'Batman Forever' review: Val Kilmer is a 'new and improved' Caped Crusader

Here is Newsday's review from June 15, 1995 of "Batman Forever" by our then-movie critic Jack Mathews:

Riddle me this, Bat fan: What was dark is light, what was hip is flip, what was old is new, what was one is two. What am I, and will you still  love me, tomorrow?

The answer to the riddle, of course, is ``Batman Forever,'' Joel Schumacher's playful addition to the ``Batman'' movie series, and given its gloriously overdrawn sets, a brand new wardrobe of mesomorphic Bat suits, the introduction of the feisty sidekick Robin, and the inspired casting of Jim Carrey as the Riddler, what's not to love?

Serious fans of the forebodingly dark Batman books and movies may be put off by the strained campiness of the third episode, but for those of us who never quite understood the appeal of a humorless billionaire who identifies with bats and nurtures a conquering hero complex, the irreverence is welcomed. That is not to say Schumacher has made a better movie. Tim Burton, who directed the first two films, is a brilliant visual stylist, and those first two films were extraordinary for their design and atmosphere. Schumacher ("The Client,'' "Falling Down'') is a solid craftsman, and "Batman Forever'' is certainly no embarrassment to the series. But there is a noticeable drop in the quality of the images. The least you expect from a superhero fantasy, with a price tag of $80 million, is to be dazzled by the illusions, and that rarely happens.

Still, this is a more entertaining episode, featuring a new and improved Batman. Val Kilmer, who took over for a disgruntled Michael (``This role is not big enough for me!'') Keaton, is a taller and more imposing figure, especially in bat suits that appear to have been molded from the form of Mr. Universe, and - note the irony - this is the most time we have yet spent with the character. Both sides of him. Bruce Wayne-Batman is still brooding over the double-murder of his parents that we learned about in the first film, and his nightmares are compounded by his chance encounter with Dick Grayson-Robin (Chris O'Donnell), a trapeze artist whose parents suffered the same fate. Plus, he's being constantly reminded of his troubled psyche by the luscious psychologist Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), a multiple personality expert too in love with both Batman and Bruce Wayne to notice they're the same guy.

Beyond the romance, Batman has to deal with Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), a former DA determined to avenge the the acid bath he claims Batman gave him, and the Riddler, a demented scientist who has invented a machine that allows him to drain off the collective brain power of Gotham. It takes half the movie for the Riddler and Two-Face to join forces, and for Batman to accept Robin as his partner, and the rest is non-stop action.

The movie ends with the image of Batman and Robin, capes billowing, running directly at the camera, promising a full partnership in the event of a ``Batman 4,'' and we can only hope. Kilmer, with equal measures of cool and vulnerability, and O'Donnell, playing Robin as an irrepressible daredevil, are a terrific team. And I wouldn't mind seeing Chase Meridian return as Mrs. Batman, which is left a possibility.  Kidman is a knockout.