Batman Forever came out on June 16th, 1995, 30 years ago today. I don't know this because I'm some kind of Batman fanatic. Val Kilmer died in April and all of the press around his death mentioned the movies he starred in. The Doors, Top Gun, Tombstone, Heat, and, of course, he was Batman in Batman Forever. Since I haven't watched that movie in years, I watched it. At the time it had the #1 opening weekend at the box office of all time and was eventually the #1 movie at the box office in 1995. Tim Burton had made Batman relevant again in the mainstream in 1989 with his first Batman movie. I remember going to see it with my friend and his dad on opening day and the line for the box office was snaked around the building. We, of course, had bought tickets early. I don't remember if I liked that first movie then. Granted, I was 10 years old. I don't think anyone liked the sequel, Batman Returns, at the time, though, since it was so weird and so dark. Now, a lot of movie fans and reviewers online proclaim that to be one of the best Batman films. The consensus best Batman film is the one with Heath Ledger as The Joker, though, even though I've only watched that one once, in theaters, in 2008, and honestly don't even remember if it was all that great. There was a company backlash to Batman Returns, though, meaning companies like McDonalds were pissed off that they made Happy Meals for it even though little kids shouldn't be watching something so dark, cruel, sadistic, and odd. Cue the color-heavy, fun romp that was Batman Forever. Tim Burton was fired, and Joel Schumacher was brought in. They hired the hottest star at the time, Jim Carrey, to play The Riddler, which meant that this new Batman would be more comical. The eventual film harkens back to the silly 60's TV show. That means it's understandable when a lot of people online these days proclaim that Batman Forever sucks and is terrible. I watched Siskel and Ebert review Batman Forever on Youtube and Siskel gave it a thumbs up but said he forgot about it instantly. Ebert said it was better than Batman Returns but still gave it a thumbs down. While it's obviously not a great movie or anything, it's very entertaining and a lot of fun. Jim Carrey is fantastic, as he was in most things back then. Nicole Kidman is as gorgeous as ever as Chase Meridian, a psychologist who is in love with Batman. Tommy Lee Jones is ridiculously all over the map. But this is a pure comic book movie, unlike the Christopher Nolan films. If you want a comic book movie, this is truly the apotheosis of it. Nolan's films attempted to place Gotham and Batman in the real world. While that made the critics fawn over them, they were more just action/dramatic films than comic book films. That's the same problem the last Batman movie had, the one that starred Robert Pattinson. Batman is not in the real world; it's a fantasy world. Comic book writer Grant Morrison has a famous quote about this: "Kids understand that real crabs don't sing like the ones in The Little Mermaid. But you give an adult fiction, and the adults start asking really fucking dumb questions like, 'How does Superman fly? How do those eyebeams work? Who pumps the Batmobile's tires?' It's a fucking made-up story, you idiot! Nobody pumps the tires!" So, if you're one of those people that want to see Batman in a harsh, realistic, modern setting, then you probably love the Nolan films and loathe Batman Forever. I was 15 years old and just finishing Freshman year in High School when it came out. I don't remember what I thought about it back then. I don't even remember seeing it when it came out, though I probably saw it right away. I do remember seeing Braveheart in theaters the week before, the same night my brother graduated from High School. I think, at 15, Braveheart was a lot "cooler" than seeing a guy in a rubber suit running around a candy-colored Hollywood set. The one thing I do remember about that summer is how often MTV played the Seal video for "A Kiss From a Rose," which was on the Batman Forever soundtrack. If you watch the video, it literally shows clips from the entire movie, giving everything away. They still play that song at my work a lot, and I always immediately think about the movie, even though the song seems to be more about romance and love than superheroes. U2 also had a great song on the soundtrack that plays during the end credits. The one thing about Batman Forever is that it really encapsulates what a summer movie is. It's got big stars, a big budget, it's fucking dumb as a rock, it's light, it's fun, it's amusing, it had McDonald's and MTV tie-ins and probably a zillion other corporate sponsorships. Val Kilmer just died, so that's the reason I watched it again in the first place. While he was in the comedy movie Top Secret, he was mostly known for serious work, which is kind of amusing that he's in this completely over-the-top, circus spectacle. He even bailed out for the next one, Batman & Robin, which everyone hated with a passion, and George Clooney took his place. Director Joel Schumacher died years ago, but Chris O'Donnell, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, and Jim Carrey are still around. Only Nicole Kidman seems to be relevant these days. Jim Carrey was a megastar in 1995, but he hasn't done much of anything in the last decade. O'Donnell posted a picture from the Batman Forever premiere on Instagram today with the caption: "Cannot believe it's been 30 years since the premiere of Batman Forever, wow, time flies." I don't know...1995 seems like a really fucking long time ago. I don't even remember much of anything from that summer. I do remember making an Animal Farm movie for English class that copied a ton from Braveheart. We filmed that in May of 1995. You can watch it here if you want: Animal Farm. & I remember after seeing Braveheart on Friday, June 9th, 1995, being dropped off to attend the post-graduation party. & I remember the next day having my brother's graduation party. I remember leaving the party to go smoke cigars with my brother and his friends on the bridge at Rolling Green golf course. And I remember being on the bridge and hearing people somewhere on the golf course yelling and making noise. Little did I know, but less than a year later I would be attending two keggers at that same golf course. I'm guessing that night when we were smoking cigars on the bridge they had a keg party at the same place I'd be at a year later but I was too innocent, too young, too out-of-the-loop as a Freshman to know anything about it. & I guess my brother and his friends weren't in that popular group, either. While Batman Forever might not be a great piece of cinema or anything, it's certainly nostalgic at this stage, bringing back good memories from years ago. I suppose that's a good consolation. Happy 30th anniversary.
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