Before I get to dive into why it should be clarified that I actually think Val Kilmer‘s one-and-only romp in the Bat-suit is an all-around much better film than it gets credit for. Trust me when I say, after back-to-back viewings of both films, that Forever earns this honor just a little bit more. I am very aware of the tension Michelle Pfeiffer brought to the table and the sparkling chemistry she shared with Michael Keaton‘s Bruce Wayne. To this day, there has never been a hornier Batman movie. It can be argued that the film does indeed have an identity and one that makes it very special. It’s likely that this is the reason many have failed to remember the crowning achievement of Forever, rising to claim a title that has yet to be truly challenged. Not as silly as its sequel, but still a far cry from the graphic material of its predecessors.

While Tim Burton‘s prior films were clear in their aspirations of a darker tone, and franchise follow-up Batman & Robin was infamously committed to being a real-life cartoon, Joel Schumacher‘s first venture into superhero movie making was a little less defined.Īs a result, the movie has become somewhat of a “forgotten installment” in Batman’s cinematic history. The film, released to financial success and critical failure in 1995, never really managed to obtain a solid identity. Of the countless adaptations to come out of the Batman mythos, Batman Forever has always been the hardest one to pin down.

Batman forever movie logo