Batman forever movie production professional#
Batman forever movie production series#

That isn’t to say that it’s as sophisticated in it’s approach as Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy a decade later, but it’s definitely in keeping with the basic narrative thrusts of the Burton films as seeing the villains as reflections of Bruce Wayne. “Batman Forever” is seen by most as the beginning of the end of the original Batman film series, and from a tone level, the production design certainly points at the campiness that would hit overdrive in “Batman & Robin,” but the script by Lee & Janet Scott Batchler and Akiva Goldsman is well-attuned to looking at the duel psychology of Bruce Wayne in a way that I think a lot of people, including myself, had forgotten about over the years, and outright ignored in 1995.

There’s a lot to unpack in that story summary, but one of the things that struck me watching it again was how connected everything was on a thematic level.

Their connection will grow when Grayson discovers the secret of who Bruce Wayne really is. They will be further aggravated when he is asked to take in Dick Grayson (Chris O’Donnel), whose family was killed by Two-Face at a charity circus Wayne attended. Meanwhile, he is haunted by the death of his parents, and his memories of the event are starting to come back to the moment when his fear of bats manifested. Wayne sees the danger in such a device, however, and squashes Edward’s ideas, and in the process, creates another villain for himself to fight. Edward Nigma (Carrey) and his bold idea for a new level of interactive television.

His alter ego, Bruce Wayne (Val Kilmer), has other matters to attend to, as he goes to his science division and is introduced to Dr.

Batman forever movie production professional#

Meridian is immediately taken by him…in a strictly professional manner, of course. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), a psychiatrist working with Gotham PD. Batman, as he is wont to do, shows up and foils his plan, but not before his first meeting with Dr. The make-up on Two-Face by Rick Baker signals the garish absurdity of Schumacher’s vision here- color, color, color, the bolder, the better. In this film, we begin with a bank heist being carried out by Harvey “Two-Face” Dent, played here by Tommy Lee Jones, who was Schumacher’s top choice despite already having Billy Dee Williams (who played him in the original Burton film) contractually lined up for the role. (“Batman & Robin” is another matter, and will be dealt with next year.) I still prefer Burton’s films, and Michael Keaton’s work as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the more family-friendly approach of Schumacher in this film cannot be so easily dismissed. At the time, the two biggest things that stood out for me were Jim Carrey’s performance as The Riddler and the circus-like production design, the latter of which took the look of the franchise in a 180-degree direction from where Burton went in his 1989 film and his 1992 sequel, “Batman Returns.” Seeing it again, my feelings about aren’t so tunnel vision.

Batman forever movie production series#

The film brought somewhat exciting visuals for a project made in 1995, but ultimately had too many problems with the plot to be considered more than an average superhero story.It’s been about 20 years since I’d seen Joel Schumacher’s first Batman film, and the third in the initial series Warner Bros. Val Klimer's lone outing as Batman was met with tough reviews from critics and fans alike, even with world renowned actors Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey as Two-Face and the Riddler respectively. Currently, there are no rumors that Batman Forever will receive the same treatment, but it's certainly intriguing knowing that this cut does exist somewhere. Most of the last year was filled with ferocious discussion amongst DCEU fans over the existence and eventual release of the Snyder Cut, which came to life with Zack Snyder's Justice League on HBO Max in March 2021. And it was really dark, it was a pretty psychological exploration of guilt and shame. Because I got to see it recently, the very first one, which was referred to as Preview Cut One. Goldman teased that there is a 'renaissance' coming for Batman Forever, specifically mentioning that he's 'recently' watched the 'Preview Cut One.' The producer spoke of the film being 'really dark' and diving into a 'psychological exploration of guilt and shame' centered around Val Kilmer's Bruce Wayne:Īnd by the way, Batman Forever still has a renaissance coming, I really am interested to see whether the original cut of Batman Forever comes out.