approaches Two-Face, he almost looks like he’s coming on to him in his gestures. Not that I have a problem with people who have those qualities - but the Riddler never had them in the comics. It was just out of place. The Riddler’s costume also was a bit questionable - I didn’t like the green leotard - but it wasn’t bad enough to ruin the movie for me.
The Riddler’s plot to put a “box” (an entertainment device that extracts information out of the viewers mind such as credit card numbers, bank codes and sexual fantasies even) in every household in Gotham City was a little silly. However, it was something that you might find in a Batman comic book at your local store - so that didn’t bother me much either.
As far as Chris O’Donnell’s Robin, he was much older than Robin ever was in the comics. Again, I can’t give the filmmakers any flack about this choice because to have a fourteen year old fighting along side in this film wouldn’t have translated well on-screen. It’s easier to swallow having a young adult. The Robin outfit is thankfully not the wimpy, ridiculous-to-take-him-seriously outfit that it is in the comics and old TV series. The foam rubber outfit that was of a similar material of Batman’s could at least be taken somewhat seriously in the movie.
I am a huge Nicole Kidman, I admit. She did a decent job on screen - her chemistry with Kilmer was a lot better than the Basinger/Keaton relationship in the original film of the series. And to boot, she looked great. Clad in a miniskirt and heels most of the movie, I had no complaints.
The story is mangled here a bit because of terrible editing. We learn in the film that Bruce Wayne has a terrible guilt about his parents death, going as far as to say “I killed them” - but they never really go into it. All of the sudden, he decides to stop being Batman…forever. This is never explained. The story goes that scenes were shot to explain these, but cut out to keep the action up. That’s the studio’s fault, I have no doubt. So, the story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at certain places in the movie.
Before committing the unforgivable sin that was Batman and Robin, Schumacher tried to make a living comic book in this movie and I think overall, he succeeded. Some of the neon costumes for the thugs I didn’t much appreciate - but it had a humor appropriate for Batman, I thought. It’s not a great movie, but it was at least a fun movie, and I think that counts for a lot.
As far as the DVD, very few special features. Mostly Production Notes about the cast, behind the scenes of the film and a history of the character. All text, no video interviews. Not a single commentary either. You find out a little more about the Batman universe, but overall it’s not impressive at all.
With reports of a Special Edition DVD that will re-insert the lost footage, this DVD isn’t worth buying. I think it’s a fun action movie, but worth only renting to see the film. Wait until further word on the Special Edition before committing fifteen dollars to this one.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Fullscreen (1.33:1) and Widescreen (2.35:1) versions available. English and French language track. Subtitles in French, Spanish or English for the hearing impaired.
