Batman Forever (UK)

This is not the best Batman movie ever but its not that bad either. Vastly superior to the dreadful Batman and Robin, this movie is set when Bruce Wayne(Val Kilmer) first meets Dick Grayson(Chris O Donnell), whose circus family has been killed by the psychotic Harvey Two Face(Tommy Lee Jones).Two Face teams up with mad scientist Edward Nygma Aka The Riddler(Jim Carrey), to create a crime spree all over Gotham City. Batmans love interest is Chase(The Gorgeous Nicole Kidman), a criminal psychologist tracking Two Face.

The plot is not the best but it does keep the interest. The action is pretty well orchastrated but looks dated when you compare it to movies like spider-man or daredevil. The whole of Gotham City is created rather well and the sets are full of colour and detail. The acting, it must be said, is rather unspectacular. The actors all seem to breeze through their roles with maybe the exception of Chris O Donnell, who gives a fine debut as Robin. Sure enough the plot can limit the acting a bit but even so there was just no real effort was put into it. Though I am an admirer of Val Kilmers movies, I have to admit that I prefer Michael Keaton or even George Clooney as the caped crusader. There was a good line in the movie where Robin says "Holy" something that brought a smile to my face as its parodying and is referential to the dialogue from the old Batman TV series. I just recently found out that this region 2 edition is cut 1m 38s by the BBFC, after hearing which I am dissapointed.

The picture is nice and clean. The movie is not very old and doesnt show many signs of it. The visuals are very good and the sets of the movie, I have said earlier, are very colourful and glitzy. The sound is very clear and loud DD 5.1. Surrounds used well but is nothing really special. A good quality soundtrack. Extras, you can assume there is nothing useful on this disc. Very poor indeed I wish I could dock points for this and go into minus. This is criminal.

Overall a good action flick from Joel Schumacher that does deserve to be seen. Whilst the dvd is presented well, there is a clear lack of extras. If you still want to buy the disc, I suggest you get the Uncut Region 1 or Region 4 editions.