reviewed by Charity Bishop
  

Pull up one horrendously scarred villain, a gorgeous blond, a mentally-fried scientist, a temperamental, angry young man and the world's greatest super-hero and what have you got? An explosive pulse-thumping film guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat! Bruce Wayne has everything -- billions of bucks in the bank, a multi-million dollar company, a mansion that would dwarf the White House, and... a bat suit? What the public doesn't know is that handsome, sophisticated Bruce (Val Kilmer) has a batty side. A very batty side. By night he thunders along on the Batmobile, Batwing, Batboat and Batsub as the hero everyone adores... Batman! Fighting the evil Two-Face all the way, Bruce finds himself in a bit more trouble than he planned on in Batman Forever.

After meeting gorgeous Chase (Nichole Kidman), a young psychologist with an interest in Batman, Bruce saves the life of an innocent security guard being held hostage by Two-Face,getting a few scrapes and bruises along the way. But nothing can stop him so the next day he goes on to the office... only to be assaulted by his latest scientist, Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey), who tells Bruce all about his plan to manipulate brain waves to make TV-viewing 3-D and thus make millions of dollars. Edward, of course, is willing to "make Bruce a partner" in his idea and gives him an offer: "Take it or leave it." The answer isn't the one he wants. "Leave it." Bruce explains that playing with people's brains and their brain waves is extremely dangerous. He brushes off protests and returns to his office leaving Edward in fury. Edward vows to teach Bruce a lesson and perfects his Brain Wave so that he can suck the memory from any individual directly in contact with his machine. 

Meanwhile, Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) is continuing his reign of terror and his latest trick involves a circus event where young Dick Grayson is performing with his parents as acrobats. Bruce and Chase are there on a date and find themselves in trouble when Two-Face takes over the place and informs the crowd that they have two minutes before a bomb goes off. Bruce swings into action -- and so do the acrobats. Dick manages to get rid of the bomb but in doing so loses his family when they fall to their deaths at the hands of Two-Face. Bruce takes pity on the lad and takes him, little knowing what problems will arise...

Batman Forever is a mixed bag. Some things could have been left out but the others made up for it. Bruce talking to Dick about his hatred for Two-Face was really, really good. He said that if Dick killed Two-Face it wouldn't take away the pain, it would only make the pain and the anger grow until Dick had to find another face to pin his anger on... and then another... and another... The hatred would never stop. Plus, finding out about Bruce's inner fears and thoughts was very enlightening. The movie's cool, especially if you like explosions, bat toys, brain-wracking riddles and a bad guy you can really hate.

Rated PG13 for violence and some rather sultry minutes between Chase and Batman, it's not for little kids. I was surprised at the minimal language used in the film and actually pleased that there were only three uses of "God" whereas some other films I've counted up to 38 uses. However there is innuendo, implied nudity, and immodest clothing. There's a great deal of blowing up, bashing in, shooting, smacking, impaling and maniac driving. I'd say if you like adventure and romance, Batman Forever is right up your alley. Just don't be shocked at its glaring flaws.