Tuesday 22 November 2011

Batman Forever

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Year:1995
Country of origin:USA / UK
Director:Joel Schumacher
Genre:Batman Begins….to decline
Starring:Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell, Michael Gough
Rating:3/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112462/
Tagline:Courage now, truth always....
Favourite line:"You have broken into our hideout. You have violated the sanctity of our lair. For this we should crush your bones into POWDER."

Val Kilmer's sole outing in the Batmobile is a mixed affair to say the least.
The tone is set almost before the credits have finished rolling: Evocative shots of the Batmobile with Batman himself beside it look impressive and gothic, in a flashy sort of way. I actually thought "That looks pretty cool. Maybe this could be ok," then the first dialogue interchange happens:
ALFRED: "Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?"
BATMAN: "I'll get drive-thru."
And something inside me shrivelled and cooled.
My initial feelings of optimism were replaced by a grim knowledge that, if nothing else, the film-makers were going for laughs.
Jesus H. Christ.
Why this infuriating insistence that every movie has to be 'witty?' You know, it's perfectly fine for something to be 'spooky' or 'moving' or just plain impressive visually without the need to crowbar in humour that only a toothless simpleton could possibly find amusing. Honestly, this is playground humour at its worst.
Rant over.
The plot itself is functional enough, with one of Bruce Wayne's disgruntled employees hellbent on taking over everyone's thoughts with a mind controlling device and transforming into The Riddler along the way.
Tommy Lee Jones sticks his oar in as well as Two Face.
It's all a little bloated, with an unnecessary overload of famous faces, none of whom are up to much, with the notable exception of Michael Gough as Butler Alfred.
It''s not dreadful, folks, it just should have been so much better when you think about how much it cost to make the damn thing.

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