Holy rusted metal Batman!

As promised, here is part two of my ramblings on the Batman franchise.


Up next: Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.

Batman Forever
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey
Box office gross: $336,531,112 (Worldwide)

"Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big, black bat?"

After the first two Tim Burton directed Batman movies, parental groups deemed them too dark and Warner Bros. thought the film could have made more money. (It always comes down to the all mighty dollar with these production companies.) They decided it was time to make the Batman franchise more mainstream and brought Joel Schumacher in to direct while Burton stayed on as a producer.
Forever lacked all of the pain and anguish that Burton created in the first two installments in the franchise. It was definitely more colourful, bright, loud and appealed to a broader audience than its predecessors. However, in doing this, the franchise began to return to the campy 60s Adam West Batman series and away from the dark, tormented Batman we were drawn to when the series started.

Michael Keaton rightfully stepped away from the lead role as Gotham's superhero because he did not like the new direction the franchise as heading in. Val Kilmer was brought in to attempt to fill Keaton's shoes because Schumacher became interested in him after seeing his performance in Tombstone. Kilmer had a tough job; who could imagine taking on a role that was so well done before them? He muddled through the film, never emulating the characteristics of Batman that make him such a unique superhero. He was in no way believable as the Dark Knight or Bruce Wayne. Sorry, Kilmer. But you never had a chance.

Next up in the series for Batman to face were two completely opposite villains: Two-Face and The Riddler, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey respectively.
The addition of these two diverse actors to the series was good on paper. Unfortunately, this did not transfer to the big screen. Jones' portrayal of Two-Face was laughable - and not in a good way! He provided no depth to the character and paled in comparison to The Riddler. Can't blame everything on Jones, however. Not much you can do when the writing is atrocious!

Carrey was the only logical choice to play The Riddler. His quirky sense of humour was a perfect fit for the villainous Riddler and his slim build was an added bonus as he had to wear that bright green unitard. At times, Carrey was over the top - but isn't that what this role was all about? Again, I must blame writing for inept use of Carrey's acting range. As most of his other roles have proven, he can do so much more than just two-bit jokes and gags.

Final Verdict: Hands down my least favourite in the franchise. I wish it never even happened. See it if you must, but I would highly recommend skipping over this ridiculous inclusion that doesn't contribute anything to the series. I would like to thank Warner Bros. for ruining everything Tim Burton accomplished with the first two films. For shame.

Batman and Robin
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris O'Donnell
Box office gross: $130,000,000 (Worldwide)

"If revenge is a dish best served cold, then put on your Sunday finest. It's time to feast!"

 The fourth and final installment in this part of the Batman franchise went completely off the mark. The film received 11 nominations at the 1997 Razzie Awards and it's easy to see why. Forever started the ball rolling in the return to the cheesy 60s TV Batman. A move that accomplished Warner Bros.'s goal of appealing to a greater audience and performing well at the box office but totally sacrificed the integrity of the franchise.

Joel Schumacher was once again brought on to direct and the project was fast-tracked in order to capitalize on the financial success of Forever. Schumacher wanted to pay homage to the campy style of the 60s sitcom and he did that in spades. The film was even more colourful, loud and downright cheesy than its predecessor and lost all of the appeal from the first two films.

And what was with the costumes? Batman's suit looked like something a male stripper would wear! All of a sudden, each suit had nipples and enlarged, emphasized codpieces. And what was with all the close up shots of butts and crotches? So much for a family-friendly action movie. 

George Clooney was cast as the title character after Kilmer was fired (but sort of quit?). Schumacher believed that Clooney could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Keaton. Well, I guess he did. But Batman isn't a "light" character. He's the Dark Knight for goodness sake! Clooney was without a doubt, the worst Batman EVER. Mike LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle called Clooney the "big zero of the film". That pretty much sums it up nicely.

Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone portrayed Robin and Batgirl. I'm not even going to go into this addition of two ridiculous characters to an already ridiculous film. They were useless in this film.

The only saving grace of this movie was Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Schwarzenegger is the perfect cheesy action star for a cheesy action movie - when the film works. I thought he did an okay job as the biologist turned villain who was trying to save his terminally ill wife. His cheesy one-liners brought much needed comic relief to a movie that basically made you sick to watch.

Final Verdict: If the franchise had begun as a campy homage to the 60s TV series, this film would have been fine. Not good. Not bad. Just fine. However, this film destroyed any hope that Warner Bros. had in continuing a successful Batman franchise at the time. Skip it. It's a waste of time. George Clooney stated: "I think we might have killed the franchise" and he was right. Until Christopher Nolan came along.

Later today I will take on the first two installments of the reboot Dark Knight series helmed by Christopher Nolan.

What was your favourite film from the first series in the franchise?