Superhero Media: Batman Forever

And here is where many see the downwards slide as beginning. I'll not mince words, Batman Forever is pretty gay. I don't use 'gay' as a pejorative, but as a literal descriptor of the subtext of the film, with it's cosmeticised masculinity, camp theatrics and comedic tone, the whole film plays very gay. And that's just fine, really. Superheroes, Batman especially, with his cape, tights and theatrics, play pretty damn camp at the best of times, so exploring that in a feature film does work, if you let it. True, Batman Forever is probably a little too silly, but the strong cast are clearly having fun, which endears the film to me that little bit more. Tommy Lee Jones really never gets to cut loose as an actor, so seeing him chew the scenery as an over-the-top Two-Face is pretty cool, though I wonder how Billy Dee Williams would have done, given he was originally tapped for the role as far back as Batman (1989). It's also worth noting that Two-Face's origin is told in flashback, rather than starting with Harvey Dent, as the film opens with the "Face Gang" robbing a bank; Batman turns up, fights some guys and escapes an elaborate death-trap faster than you can say "Holy unlikely escape, Batman!"

There are actually plenty of references to the Adam West Batman series, beyond the generally camp tone, with Robin dropping "Holy rusted metal, Batman!" in the third act, the sets looking like sets and more than one elaborate death-trap. To contrast this, much of the writing is deep and pretty clever on a number of levels, not least of which being how the film approaches Batman. The Bruce Wayne of Batman Forever has grown as person over the past two films, seeing that his "crusade" is not fulfilling and is looking endless; in a sense, the therapeutic benefit of being Batman has worn off. By working with a psychiatrist, Bruce Wayne reaches the conclusion that he no longer is suffering acute trauma from the death of his parents and can move on with his life without dishonoring their memory. The line "You see, I'm both Bruce Wayne and Batman, not because I have to be, now, because I choose to be." is a powerful moment, rarely seen in any Batman media. This Batman has grown as a person, and is stronger for it. What I wouldn't give to see that a bit more often.

Whilst I think the older take on Robin (college age) is probably not ideal, it does work, with the gap between Bruce and Dick playing more like siblings or student/teacher than parent and child, which adds gravitas to the scenes where they argue over the morality of killing Two-Face in revenge for the death of Dick's family. Before the climatic battle, Bruce and Dick agree that Robin is free to make his own decisions, but Batman still respects the sanctity of life. Batman is proven to be right, but respecting Robin's choice and opinion is also pretty rare for the Caped Crusader. If you are the kind of person to be put off by the high-camp design of Batman Forever, I can't really help you, but there is a lot of great stuff going on in this film when you get to the real content under the surface gloss. It is disappointing that Batman Forever was followed by the universally-maligned Batman & Robin, because I feel that this film really should be more influential with Batman writers, especially around who Bruce Wayne is and what his mental health can be like. Want Batman to be for "grown-ups"? Have the character grow-up, it's really not that hard.