Back In Black Third ‘Batman’ Installment Delivers Entertainment Without Too Much Thinking Required
“Batman Forever” is a straight-forward, no-nonsense Batman action movie. There’s no confusion about whether the villains are good or evil, and the plot is much simpler than “Batman Returns or “Batman,” the earlier attempts at portraying the Dark Knight.
“Batman Forever” also seems to be trying to pack more of everything into the film. There are two villains (Two-Face and The Riddler) and two heroes (Batman and Robin).
Even with four major characters (there’s also a new love interest), the film never becomes confusing or overly concerned with small details.
It’s the straight-forward approach to this third installment that makes it good fun and easy to sit back and enjoy. The film doesn’t try to do too much (except keep up a fast pace) unlike the second one, and the unpretentious approach works nicely.
The only thing curiously missing are the dark artistic elements that were abundant in the first two Batman movies. This is a lighter and happier movie. The sense of doom of the previous films is missing, although “Batman Forever” does probe into the morbid reasons our heroes become heroes.
“Batman Forever” (we never learn why it’s called that) pits Batman (Val Kilmer) against Two Face (Tommy Lee Jones), who only wants him dead, and The Riddler (Jim Carrey), who wants to carry out some plan that involves figuratively gluing everyone to TV sets. The two villains team up against Batman and, in doing so, anger a young trapeze artist enough to want to become Batman’s sidekick, Robin (Chris O’Donnell). So, soon it’s two-on-two, plus a few hundred of Two Face’s goons that Batman and Robin practice their martial art talents on.
“Batman Forever” is not long on explanations or plot developments. A perfect example is The Riddler’s plan for … what? It’s never fully explained, but it just seems Really Bad. Robin never gets enough scenes to make his change to a superhero fully believable. And how do such seemingly impossible feats like stealing the Batmobile or penetrating the Batcave suddenly seem easy?
The acting is uniformly very good. Val Kilmer is unspectacular as Batman/Bruce Wayne, but is no step down from Michael Keaton. Jones and Carrey both go over the top in their performances, but it’s Carrey’s Riddler who gets all the good lines and scenes.
His rubber-faced expressions and hyperactive acting make The Riddler interesting and fun to watch, while Two Face remains a standard villain. Michael Gough is again one of the highlights of the movie as Wayne’s all-knowing butler, Alfred.
Without the gloom of the first two Batmans, “Batman Forever” is noticeably different. But what it’s lacking in mood it makes up for in action and explosions. For the most part, this is a good summer movie; it’s big, loud and forgettable.
Grade: B