Taglines: Courage now, truth always…
Batman Forever movie storyline. The Dark Knight of Gotham City confronts a dastardly duo: Two-Face and the Riddler. Formerly District Attorney Harvey Dent, Two-Face incorrectly believes Batman caused the courtroom accident which left him disfigured on one side; he has unleashed a reign of terror on the good people of Gotham.
Edward Nygma, computer-genius and former employee of millionaire Bruce Wayne, is out to get the philanthropist; as The Riddler he perfects a device for draining information from all the brains in Gotham, including Bruce Wayne’s knowledge of his other identity. Batman/Wayne is/are the love focus of Dr. Chase Meridan. Former circus acrobat Dick Grayson, his family killed by Two-Face, becomes Wayne’s ward and Batman’s new partner Robin the Boy Wonder.
Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the third installment of the initial Batman film series, with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman. The film stars Chris O’Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey.
The plot focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey) in their villainous scheme to extract confidential information from all the minds in Gotham City and use it to learn Batman’s identity and bring the city under their control. He gains allegiance from a love interest—psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) and a young, orphaned circus acrobat named Dick Grayson (Chris O’Donnell), who becomes his sidekick Robin.
Batman Forever’s tone is significantly different from the previous installments, becoming more family-friendly since Warner Bros. believed that the previous Batman film, Batman Returns (1992), failed to outgross its predecessor due to parent complaints about the film’s violence and dark overtones. Schumacher eschewed the dark, dystopian atmosphere of Burton’s films by drawing inspiration from the Batman comic book of the Dick Sprang era, as well as the 1960s television series. Keaton chose not to reprise the role due to Burton stepping down as director. William Baldwin and Ethan Hawke were initially considered for Keaton’s replacement before Kilmer joined the cast.
About the Story
In Gotham City, a few years after defeating the Penguin, the crime fighter Batman stops a hostage situation caused by a criminal known as Two-Face, the alter ego of the former district attorney Harvey Dent, but Two-Face escapes and remains at large. Edward Nygma, a researcher at Wayne Enterprises who idolizes Bruce Wayne, has developed a device that can beam television into a person’s brain. Bruce offers to let Nygma come up with schematics for the device and set up a meeting with his assistant.
However, after Nygma demands an answer from him immediately, Bruce rejects the invention, believing it to be too close to mind manipulation. After killing his supervisor Fred Stickley, Nygma resigns and seeks retaliation against Bruce for rejecting his invention and begins to send him riddles. A news report reveals how Harvey Dent became Two-Face: when he was prosecuting a mob boss named Sal Maroni, Maroni threw acid on Dent’s face, disfiguring half of it. Batman tried to save him, but failed.
After the incident, Dent seeks to kill Batman for failing to save him. Bruce meets Chase Meridian, a psychiatrist who is obsessed with Batman, and invites her to come with him to a circus event. After a performance from the circus performers, The Flying Graysons, Two-Face arrives and threatens to blow up the circus unless Batman comes forward and surrenders his life to him. The Flying Graysons attempt to stop Two-Face, but they get killed by as a result. However, Dick Grayson, the youngest member, survives as he climbs to the roof and throws Two-Face’s bomb into a river.
Bruce invites the orphaned Dick to stay at Wayne Manor. Dick, still troubled by the murder of his family, intends to kill Two-Face and avenge his family. When he discovers that Bruce is Batman, he demands that Bruce help him find Two-Face so that he can kill him, but Bruce refuses. Meanwhile, Nygma turns himself into a criminal called the Riddler and forms an alliance with Two-Face. The two steal capital in order to mass-produce Nygma’s brainwave device. At Nygma’s business party, Nygma discovers Bruce’s alter ego using the brainwave device.
Two-Face arrives and crashes the party. He nearly kills Batman, but Dick manages to save him. Meanwhile, Chase has fallen in love with Bruce, which surpasses her obsession with Batman, but she soon discovers that they are one and the same. Bruce decides to stop being Batman in order to have a normal life with Chase and to prevent Dick from murdering Two-Face. Dick angrily runs away while Bruce and Chase have dinner together in the manor. The Riddler and Two-Face arrive and attack Wayne Manor. The Riddler destroys the Batcave and kidnaps Chase, while leaving an injured Bruce another riddle.
Batman Forever (1995)
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Drew Barrymore, Debi Mazar, Jessica Tuck, Elizabeth Sanders, Cindy Herron
Screenplay by: Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler, Akiva Goldsman
Production Design by: Barbara Ling
Cinematography by: Stephen Goldblatt
Film Editing by: Mark Stevens, Dennis Virkler
Costume Design by: Ingrid Ferrin, Bob Ringwood
Set Decoration by: Cricket Rowland, Elaine O’Donnell
Art Direction by: Christopher Burian-Mohr, Joseph P. Lucky
Music by: Elliot Goldenthal
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong stylized action.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 16, 1995
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