I was hoping that rewatching the film far away from the glare of its original launch would help, but it really doesn’t. I find it every bit as nauseating and troubled as Batman & Robin, and while I’ve no wish to do a hatchet job of a review, I can’t disguise the fact that I think it’s a shallow mess. Personally, though, I can’t stand Batman Forever. Brighter, packed with movie stars and much easier to sell, Batman Forever brought in more money than Batman Returns, and instantly gave Joel Schumacher the keys to make a fourth Batman movie. Likewise, the decision of Michael Keaton to hang up the Batsuit Warner Bros turned to its commercial advantage, and the recruitment of director Joel Schumacher and lead actor Val Kilmer gave the studio the chance to make a far more family friendly film. And when the box office returns for the second Batman film proved to be a good deal less than those of the first, then Warner Bros would hardly have been too distressed when Burton passed on a third film.

After all, Tim Burton’s really very good Batman Returns had taken the films down a dark and not-very-family-friendly route, and heaven knows just where Burton would have taken things had he stuck around for a third film.īut that wasn’t going to happen. That still staggers me, although I understand why that conclusion could be drawn. Batman Forever was a film that, on its release, was credited with breathing fresh life into the Batman franchise.

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