Yep, I like it. I like all the Batman films we've had to date, except Batman and Robin. They're all great interpretations of Batman.
Forever is certainly not as good as the Burton and Nolan films, but it's still enjoyable and intriguing. I enjoy it mostly out of nostalgia. It was from that '95 era where it felt like nobody really wanted to see a Batman film anymore, then BOOM, everything changed. It was such a drastic change of tone from Batman Returns that I think everyone at some point got caught up in it. From what I can remember it was really hyped up.
The marketing was great (who didn't go to Mcdonalds to get those glass mugs?), the soundtracks (specifically U2), the movie-tie ins, it was just a damn good time. The movie itself wasn't awful but it left more to be desired.
Batman Forever, too me can be summed up with it's movie posters. To my knowledge it was the first film to have character specific posters. Everyone was going nuts for them, I remember how excited I was when I received the Batman, Robin and Riddler versions from my local movie theater.
It was a bold new look, and at the time it was pretty fresh. As a movie it was a forgettable popcorn flick, but I think people forget that it really was a huge part of pop culture until Batman and Robin came along.
I don't know, from a comic book fans perspective, I don't think it did anything too offensive except the nipples and that one butt shot. I know people criticize it for things like Two-Face being too zany and the Batmobile driving up the wall, but I think those were minor complaints that ended up snowballing and changing into something larger once the internet emerged.
Is a Batmobile driving on rooftops any more ridiculous then a Batmobile driving up a wall? I don't think so.
The most interesting aspect, to me, is how the movie was butchered during production. I'm not sure if Batman fans are aware of this, but the film was meant to be much different than what was shown. Important scenes were deleted, scenes were reversed and swapped, dialogue was re-dubbed, the theatrical versions was completely different from it's original intent.
If anyone here is a big reader, there's some interesting things about the Batman Forever that could have been,
https://www.batman-on-film.com/opinion_scissorpuppy_forever.html
Batman Forever went through a few major edits before its release. Originally darker than the final product, the movie's original length was closer to 2 hours and 40 minutes.
* A scene that featured Two-Face escaping Arkham originally opened the movie. A guard enters the empty cell and finds the words "The Bat Must Die" illuminated by lightning on the wall. Rene Auberjonois had more scenes filmed here, playing Doctor Burton but his role was reduced to a cameo in the final film. This was supposed to begin the picture but producers decided this was far too dark for a family audience. As this was cut, it made the editing of the final film somewhat muddled to the fans of the original script as later scenes were re-arranged. This scene appears in a rough edit on the Special Edition DVD. Segments of the scene also appears on the U2 music video "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me."
* One scene featured a local Gotham talk show with Chase Meridian as a guest, talking about Batman.
* One scene featured a extendend scene of the fight of Batman and Two Face in the helicopter.
* One scene featured a little conversation with ____ and Bruce in the gym of the manor.
* The scene at the casino robbery where the Riddler fails at punching the security guard originally added the Riddler proceeding to beat the man with his cane. This scene is show in the theatrical trailer.
* There was originally a scene of Alfred and Bruce examining the Nygma Tech "Box". This scene is show in a photo in the comentary of Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer.
* An extended conversation when the Riddler and Two-Face team up.
* One scene showed the development of the NygmaTech building on Claw Island, funded by the Riddler and Two-Face's robberies. This features deleted scenes of Nygma visiting the site and the box press conference. The construction of NygmaTech was more in-depth. There were scenes shot that appear in publicity stills of Edward Nygma with a hard hat helping with the construction of his headquarters on Claw Island. This scene does not appear on the new Special Edition release but is shown in the sticker album published by Merlin Collections.
* One deleted scene featured a philosophical conversation between Two-Face, Riddler, Sugar, and Spice as they take hits from the box. Sugar and Spice, played by Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar, try out the Riddler's device during the montage when it goes on sale. They are seated with The Riddler and Two-Face on the couch where Chase is handcuffed later in the film. This scene appears in the comic adaptation but not in the final film.
* The Wayne Manor raid sequence was longer, featuring Bruce and Chase fighting Two-Face and his thugs.
* The fight scene between Two-Face and Robin on Claw Island was originally longer.
* The scene where the Riddler has Chase chained up on a couch originally ended with him knocking her out by injecting her with a type of sleeping drug. He then says, "Nap time, gorgeous." to Chase.
* One sequence came directly after the casino robbery, where Batman follows a robbery signal on a tracking device in the Batmobile. He shows up at the crime scene and finds he is at the wrong place (a beauty salon), in which a room full of girls laugh at him. The Riddler had been throwing Batman off the track by messing with the Batmobile's tracking device. This would explain why in the theatrical version Batman seems to give Riddler and Two-Face moments of free rein over the city.
* One of the most important deleted scenes involved further backstory to the film which many people, including screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, which is on the DVD, shows Bruce waking up from being shot by Two-Face with temporary memory loss. Bruce remembers everything except being Batman. After Alfred shows him the Batcave which has been destroyed by The Riddler. They stand on the platform where the Batmobile was and Alfred says "Funny they did not know about the cave beneath the cave." The platform then rotates downward to another level where the sonar-modification equipment is kept, from the special batsuit to the hi-tech weaponry, Bruce comes upon a section of the cave where he first encountered the bat that inspired his alter ego (which is shown earlier in the movie when he talks to Chase). This deleted scene kept in line with the earlier storyline of Thomas Wayne's diary, which Bruce finds in the cave. The recurring nightmares of his parents' deaths throughout the movie are given closer inspection when he reads the diary. He had believed his parents would not have died if he hadn't made them go to the movies, but his father's diary reveals that his parents had been planning to go to the movies anyway, prompting Bruce to say through tears, "It wasn't my fault..." He sees the bat again in this scene, and the size of it made many fans who saw the screenshot think it was Man-Bat. It was confirmed that this was not and was never intended to be Man-Bat. The bat appears and Bruce raises his arms and the shot shows that they are one. Bruce now remembers who he is and goes with Alfred to solve the riddles left throughout the film. Akiva admitted the scene was very theatrical on the Special Edition DVD and felt the scene would have made a difference to the final cut. The bat was designed and created by Rick Baker, who was in charge of the make-up of Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones. This scene appears in a rough form on the Special Edition DVD and is briefly mentioned in the comic adaptation.
* The original ending paid homage to the first film. When Alfred drives Doctor Chase Meridian back to Gotham she asks him "Does it ever end?" Alfred replies, "No, Doctor Meridian, not in this lifetime..." The Bat-Signal shines on the night sky and Batman and Robin are standing on a giant gargoyle overlooking the city. This scene, with Kilmer and O'Donnell, was shot in front of a blue screen. A rough edit of the first half of the ending scene appears on the Special Edition DVD, but not in its entirety. The sequence with Batman and Robin at the end of this scene is not to be confused with a commercial for the video game, which is on the VHS release of this film (released in the UK on December 3, 1995), with Batman standing on a pillar looking ahead. Robin then comes into the shot and joins his partner. Batman leaps off the pillar, towards the camera. This commercial was filmed with two stuntmen dressed in Batman and Robin outfits on a small sound stage.
You have to keep in mind that Warner Bros. wanted a more family friendly and marketable Batman film. I think if they left it as it was and didn't compromise it to make a buck, it would have been better received by fans in the long run.
They really should have kept those great psychological bits in there as well as more insight on why Bruce Wayne became Batman.
It's also interesting to note some of the things that were included with the film that were expanded in latter Batman films. Bruce Wayne and his fear of bats after falling into the cave (Batman Begins), blaming himself for the death of his parents (Batman Begins) and the whole Sonar concept (TDK).
Hell, Bruce Wayne in the Forever script seems to express much disdain for the prototype Sonar concept suit according to Alfred in the original script, much like Fox in TDK.
All in all, Batman Forever is what it is. I always keep in mind that these Batman films are of their time when I watch them. Each one resonates with me for different reasons.
