The iconoclastic Batman villain, Two-Face, was built on the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde premise of a man apart. It is interesting he is chosen as one of two leading antagonists for Batman’s third installment, because, realistically, he is a microcosm of the 80’s & 90’s franchise, & its sudden behavioral reversal.
Warner Bros’ decision to completely overhaul the franchise following the (largely critically-acclaimed) criticism of Tim Burton’s 1992 film, Batman Returns, results in a schizophrenic break designed to create a more kid-friendly experience. Unfortunately, new director Joel Schumacher proves unable to do this without alienating his more mature fanbase, & in a very real way, is the real villain here, as outlined below.
It’s fair to note, firstly, that Schumacher’s task was not an easy one. He was charged with making a film in one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises at the time, ordered to abandon the tone of the previous installments, & lost his leading man, who was replaced with one of the industry’s most trying & problematic actors to boot. A tall order by any man’s measure, but Schumacher insists on making it harder still. The direction he gives his cast is the ultimate death of this movie. In Batman Forever, you have a serviceable, if unspectacular plot, splendid cinematography, & a well-crafted introduction to the Robin character.
There’s also a revisiting of Bruce Wayne’s demons recurrent throughout the movie, which nicely voids the inherent risk of marginalising the title character in favour of new villains. Then, too, lead Val Kilmer makes a simply magnificent Batman --- arguably the best the franchise has ever seen. He is poised & gentlemanly as Wayne, sculpted & imposing as the Dark Knight. Kilmer is one of the few acting highlights in this venture, which brings me to the dark side of this lighter fare.
First, the butchering of Two-Face. It is painfully evident his character does not belong in lighter takes on Batman --- Two-Face is a tragic, heart-wrenching figure. Partly because of Batman Forever’s friendlier tone, Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal has been aptly described as, "a cheap Joker knock-off." He revels in his exploits, laughing aimlessly & generally coming across as a simpleton, because Schumacher lacks the subtlety to play up The Riddler’s huge intellect in any other way. You’d never know Two-Face were a high-ranking DA & psychologically-complex figure watching this movie.
He comes across more like a garbageman on laughing gas, & it’s a gross mistreatment of the character. Jones takes more blame for this than he deserves. Backed into a corner by Schumacher’s unwavering support for Jim Carrey’s take on The Riddler, Jonesis left with little choice but to ham it up for screen time. That brings me to this film’s achilles heel --- the Schumacher-Carrey love-in.
Carrey’s performance --- for want of a nicer phrase --- is WRIST-SLITTINGLY painful. Any viewer over 14 is in for a world of hurt, as Carrey eschews even the pretense of legitimately portraying a character on-screen in favour of a glorified stand-up routine. His incessant screaming, cheap laughs schtick & garish one-liners overshadow the rest of the film, & Jones has expressed his resentment in the years since, given Schumacher’s fanboy sponsoring of Carrey’s awful work.
Nicole Kidman & Chris O’Donnell are also among the newcomers, but are given little to work with. Ultimately, Schumacher loses control of his vehicle as he falls deeper in love with Carrey’s screen hogging, with the back-end of the movie descending into by-the-numbers action sequences blandly revolving around ever-more Carrey one-liners.
The good? Kilmer’s outstanding turn as Batman, lovely visuals, a vivid & memorable soundtrack, & a difficult intro to Robin smoothly-handled. The film also deserves credit for a more faithful portrayal of Bruce Wayne as something of a Gotham celebrity figure, rather than the recluse we see in the previous movies.
The bad? Dialogue lacks the gravitas of earlier outings, Jones & Carrey turn in absolutely abysmal efforts as lead antagonists --- enough to kill any superhero film --- & Schumacher ppushes the camp envelope with absurd costume modifications, in addition to being the driving force behind his villains’ failure to depict anything remotely resembling credible acting.
This is definitely a two-sided coin which, like Harvey Dent, aspires to be good & achieves it in parts, but which ultimately cannot contain its demons, spilling out over & over until the coin comes to rest...scarred side up.