Batman Forever

Batman Forever lacks the outright depressing, darkened mood of the first two. Good! After Batman Returns I didn't know how much more decadent they could get, with so much lack of lighting I was having a hard time just WATCHING the movies. As far as Batman himself I am happy to say that Val Kilmer is NOT Michael Keaton or Adam West. They were ok for the job but were just too wooden and monolithic for their actions. With Kilmer we get a much more fluid Batman who doesn't seem to lag around like Keaton's did. Speed is what he does best...and he does it! The supporting protagonists do the meager, ok job they need to keep this film acceptable. It is nice to see Dick Grayson ditch that sickeningly awful "Robin" outfit a la 1966 and get a REAL superhero suit. THE VILLAINS! No Batman movie would be complete without them! Tommy Lee Jones is ok as Two-Face and his presence holds on until Jim Carrey--master of dancing around and acting like the modern, much cooler Jerry Lewis--slides in as the Riddler. Like Nicholson in the first, Carrey holds our attention with his shenanigans (even if they annoy us) and make the movie a bit more fun. That's the whole point. When we go to a Batman movie, we aren't expecting "The Godfather" or "Citizen Kane". We want to be entertained to the MAX and this movie does just that with a hint of glitz and a lot more style than Batman 2 did. Remember how it took over half an hour for us to get around to observing Keaton as Bruce Wayne in that one? I think these two are tied for second. By all means avoid Batman & Robin! You will be utterly disappointed with George "ER" Clooney, Arnold "Jingle all the Way" Scwarzenegger, Uma "the Avengers" Thurman, and everything else in that piece of garbage.