Review of Batman Forever (1995) by Filipeneto — 17 Feb 2018

This film is a continuation of the two "Batman" movies previously made and directed by Tim Burton at the turn of the eighties to the nineties. This time, who directs the freak-show is Joel Schumacher, with the participation of Val Kilmer (in the lead role), Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase) and Jim Carrey (Riddler). If Burton's movies exaggerated the inability to show reality, the films directed by Schumacher show a reality that seems drenched in ecstasy and amphetamines. But the fault is not only the director, decidedly outdated, but also the absolutely miserable script, an abominable patchwork written by different hands. In fact, the actors cannot be blamed for the waste that this movie is. They had already given (and continued to give) evidences of their great talent in other films, and I'm sure they gave the best of themselves in this one too. As used to say a Portuguese actor named Nicolau Breyner (totally unknown to those who have never seen Portuguese cinema), "is not because the work is bad that no longer deserves my total commitment." Unfortunately for the actors in this film, the work was bad. Lack of realism, scenery and costumes coming out of the imagination of a user of psychedelics, use and abuse of stereotypes are just some of the mistakes that the film will commit, frame after frame. Did it have something good? Yes. The first is that the film has an end; the second is the light social criticism made with the character Riddle, who uses television as a mass mental control, a maneuver that almost approximates with our reality, of current mass media.

So, Batman fans, beware: stay prudently far away from this film.