Batman Forever


Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. A stand-alone sequel to the 1992 film Batman Returns and the third installment of Warner Bros.'s initial Batman film series, it stars Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Batman, alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell, Michael Gough, and Pat Hingle. The plot focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face and the Riddler in their villainous scheme to extract confidential information from all the minds in Gotham City and use it to learn Batman's identity and bring the city under their control. In the process, he gains allegiance from a young, orphaned circus acrobat named Dick Grayson, who becomes his sidekick Robin, and meets and develops feelings for psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian, which brings him to the point to decide if he will lead a normal life or if he is destined to fight crime as Batman forever.
Schumacher eschewed the dark, dystopian atmosphere of Burton's films by drawing inspiration from the Batman comic books of the Dick Sprang era, as well as the 1960s television series. After Keaton chose not to reprise his role, William Baldwin and Ethan Hawke were considered as a replacement before Val Kilmer joined the cast.
The film was released on June 16, 1995. Batman Forever grossed over $336 million worldwide and became the sixth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1995. The film received mixed reviews, with criticism directed towards the CGI, Kilmer's performance, costume designs and tonal departure from previous films, but praising the visuals and performances of Carrey and Jones. The film was followed by Batman & Robin in 1997, with Schumacher returning as the director, Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin, and George Clooney replacing Kilmer as Batman.

Plot

In Gotham City, the crime fighter Batman defuses a hostage situation caused by a criminal known as Two-Face, formerly the city's district attorney Harvey Dent, who is disfigured when mobster Sal Maroni threw acid on him during Maroni's trial which Batman failed to prevent. Two-Face escapes and remains at large. Edward Nygma, an eccentric researcher at Wayne Enterprises who idolizes Bruce Wayne, has developed a device that can beam television signals directly into a person's brain. Bruce offers to let Nygma come up with schematics for the device and set up a meeting with his assistant. However, after Nygma demands an answer from him immediately, Bruce rejects the invention, concerned over it manipulating minds. After killing his supervisor and staging it as a suicide, Nygma resigns and obsessively begins sending Bruce riddles, seeking retaliation against him.
Bruce meets Chase Meridian, a psychologist who is obsessed with Batman, and invites her to accompany him to a circus event. After a performance from the circus performers, The Flying Graysons, Two-Face arrives and threatens to blow up the circus unless Batman comes forward and surrenders his life to him. The Flying Graysons attempt to stop Two-Face, but are all killed except one. Only Dick Grayson, the youngest member, survives as he climbs to the roof and throws Two-Face's bomb into a river.
Bruce invites the orphaned Dick to stay at Wayne Manor as his ward. Dick, still troubled by the murder of his family, intends to kill Two-Face and avenge his family. When he discovers that Bruce is Batman, he demands that Bruce help him find Two-Face so that he can kill him, but Bruce refuses. Meanwhile, Nygma, inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus, turns himself into a criminal called the Riddler and forms an alliance with Two-Face. The two steal capital in order to mass-produce Nygma's brainwave device so that Riddler can use it to steal all of Gotham's confidential information, promising Two-Face Batman's secret identity in return. Nygma founds his own company, Nygmatech, but the information overload is gradually damaging Nygma's already precarious mind.
At Nygma's business party, Nygma discovers Bruce's alter ego using the brainwave device. Two-Face arrives and crashes the party. He nearly kills Batman, but Dick manages to save him. Meanwhile, Chase has fallen in love with Bruce, which surpasses her obsession with Batman. Bruce decides to stop being Batman in order to have a normal life with Chase, and to prevent Dick from murdering Two-Face. Dick runs away while Bruce and Chase have dinner together in the manor, where Bruce reveals his secret identity to her. The Riddler and Two-Face arrive and attack Wayne Manor; in the process, the Riddler blows up the Batcave. The criminals kidnap Chase after Two-Face shoots Bruce, and the Riddler leaves him another riddle.
Using Nygma's riddles, Bruce and his butler, Alfred, deduce the Riddler's secret identity. Chase is imprisoned by the Riddler and Two-Face in their hideout on the mysterious Claw Island. Bruce puts on a new Batman costume. Dick returns to become Batman's sidekick, Robin. Batman and Robin head to Claw Island, where they become separated. Robin encounters Two-Face and nearly kills him, but chooses to spare his life and is captured. The Riddler, revealing Chase and Robin bound and gagged with duct tape in containment tubes, gives Batman a chance to save only one hostage, but Batman destroys the Riddler's brainwave collecting device with a Batarang, causing the Riddler to suffer a mental breakdown and allowing Batman to rescue Robin and Chase. Two-Face corners the trio and determines their fate with the flip of a coin, but Batman throws a handful of identical coins in the air, causing Two-Face to stumble and fall to his death, as Robin watches in satisfaction.
The Riddler is taken to Arkham Asylum and imprisoned, but he claims he knows who Batman is. Chase is asked to consult on the case, but it is revealed that, due to his traumas, Nygma now lives in a delusion that he himself is Batman. Chase meets Bruce outside and tells him that his secret is safe before parting ways. Bruce resumes his crusade as Batman with Robin as his partner to protect Gotham from crime as The Dynamic Duo.

Cast

Development

Batman Returns was released in 1992 with financial success and generally favorable reviews from critics, but Warner Bros. was disappointed with its box office run, having made $150 million less than the first film. For Batman Forever, Tim Burton, the director of the first two Batman films, was already working on the third Batman film, which was going to be titled Batman Continues and was going to star Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Billy Dee Williams, Robin Williams, Rene Russo and Marlon Wayans, but following the release of the previous film, McDonald's said that Batman Returns was inappropriate for children, so Warner Bros. asked Burton to step down as director in favor of another director; Sam Raimi and John McTiernan were considered, Joel Schumacher was selected by Burton. Husband-and-wife screenwriting couple Lee and Janet Scott-Batchler were brought on to write the script, and agreed with Burton that "the key element to Batman is his duality. And it's not just that Batman is Bruce Wayne". Their original script introduced a psychotic Riddler with a pet rat accompanying him. The story elements and much of the dialogue still remained in the finished film, though Schumacher felt it could be "lighted down". Keaton initially approved the selection of Schumacher as director and planned on reprising his role as Batman from the first two films. Schumacher claims he originally had in mind an adaptation of Frank Miller's and Keaton claimed that he was enthusiastic about the idea. Warner Bros. rejected the idea as they wanted a sequel, not a prequel, though Schumacher was able to include very brief events in Bruce Wayne's childhood with some events of the comic The Dark Knight Returns. Akiva Goldsman, who worked with Schumacher on The Client, was brought in to rewrite the script, deleting the initial idea of bringing in the Scarecrow as a villain with Riddler, and the return of Catwoman. Burton, who now was more interested in directing Ed Wood, later reflected he was taken aback by some of the focus group meetings for Batman Forever, a title which he hated. Producer Peter MacGregor-Scott represented the studio's aim in making a film for the MTV Generation with full merchandising appeal.

Casting

Production went on fast track with Russo cast as Dr. Chase Meridian but Keaton decided not to reprise Batman because he did not like the new direction the film series was headed in and rejected the script. Keaton also wanted to pursue "more interesting roles", turning down $15 million. A decision was made to go with a younger actor for Bruce Wayne, and an offer was made to Ethan Hawke, who turned it down but eventually regretted this decision. Schumacher had seen Val Kilmer in Tombstone, but was also interested in Alec and William Baldwin, Dean Cain, Tom Hanks, Kurt Russell, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, Johnny Depp and Mel Gibson. Cain was scrapped as he was well known for starring in the TV series . Kilmer, who as a child visited the studios where the 1960s series was recorded and shortly before had visited a bat cave in Africa, was contacted by his agent for the role. Kilmer signed on without reading the script or knowing who the new director was.
With Kilmer's casting, Warner Bros. dropped Rene Russo as Chase Meridian, considering her too old to be paired with Kilmer. Sandra Bullock, Robin Wright, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Linda Hamilton were all considered for the role, which was eventually recast with Nicole Kidman. Billy Dee Williams took on the role of Harvey Dent in Batman on the possibility of portraying Two-Face in a sequel, but Schumacher cast Tommy Lee Jones in the role, although Al Pacino and Clint Eastwood and Martin Sheen and Nicolas Cage were considered, after working with him on The Client. Jones was reluctant to accept the role, but did so after his son's insistence. Robin Williams was in discussions to be the Riddler at one point but eventually turned down the role, resentful he was used in 1989 as bait for Jack Nicholson to play Joker, and also because of his contractual issues with Jumanji. In a 2003 interview, Schumacher stated Michael Jackson lobbied hard for the role, but was turned down before Jim Carrey was cast. Other actors considered were John Malkovich, Brad Dourif Kelsey Grammer, Micky Dolenz and Steve Martin. Mark Hamill was going to get the role, but had to turn it down due to contract issues. Robin appeared in the shooting script for Batman Returns but was deleted due to the use of too many characters. Marlon Wayans had been cast in the role, and signed for a potential sequel, but when Schumacher took over, he decided to open up casting to other actors. Leonardo DiCaprio was considered, but decided not to pursue the role after a meeting with Schumacher. Matt Damon, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Toby Stephens, Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Christian Bale, and Scott Speedman were considered also Chris O'Donnell was cast and Mitchell Gaylord served as his stunt double, and also portrayed Mitch Grayson; Dick's older brother, created for the film. Schumacher attempted to create a cameo role for Bono as his MacPhisto character, but both came to agree it was not suitable for the film.

Filming

Filming started in September 1994. Schumacher hired Barbara Ling for production design, claiming that the film needed a "force" and good design. Ling could "advance on it". Schumacher wanted a design that was not to be in any way connected to the previous films, and instead was to be inspired by the images from the Batman comic books seen in the 1940s/early 1950s and taken from that of New York City architecture in the 1930s, with a combination of modern Tokyo. He also wanted a "city with personality," with more statues, as well as various amounts of neon.
Schumacher had problems filming with Kilmer, whom he described as "childish and impossible," reporting that he fought with various crewmen, and refused to speak to Schumacher for two weeks after the director told him to stop behaving in a rude way. Schumacher also mentioned Tommy Lee Jones as a source of trouble: "Jim Carrey was a gentleman, and Tommy Lee was threatened by him. I'm tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don't work with them again." Carrey later acknowledged Jones was not friendly to him, telling him once off-set during the production, "I hate you. I really don't like you... I cannot sanction your buffoonery."

Design and effects

designed the prosthetic makeup. John Dykstra, Andrew Adamson, and Jim Rygiel served as visual effects supervisors, with Pacific Data Images also contributing to visual effects work. PDI provided a computer-generated Batman for complicated stunts. For the costume design, producer Peter MacGregor-Scott claimed that 146 workers were at one point working together. Batman's costume was redesigned along the lines of a more "MTV organic, and edgier feel" to the suit. Sound editing and mixing was supervised by Bruce Stambler and John Levesque, which included trips to caves to record bat sounds. A new Batmobile was designed for Batman Forever, with two cars being constructed, one for stunt purposes and one for close-ups. Swiss surrealist painter H. R. Giger provided his version for the Batmobile but it was considered too sinister for the film.

Deleted scenes

Batman Forever went through a few major edits before its release. Originally darker than the final product, the film's original length was closer to 2 hours and 40 minutes, according to Schumacher. There was talk of an extended cut being released to DVD for the film's 10th anniversary in 2005. While all four previous Batman films were given special-edition DVD releases on the same day as the Batman Begins DVD release, none of them were given extended cuts, although some of the following scenes were in a deleted scenes section in the special features.
There was an undercurrent theme involving Bruce having repressed memories of an aspect of his parents' death that he hadn't faced. His memories involved finding his father's diary on the night of his parents' wake and reading that Bruce insisted that his parents must go to the theater, so he could watch one of the shows. Meaning the reason he became Batman was out of the guilt that he was responsible for their deaths.
Many scenes were filmed, but deleted from the film; other scenes had footage removed. These included:
After Joel Schumacher died in June 2020, media outlets starting reporting the possible existence of a "Schumacher Cut." This version was believed to be darker and contain less camp than the theatrical cut. Some of the differences include Bruce facing off against a human-sized bat, the darker, more serious tone, less of an emphasis on Dick Grayson, and a focus on Bruce's psychological issues with Chase. In total, the cut uses about 40 minutes of footage. Warner Bros. confirmed the cut exists although they have no plans to release it and were unsure about whether what, if any, footage remains. Some of the aforementioned deleted scenes make up a portion of this footage.

Music

was hired by Schumacher to compose the film score before the screenplay was written. In discussions with Schumacher, the director wanted Goldenthal to avoid taking inspiration from Danny Elfman, and requested an original composition. The film's promotional teaser trailer used the main title theme from Elfman's score of 1989's Batman.
The soundtrack was commercially successful, selling almost as many copies as Prince's soundtrack to the 1989 Batman film. Only five of the songs on the soundtrack are actually featured in the movie. Hit singles from the soundtrack include "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2 and "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, both of which were nominated for MTV Movie Awards. "Kiss from a Rose" reached No. 1 in the U.S. charts as well. The soundtrack itself, featuring additional songs by The Flaming Lips, Brandy, Method Man, Nick Cave, Michael Hutchence, PJ Harvey, and Massive Attack, was an attempt to make the film more "pop".

Release

Box office

Batman Forever opened in 2,842 theaters in the United States on June 16, 1995, making $52.8 million in its opening weekend, breaking Jurassic Park's record for highest opening-weekend gross of all time. The film went on to gross $184 million in North America, and $152.5 million in other countries, totaling $336.53 million. The film earned more money than its predecessor Batman Returns, and is the highest grossing film from 1995.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 39% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Loud, excessively busy, and often boring, Batman Forever nonetheless has the charisma of Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones to offer mild relief." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said "Batman Forever still gets in its licks. There's no fun machine this summer that packs more surprises." Travers criticized the film's excessive commercialism and felt that "the script misses the pain Tim Burton caught in a man tormented by the long-ago murder of his parents" seeing the Bruce Wayne of Kilmer as "inexpressive". Brian Lowry of Variety believed "One does have to question the logic behind adding nipples to the hard-rubber batsuit. Whose idea was that supposed to be anyway, Alfred's? Some of the computer-generated Gotham cityscapes appear too obviously fake. Elliot Goldenthal's score, while serviceable, also isn't as stirring as Danny Elfman's work in the first two films."
James Berardinelli of ReelViews enjoyed the film. "It's lighter, brighter, funnier, faster-paced, and a whole lot more colorful than before." Scott Beatty felt "Tommy Lee Jones played Harvey Dent as a Joker knock-off rather than a multi-layered rogue." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times both gave the film mixed reviews, but with the former giving it a thumbs up and the latter a thumbs down. In his written review, Ebert wrote: "Is the movie better entertainment? Well, it's great bubblegum for the eyes. Younger children will be able to process it more easily; some kids were led bawling from Batman Returns where the PG-13 rating was a joke." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle had a mixed reaction, concluding "a shot of Kilmer's rubber buns at one point is guaranteed to bring squeals from the audience."

Accolades

At the 68th Academy Awards, Batman Forever was nominated for Cinematography, Sound and Sound Effects Editing . "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2 was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but was also nominated for the Worst Original Song Golden Raspberry Award. At the Saturn Awards, the film was nominated for Best Fantasy Film, Make-up, Special Effects and Costume Design. Composer Elliot Goldenthal was given a Grammy Award nomination. Batman Forever received six nominations at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, four of which were divided between two categories. However, it won in just one category—Best Song from a Movie for Seal's "Kiss from a Rose".

Home media

Batman Forever was released on DVD on February 10, 2009; on Blu-ray on April 20, 2010; and on Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 4, 2019.

Other media and merchandising

In addition to a large line of toys, video games and action figures from Kenner, the McDonald's food chain released several collectibles and mugs to coincide with the release of the film. Peter David and Alan Grant wrote separate novelizations of the film. Dennis O'Neil authored a comic book adaptation, with art by Michal Dutkiewicz.
Six Flags Great Adventure theme park re-themed their "Axis Chemical" arena, home of the Batman stunt show, to resemble "Batman Forever", and the new show featured props from the film. Six Flags Over Texas featured a one-time fireworks show to promote the movie, and replica busts of Batman, Robin, Two-Face, and the Riddler can still be found in the Justice League store in the Looney Tunes U.S.A. section. opened at Six Flags St. Louis to promote the movie. At Six Flags Over Georgia The Mind Bender rollercoaster was redesigned to look as though it were the creation of The Riddler and some images and props were used in the design of the rollercoaster and its queue.