Batman Forever "I'll get drive-thru!"

OK its time for another post and this un will be a new with new content and it will be another film and the film this time will be one of the Batman franchise: Batman Forever (the one starring Val Kilmer as Batman).  So how does it stack up?????  Well let's find out.

And yes the usual warning is coming up: SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

So the film begins with Batman (Kilmer) turning up to try and prevent a robbery being lead by the criminal, Harvey Two-Face (Tommy Lee-Jones) who's face has been scarred down one side and was once Gotham's district attorney but was scarred by a mob boss during a trial and Batman tried but failed to save him.  This has now left Two-Face becoming insane and taken to a life of crime and he flips his coin to decide the fate of his victims.  Two-Face tries to capture Batman in a vault and kill him with boiling acid which he leaks into the vault but Batman manages to escape and as he chases Two-Face, the criminal manages to evade him.

Not long after, Bruce Wayne pays a visit to Wayne Enterprises where he meets Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey) a somewhat unhinged employee, who has devised a device that can beam television directly into the human brain.  Nygma pushes Wayne for an answer if he will go ahead with developing his product but Wayne rejects his proposal as he feels that it raises too many questions.  Later on Nygma's boss catches him working on his project later at night alone and Nygma then knocks out and ties up his boss and wires him up to his device and switches on to find that it can transfer brainwaves from his boss to his mind, meaning Nygma can use the device to absorb intelligence.  Nygma then kills his boss by tying him to a chair and pushing out of a high story window to his death afterward Nygma resigns from the company but not before forging security camera footage showing his boss committing suicide, which leaves Wayne unconvinced.

Later on Bruce meets with psychiatrist, Dr Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) who is obssessed with Batman and Bruce, who is attracted to her, asks her out to a circus.  At the circus a family of acrobats, the Flying Graysons, headline the show but it is interrupted by Two-Face and his henchmen and he arms a bomb which he threatens to detonate until Batman's secret identity is revealed.  The Graysons work towards getting rid of the bomb but Two-Face murders three members of the family leaving only Dick (Chris O'Donnell) alive who manages to get rid of the bomb.  Wayne then takes Dick into his home, Wayne manor, where Dick is intent on getting revenge over Two-Face for his family's death, which Wayne tries to discourages Dick from doing.  Dick soon discovers Wayne's secret identity as Batman being secretly sneaking into the Batcave.  After this Dick insists that Wayne take him on and train him as his partner but Wayne refuses.

Meanwhile Nygma creates his own alter ego, The Riddler, and he secretly sends riddles to Wayne's manor.  The Riddler then finds Two-Face's lair and shows him his brainwave device and persuades him that he can help take down Batman in return for getting the capital needed to mass market his device and they soon work together and steal the money they need.  After this Nygma's product really takes off and he becomes rich and famous and soon holds a business party, which Bruce attends.  Nygma at the event taunts Bruce to have a go at trying out an enhanced version of his device, which soon reveals Bruce's secret identity as Batman.  However Two-Face soon gate crashes the party, forcing Bruce to leave and change into Batman after which he attacks Two-Face's men and chases Two-Face, who ends up nearly killing him but Batman is soon rescued by Dick, dressed in his flying Grayson outfit, wearing a mask.  Bruce however is angered at Dick's attempts to be a partner to him and still refuses to train him.  Bruce is also left with the dilemma over what to do with Chase as she appears to be more infatuated with Batman than himself.  Bruce then goes as Batman to Chase's apartment where she suddenly finds that she is more interested in Bruce than Batman but when Bruce invites her to his manor she finds out Bruce's secret identity.   

After this Two-Face and the Riddler raid Bruce's manor and the Riddler destroys most of the Batcave  and Two-Face shoots Bruce but the bullet grazes his head, leaving him unconscious and the Riddler stops Two-Face from shooting him and leaves another riddle for Bruce to solve.  Bruce soon unravels the riddle to find that the Riddler is in fact Nygma and he suits up as Batman but not before Dick, with a new outfit turns up as Robin and Batman finally accepts Robin as his partner and together they go off to fight The Riddler and Two-Face for the last time.......

THOUGHTS AND BACKGROUND OF PRODUCTION

After the mixed sequel, Batman Returns, which received alot of criticism for its dark tone and also for still depicting Batman as a killer, Batman Forever is a better sequel and provides a lighter tone this time, which is a bit closer though to the spirit of the Adam West Batman of the 1960s.  Now whether or not this is a good thing can be a bit debatable as it does see the series make a departure from the tone of the comics with the Dark Knight being a more brooding character.  However the film still does succeed in showing Bruce's torment over the death of his parents and how he has bad dreams about their death.  At the same time it is also pretty campy with Two-Face and the Riddler being very comical characters that provide less in the way of actual real menace.

The production of the film however was far from smooth and even Joel Schumacher, the film's director, who is often considered one of the most likeable directors in Hollywood, had a tough time dealing with Val Kilmer whom he described as being childish and impossible and fought with various crew members of the film.  Tommy Lee Jones also proved to be problematic as well as he did not get on well with Jim Carrey as he found his over the top comic antics too much to take and Carrey even quoted after that Jones even said that he hated him.  So it was far from plain sailing for the production.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES

As for the performances well they are mostly pretty good and it does feature a fine cast who for the most part do pretty well with what they are given to work with.

So start with the film's main star, Val Kilmer who actually gives a fairly good performance in his dual role as Bruce Wayne/Batman although I have to say I think its a bit more successful as Bruce Wayne than he is as Batman.  As Bruce Wayne he does a pretty good job at giving the character a few different layers of his personality as he can show Bruce to be a good man with noble intentions but also there is a hint of sarcasm and arrogance in there as well, which makes for a refreshing change than making Wayne just a goody-goody character.  In fact the creator of Batman, Bob Kane even said that Kilmer came closer than any other actor in his depiction of Bruce Wayne's character.  Kilmer also does well at showing Wayne's confict in dealing with his emotions and his troubled past where his parents were murdered as well as taking on the responsibility of taking Dick Grayson under his wing.  However as Batman he does look a bit uncomfortable in the part and he doesn't quite wear the outfit as well as the other actors who have played the part.

Kilmer also has some good moments in the film that include his opening scene where Bruce suits up as Batman and prepares to go out and his butler, Alfred (Michael Gough) asks him "Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?" and Batman says "I'll get drive-thru".  Then there is the scene where Bruce visits Wayne Enterprises and talks to Nygma who demands an answer if he will back his brainwave device and Bruce turns him down saying "I'm sorry, Ed, then the answer's no. Stimulating neurons... tampering with people's brainwaves... it just raises too many questions. I'm sorry".  Then there is the scene where Batman responds to the bat signal only to find it was Chase who sent it and she comes onto him.  And in the scene Chase says that Two-Face's main weakness is his coin and Batman says to her " I know. You called me here for this? The Batsignal is not a beeper!".  And after Batman brushes off Chase's advances his get's back into the Batmobile and says to himself "Women!".

And later on there is good moment where Bruce visits Chase and on hearing sounds like Chase being beaten from outside her apartment, Bruce breaks down her door only to find that she is actually working out with a punching bag.  And in the scene Bruce shows two of the Riddler's riddles to her and he asks her professional opinion and Chase says "My opinion is whoever wrote this is a total whacko" and Bruce says to her "Whacko?  Is that a technical term?".  And Chase gives him a more professional assessment and Bruce sarcastically says to her "So, what your saying is this guy is a total whacko!".

Another good scene from Kilmer is when Batman shows up to find Dick who has stolen the Batmobile and Dick angrily hits Batman saying his family's death was his fault and Batman says to him "If Bruce Wayne could have given his life to save your parents, he would have".  And later on back at the Batcave Dick says he wants to kill Two-Face and Bruce says "Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won't know why".

And lastly there is the scene where Batman prepares to go out to face Two-Face and the Riddler and as he is about to leave, Dick shows up in his new Robin outfit and Batman looks at him and says "Who's your tailor?" and Alfred says "I took the liberty, sir!".  And Dick says to Batman "I figured you'd need a hand" and Batman says "Two against one are better odds" and Dick says "I can't promise I won't kill Harvey" and Batman says "A man's got to go his own way.  A friend tought me that".  And Dick says "Not just a friend" and extends his hand and Batman acknowledging him says "A partner!" and he shakes his hand.

Tommy Lee-Jones also does pretty well in his role as the deranged criminal, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, a former Gotham DA, who's face was left half scarred by a mob boss in court throwing acid in his face and as a result he was driven insane and developed a split personality and now wears split designed suits too!  

Jones's good scenes include his first where we see Two-Face side on the good side of his face and then he turns and we see the other half of his face is scarred and purple in colour.  And in the bank he turns to a security guard who lies on the floor, terrified and tied up and he says to him "One man is born a hero, his brother a coward. Babies starve, politicians grow fat. Holy men are martyred, and junkies grow legion. Why? Why, why, why, why, why? Luck! Blind, stupid, simple, doo-dah, clueless luck!".  And as he flips his coin he decides the guard's fate and sees that the guard has escaped his fate and says to him "Ah. Fortune smiles. Another day of wine and roses. Or, in your case, beer and pizza!".  And as they put the guard in the vault, the guard says "Wait you said you will let me live!" and Two-Face says "Too true, and so you shall!".

Then later on there is the scene The Riddler infiltrates Two-Face's lair and he gives his proposition to Two-Face to work with him.  And Two-Face says to him quietly "You have broken into our hideout. You have violated the sanctity of our lair. For this we should crush your bones into POWDER. However, you do pose a very interesting proposition: therefore, heads, we accept, and tails, we blow your damned head off!" and he flips the coin to decide the Riddler's fate.  And in the next scene we see the Riddler has lived and they break into a jewellery exhibit and the Riddler grabs a diamond and examines and says "This is is a good one!" and then Two-Face appears with a much bigger diamond saying "No, no, no!  Now, THERE is a good one!".

And lastly there is sequence where Two-Face gatecrashes Nygma's party and Nygma quietly goes up o him saying "You are ruining my party!" and Two-Face says "Just waiting for you to deliver the Batman, dear boy".  And Nygma says "Patience, o'bifurcated one!" and Two-Face snaps back "Patience is hell!  We want him DEAD!!".  And a chase ensures between Batman and Two-Face and as their chase leads to a construction site, Two-Face tries to blow Batman up but fails and the dark knight reappears and Two-Face yells "Why can't you just DIE???!!!".

Moving on next is Jim Carrey who even though he is pretty over the top in the film he still actually does a pretty good job as Edward Nygma/The Riddler and its a role he was quite well suited to.

Carrey also has some good moments in the film such as his first scene where he meets with Bruce Wayne and as Bruce turns his invention down, Nygma is left devastated and he says to himself "You were supposed to understand.  I'll MAKE you understand!".  Then later as Nygma's boss finds him still working on his project and is about to call security, Nygma knocks out his boss with a coffee pot and he quips after "Caffine will kill ya!".  And after Nygma has tied his boss up to a chair and pushes him toward the window and he crashes through the chair hangs over the edge as the tied up helmet keeps him from going over.  But then Nygma holds the helmet and says "Fred, Babe, you are fired, or should I say: Terminated!" then takes it off and his boss falls to his death below and Nygma yells "SURF'S UP, BIG KAHONA!!!".  And he goes back toward his workplace and says "Too many questions, Mr Wayne?!  My work raises too many questions?!" and he walks up to the security camera and says into it "How come no one has ever put you in your place?!".

Then there is the scene where The Riddler arrives at Two-Face's lair and he says to him "I can help you get Batman....That is if you'll spare my life for just a few moments".  And after he demonstrates his device by using it on Two-Face's assistants, Sugar (Drew Barrymore) and Spice (Debi Mazar) he gives his proposal to Two-Face.  And the Riddler says to him "Here's the bargain: you will help me steal production capital, so I can put a Box on every TV in town. So I can become Gotham's cleverest carbon-based life-form! And in return... is everybody paying attention? I will help you solve the greatest riddle of all... the MOTHER of all riddles: "Who is Batman?!".

Another good scene from Carrey is when Nygma holds his business party and he meets with Bruce Wayne and we see that Nygma is wearing a smart suit and has even styled his hair the same Bruce's and even has a mole on the side of his face to match Bruce's!  But then Two-Face gate crashes the party only to be soon intervened by Batman who comes crashing through the landing skylight and Nygma, impressed, says to Two-Face "Your entrance was good.  His was better.  The difference: showmanship!".

Another noteworthy scene comes when the Riddler infiltrates Wayne manor with Two-Face and he finds the Batcave and destroys most of the equipment and the batmobile.  And as the Riddler tosses one of his custom Riddler grenades and it explodes he shouts out "Joygasm!".  And after this as Two-Face shoots Bruce in the side of his head, the bullet just grazing him, he is about to finish Bruce off but the Riddler stops him.  And the Riddler shouts "NO!!!  Don't kill him!  If you kill him....." he places another riddle for Bruce to analyse "He won't learn nothin!" and Two-Face laughs madly and they both leave.   

Then there is the scene where the Riddler, wearing a ridiculous jacket with question marks all over it that light up says to Chase, who has been captured says to her "You like the jacket?  It keeps me safe when I'm jogging at night!".  And Chase says that Batman will come for her prompting the Riddler to mockingly say "Batman? Batman, you say? Coming for you?  I'm......COUNTING ON IT!!!".  And lastly there is the moment where Batman shows up to try and save Chase and Robin who have been captured by the Riddler and Two-Face's men.  And (PLOT SPOILER!!!!!) as the Riddler has placed them in two capsules that if opened will cause them to fall to their deaths below Batman says to him that he has a riddle.  So as Batman says "I see without seeing. To me, darkness is as clear as daylight. What am I?".  And the Riddler mockingly laughs saying "Please!  You're as blind as a bat!" and Batman readies his batarang and says "Exactly!" and throws it at the Riddler's throne.

Then we have Nicole Kidman who does well enough in her role as Dr Meridian Chase, the beautiful psychiatrist who helps Bruce and is infatuated with Batman.  The problem however for Kidman is that her role is somewhat underwritten and as such she isn't that effective a character and ultimately Chase is just a bit of eye candy for the film.

Kidman however still has some good moments in the film as well that include her first scene where Chase meets Batman for the first time.  And Chase is clearly taken by Batman and she says to him "Well, let's just say that I could write a hell of a paper on a grown man who dresses like a flying rodent" and Batman corrects by saying "Bats are rodents, doctor" leaving more impressed saying "Really?  Wow, you are interesting".  Then there is the scene where Chase summons Batman using the bat signal and she comes onto him.  And in the scene Chase says to Batman "What is it about the wrong kind of man? In grade school it was boys with earrings, high school; motorcycles; college, leather jackets. Now..." and she feels his suit "Ahhh...black rubber!".  And as Batman continues to rebuff her advances and says to her "I don't blend in at a family picnic" Chase says "Oh, we could give it a try. I'll bring the wine...." and she drops her black top a little revealing her sexy neglige "....you bring your scarred psyche!".

Then later there is a good scene where Batman shows up at Chase's apartment and they kiss but Chase suddenly realises she feels more for Bruce than Batman.  And in the scene she says to Batman

"I'm sorry. I've imagined this moment since I first saw you -- your eyes, your lips, your body -- and now I have you and I'm wishing you were somebody else. I guess a girl has to grow up some time. I've met someone. He's...well, he's not you. I hope you can understand".  And Batman takes a moment and says to her "I understand" and as he leaves we see a smile on his face.  And last of all there is the moment at the end of the film Chase speaks to Bruce (knowing his identity) and smiles and says to him "Don't work too late!". 

Chris O'Donnell also does not too badly in his role as Dick Grayson/Robin although it has to be said his performance does get a bit grating at times as he plays Dick as being both tormented over the death of his family and also being a bit cocky when he's out fighting crime or trying to get Bruce to train him.  

Still O'Donnell has some good moments aswell that include the scene where Dick steals the Batmobile and takes it for a joy ride and he announces to a gang "I'm Batman!" and they all laugh and he says "I just forgot my suit, alright?!".  And Dick ends up rescuing a girl from a gang and she asks for a kiss and he kisses her and then says "I could definitely get into this superhero gig!".  And as the gang chase after him Batman arrives and they all split leaving Dick to angrily hit out at Batman yelling "Bastard!  Its all your fault, if you had said you were Batman then they might still be alive!".  

And later after they return to the batcave Dick explains how he felt "All I can think about every second of the day is getting Two-Face. He took my whole life. And when I was out there tonight, I imagined it was him that I was fighting, even when I was fighting you. And all the pain went away. Do you understand?".  And Bruce says he does and he warns Dick that if he kills Two-Face his pain won't go away that it will grow and Dick says "You can't understand. Your family wasn't killed by a maniac" and Bruce says to him "Yes they were".

Then there is admittedly annoying but still amusing moment where Dick does his washing but Alfred offers to do it for him but Dick says "I'm not used to being waited on, Al" and he does some acrobatic moves and throws his washing onto the line and mops up after and smiles and winks at Alfred and walks off.

And lastly is the scene when just after Dick rescues Batman from being suffocated in a landfill they head back to the batcave.  And in the scene Dick cockily says to Bruce " I need a name! Batboy, Nightwing, I dunno. What you think? What's a good sidekick name?" and Bruce sarcastically says to him "How about Dick Grayson, college student?!".  And as Bruce still refuses to take on Dick as a partner, Dick groans and hands his Robin suit to Alfred saying "Alfred, hang this next to the batsuit where it belongs!" and walks out.     
  
And last of all is Michael Gough also does a fine job once again as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's loyal butler and he remains the only actor to have appeared in all four of the original films to be released.

Gough has some good scenes aswell that include the moment where Alfred calls up Bruce while he is meeting with Chase.  And in their call Alfred tries to discreetly warn Bruce that Dick has taken the Batmobile saying "I'm sorry to bother you, sir. But I have some rather distressing news about Master Dick.  I'm afraid Master Dick has... gone traveling".  And Bruce says "He ran away" and Alfred says "Actually, he took the car" and Bruce puzzled says "He boosted the Jag?" and Alfred says "Not the Jaguar, the other car" and Bruce says "The Bentley?" and Alfred aggravated says "No, sir.  The other car!".

Then there is the scene where Dick explains to Alfred the origin of his stagename, Robin, and how he flew in "like a robin" to save his brother.  And Dick says to himself "Some hero I turned out to be" and Alfred reassures "But you are a hero.  I can tell.  Broken wings mend in time. One day Robin will fly again. I promise".  And lastly there is the scene just after Bruce and Dick argue over taking Dick on as a partner, Bruce accuses Alfred of encouraging him and Alfred says "Young men with a mind for revenge need little encouragement. They need guidance. You, above all, should know the consequences of the life you choose".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Moving onto the director, Joel Schumacher actually does not too bad a job here and its only on Batman & Robin where he destroyed the franchise (which of course he apologised for!).  However with BF he manages to deliver a fairly light hearted and comic tone that fits the film well enough and it does make for a more enjoyable time than the one we were given in Batman Returns.  Schumacher also deserves some credit for his visual style in the film as there quite a few scenes where his shots are well composed with some unique camera angles.  This is noticeable in scenes such as Bruce entering Wayne Enterprises at the start and the camera tracks him from overhead, or the scene where Bruce arrives outside Chase's apartment and he hears grunting as if she has been attacked and the camera angle is tilted a little that lends something a little different to the look of the scene.

Getting onto the music the film's score by Elliot Goldenthal (who previously scored Alien3 and around the same time of the production of BF: Heat) is excellent and it is rich and atmospheric as well as suspensful and his Batman theme is pretty good.  In fact Goldenthal's themes are a welcome change from bombastic nature of Danny Elfman's music that featured in the previous two Batman films (although his score for the original is still a great one).  Goldenthal also went on to score the much maligned Batman & Robin and he even provided a good score for that its just a shame he didn't put it to use in a better film.

Also music wise the soundtrack features songs from other artists such as U2, who recorded the single "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me" which is an excellent song.  It also features the not so excellent Seal song "Kiss from above" (well not so excellent in my opinion at least!).  Other artists featured also were The Flaming Lips and Brandy who's songs featured in the film although the soundtrack CD does feature some songs that weren't used in the film also.

FLAWS

As for the flaws....yes Batman Forever has its problems and for starters you could say while its departure from the excessively dark tone from Batman Begins is somewhat welcome it actually borders on being just a bit too camp at times.  This also clearly apparent as Joel Schumacher was attemtping to rekindle the spirit of the 1960s TV show and he took that approach even further with Batman & Robin much to the film's detriment.

Schumacher also makes some rather questionable decisions regarding the Batman outfit as he gives Batman nipples (which appeared even more pronounced in the next film!) and he also provides some rather dubios and daft looking montage moments of Batman suiting up that include a bat crotch and bat ass scene!  I mean is that really necessary you think??? (Although I'm sure female fans of Val Kilmer won't mind that scene too much!). 

And this tone is well noted early on in the film's first scenes where Batman is locked into a vault with an annoying security guard who keeps stating the obvious.  And as an example as Batman and the guard are trapped inside, Two-Face releases boiling acid into the vault from the bottom up and the guard yells out "Oh no!  Its boiling acid!!".  And in the next moment Batman attempts to escape the vault by taking the guard's hearing aid and the guard annoyingly says "Hey, that's my hearing aid!".  Achhh just shadduppppp! 

Another issue with the film is that it has quite a few scenes that feel pointless such as Chase signalling Batman to come and see her just so she can come onto him basically and she tells him that Two-Face's weakness is his coin, which is something Batman already knew!  Then there is of course the scene where Batman responds to another Bat signal and goes out into the night and get's chased by Two-Face and his men and he manages to evade them.  But its not clear who engaged the Bat signal in this instance, I mean its not like maybe Two-Face managed to access it and use it as a ruse to get Batman out onto the streets, so it just feels a bit pointless as a scene overall.

Then there is the scene where Two-Face gatecrashes the circus and arms a bomb to force Batman to reveal his identity, which is a bit stupid in itself given that he doesn't know who Batman is so Two-Face is basically just taking a very wild stab in the dark with this one and willing to blow himself up in the process!  I mean its very possible that Bruce Wayne might not have even been there so it ends up just being a coincidence!

And that brings up a later scene where Two-Face gatecrashes Nygma's business party as he is fed up on waiting for Nygma to deliver Batman to him.  And this leads to yet another chase scene between Batman and Two-Face which feels a bit redundant yet again as Two-Face makes yet another unsuccessful attempt kill off the dark knight.  At this point the film really is starting to repeat itself and that's where it begins to get a bit tiresome. 

And another flaw with the plot is when Bruce all of a sudden decides to give up being Batman after he discovers that Chase is in love with him.  I mean what??!!  The guy is Gotham's protector, that's his job and all of a sudden out of the blue he decides he wants to jack it all in!!  It doesn't make any sense at all.  Although of course his attempt at that ends quickly as the Riddler and Two-Face storm the manor and take Chase hostage.  But it was a prime example of the film's poor writing and seemed totally unecessary as we all know that Bruce would go back to try and save the day as Batman.

Something else that springs to mind is during that daft scene where Dick takes the Batmobile for a joy ride and he ends up rescuing a girl, just how did Batman travel to the scene???  And by that I mean what car or method of transport did Batman take??  I say this as I just have a funny image of Batman turning up on the scene in his Bentley, which would make for a pretty funny and rather uncool image in itself.  Also when they went back to the Bat cave, would Batman make Dick drive the Bentley back.  Well its either that or some method of transport or just perhaps Batman took a taxi! ;-)

You could also say that Batman doesn't really practice what he preaches in this film as a character in the comics, he never killed people and here he technically does commit a murder at the end (SPOILER) where he throws some coins into the air just as Two-Face tosses his coin, Two-Face loses his balance and falls to his death.  You could of course say it was a necessary murder as it was either them or Two-Face but it also feels like a cop-out from Bruce's morality chat with Dick earlier on about how "Killing Two-Face won't take the pain away".  And Dick sensibly made the choice not to kill Two-Face but here Batman decides "Screw it, I'll just kill him instead!".  Again it makes that departure from being faithful to the Batman of the comic books who never killed anyone.

And lastly there is that stupid scene where we see footage of Two-Face when he was Harvey Dent, a district attorney in court and all of a sudden a mob boss on the stand, Sal Maroni, throwing acid in his face and then all of a sudden we see Batman dive toward the boss in an attempt to stop him!  It just seems ridiculous that Batman would happen to have been in court at the same time either that or he was waiting outside the windows to pounce in case anything happened!

To be fair though of course this remains true to the comic book origins of Harvey Dent and that is how he got his scars that lead him to become Two-Face (but whether Batman was in court at the same time or not I don't know!).  And this is quite unlike how it was presented in The Dark Knight, when Harvey is caught and tied up by the Joker's men, he decides for no apparent reason to tip over an oil drum and half his face is smeared in the oil, which lead to his being caught on fire just as Batman turns up to save him and they flee just as the place explodes.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to finally sum up Batman Forever is a more enjoyable sequel to the decidedly average Batman Returns and it features a fine cast who mostly provide some good perfomances.  The film also features some excellent effects, good set designs and an excellent score by Elliot Goldenthal.  Yes the film has its problems with its campy tone and there are too many loose plot points that go nowhere and yep Jim Carrey can be way over the top and annoying at times and yes Chris O'Donnell's cocky performance can also be grating and yes Nicole Kidman's character feels rather redundant (but still sexy!).  But if you can forgive all that then Batman Forever is still worth a second look and not as bad a film as you might think.

Soooo that is it for now and I'll be back some time soon with yet another post, whatever that might be.

Till then bye the now!