Batman Forever (1997, DVD)

The third Batman movie marks the first real break in continuity. There s a different director, different Batman, different design, and different style. Whereas the first two are dark with an eye towards realism, this one is more like a newsstand comic book with more vibrant colors and more explosive action. In some ways this works well, but I preferred the more realistic approach which is why the Burton/Keaton movies are my favorites of the 4. Sure, comic book stylings in a movie can be fun, but isn t the point of a live-action adaptation to portray the drawings in a more realistic way?

I love Val Kilmer. He single-handedly took Tombstone to the next level, and has done an outstanding job in any number of other movies including the lead in one of my favorites, Prince of Egypt (not to mention playing the highest of roles, God, as well). While I like him as Bruce Wayne I just never thought he was as good for the role as Keaton. Keaton s stare as Batman has a penetrating quality that I have never felt with Kilmer s. I don t feel the same intensity.

Tommy Lee Jones does a fantastic job with Harvey 2-Face. He plays that psychosis well. My only complaint there is the make up. His disfigurement looks too much like a mask, too over-the-top with the purple coloring and all. A more subtle melting of the skin might have been better though maybe too gruesome for the style they wanted for the movie. I enjoy seeing the origins of the characters, but I think the quick referrals to 2-Face s rather than a whole subplot was the right move especially since we re going through the creation of Riddler and Robin. Three origins might have been too much. More exploration of the time between his disfigurement and total psychotic breakdown might have made the characterization more realistic, but I think Tommy sells the insanity without that.

Riddler isn t as impressive. He s never been one of my favorite villains anyway, he strikes me too much as a want-to-be Joker. I don t think Jim Carrey brings as much to the role as Tommy does to 2 Face leaving Riddler overshadowed. I guess that s mostly because he is supposed to be a super-genius yet falls so easily. Oop, was that a spoiler? Come on, you know Batman is going to win unless you just really know NOTHING about these types of movies.

Robin is the one character I least expected to be impressive. Boy Wonder, silly tights - I didn t expect much. Chris O Donell changed my tune. Being older than the comic portrayal, Robin does not feel like a device to draw in younger audiences but like a real character. His life tragedy and subsequent thirst for revenge make a nice subplot. The death of his family is taken right from the original story, but his transformation into a super hero (and more importantly his costume) is updated. He's more like Nightwing than the original Robin.

Dr. Chase played by Nicole Kidman is my biggest gripe. I think Nicole is gorgeous and she s a good actress, but her character muddles the plot. Maybe that wouldn t be the case if there hadn t been love interests in the first two movies. Put the three together and it looks like Bruce Wayne reveals himself to every pretty face that comes along. Batman is solitary by nature and not every story told about him needs to explore the breakdown of that.

There are also scenes with Chase that don t work. For example, a professional doctor is not going to get into a punching-bag work-out session with an appointment with someone like Bruce Wayne minutes away. Explaining it as Wayne being early helps, but I don t see him being so early that Chase has time to finish working out, clean up, redress, and take the punching bag down from the center of her office. I also don t believe Wayne/Batman would be as ignorant of the Rorschach as he seems to be here. Not only that, but the real ink blot test of that form is most commonly interpreted as a bat (though sometimes also seen as a butterfly). I m not a doctor, but my reading suggests that a professional like Chase would expect a well-balanced mind to see one of the two. Given her fascination with Batman this framed test on her wall is indeed indicative of a thing for bats, and Wayne s view of it is not the slightest bit unusual. Wayne would have known this and not be caught off guard like he is in this scene. Wow, am I nitpicking or what?

There are two other things that reduce my fondness for this movie. One is the Batmobile design with that ridiculously huge tail fin. The previous car was awesome. They should have stuck with it. The other is the use of one-liners. I don t see Batman making comments like I ll get drive through or Chicks love the car. Robin s one-liners are better, though, it s just Batman s I don t like. I did love the hysterical nod to the old Batman TV show.

There s a little depth to the story with Robin s struggle with desire for revenge and Batman s reluctance in taking on a partner. Mostly though it s an action oriented comic book movie. The whole end of the bank vault scene is a stretch, but there is still a touch of realism throughout. It s more colorful than its recent predecessors but still far darker than the Adam West show.

Content:
There s some implied and typical action violence, a little bit of mild sensuality, and a little bad language. It s family friendly.

DVD:
For the third time, impressive DVD treatment. Once again the boarder, font, and colors form a continuity with the design of the first 2 movies covers. Unfortunately, like them, there is no insert which also means no chapter list.

The menus are also similar in design though with images specific to this movie. The menus aren t very creative, but aren t boring at least.

Presentation is anamorphic widescreen with Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround sound. Very nice looking and sounding.

Disc 1 contains an original trailer and a commentary by Joel Schumacher. His is much easier to follow than Burton s.

Most of the extras, as you might expect, are on disc 2 and are much in keeping with the previous 2 releases. There is a behind the scenes feature that was originally a TV special. It s hosted by none other than Chris AKA Robin.

The Shadows of the Bat series continues. It s a behind the scenes feature that looks at the cultural aspects relating to comic book history.

A group of behind the scenes clips looks at the more technical aspects of the movie: design, costumes, stunts, effects, and score. There is a play all option for the group. It's all well done.

The character profiles are back. They look at the characterizations and portrayals. Once again the characters from previous movies are not copied but are recreated to be unique for this movie (and fans appreciate the effort if any DVD designers ever read this). Included are Batman, Robin, Chase, Riddler, and 2 Face.

We haven t gotten deleted scenes before (unless you count the storyboard from movie 1). This time there are 7 with a play all option. The first, Escape From Arkham, could have been a good, spooky scene, a little closer to the Burton style. I actually would have liked the movie more if it had followed this mood. Another one of note is Secrets of the Batcave when Wayne confronts his true demon. It has some good drama. There are some other decent ones and a few weak ones.

I said in the Batman Returns review that Face to Face is the best song and video from the 4 Batman movies. Kiss From a Rose by Seal, though is not far behind. It s a lovely song, poetic and well performed. The video uses movie visuals nicely. If I have a complaint it s that the song itself doesn t fit the colorful, comic-book action. I m still happy to have it on the DVD. I ve been so unimpressed with many of the songs/videos on so many DVD s (I m not at all pop-culture inclined in my musical tastes) that I get a little more excited when I find one I really like.

Final Thoughts:
I was borderline on whether or not I wanted to buy this, but now I m rather glad I did. They put some effort into this release, and it s a nice addition to any Batman collection. The movie itself is probably average, if I were rating it by itself I would give it 3*, but the DVD content is going to garner it another star bringing the total to 4*. This is partially to make a statement that design and extras do influence buying decisions (too many bland releases have been coming out).