Batman Forever

Given that this is the same director of that absolute garbage "Batman and Robin", I went in to this with my expectations extremely low. This actually ended up being pretty decent. It's not amazing, but it was at least fun.  It actually managed to find a balance between silly and serious. The problem with "Batman and Robin" was that it was all silliness,and was just cringeworthy throughout. This showed restraint (for the most part). Some of the dialogue is corny, and some of the acting is over the top (Jim Carrey), but I enjoyed this film. Obviously, it did well enough that they gave Shumacker another Batman movie to direct, and that was the one that ended up being there downfall, but this was a pretty good attempt. Some of the plot didn't make sense (Why is Robin in his late 20s here, when in the comics he was 15?) and the effects aren't the best (but this was 1995, I'll give it a pass). This is like the Adam West "Batman" show mixed with the Tim Burton "Batman" films. I think the best part of this movie was Tommy Lee Jones. He managed to ham it up as Two-Face, but also managed to show restraint when it was needed. Unfortunately, Jim Carrey as the Riddler did not show restraint and was just annoying. Think Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" but about 10 times worse. I'd say this movie is at least worth a watch, but for goodness' sakes, stay far, far away from "Batman and Robin".

Grade: B     8/10      3.5/5