Is Batman Forever the Best Batman Movie?

MoviePilot.com writer BJ Hall is claiming that Batman Forever is the Best Batman movie, and he actually made some valid points.

"#1 – THE PRODUCTION TOOK YOU INTO THE PAGES OF A COMIC BOOKI’m talking about the colors, the energy, and the excitement. The fact that the city of Gotham looks like one of the most surreal places to live EVER. I mean c’mon, the criminals themselves dressed up like Warrior rejects, but they had personality. Well…. when I say that, I mean that they all had the same personality of a goon, but still they paint the picture of dispensable crazy guys out to cause more havoc than really to just get rich."

I have to say, I have always loved the colors and the production value on this movie, as a kid it was very exciting, and reminded me the most of a comic book, with the exception for me being Batman and the Mask of the Phantasm which I would argue is the best Batman movie to date. I love the flashy costumes of the villains and the car chase near the beginning of the movie was one of my favorite scenes in any Batman film. On a related matter, I saw Batman Live! and it sort of reminded me of this movie in terms of color and flashyness of the villains.

"#2 – A SHIT TON OF PEOPLE DIE IN THIS MOVIE, AND IT’S AWESOME! (I said it!)You want gritty? How about killing a whole family in front of their only living son? No, I am not talking about Bruce Wayne’s parents getting shot because they wouldn’t give up their wallets. I am talking about Robin’s family. Two-face just kills the heck out of them! I am talking full blown “HAHAHA you’re dead” kills them – with bullets and gravity and all! Okay, that not enough for ya? How about the Riddler then? Killing his boss with a joke, then joking about it some more after he dies! “But BJ, Heath Ledger was so great he blew up buildings and….” Yeah, he blew up a hospital without anyone inside of it! Ohhh nooo, that’s horrifying! “But BJ, you’re not giving him enough credit. He dropped that girl from Bruce’s apartment then killed the black guy from Spawn!” Look, I get that. He made video tapes and sent them into the media…. but that stuff was all hype compared to actually killing people like Two-Face did when he killed his own henchmen with a rocket launcher. Technically 16 people died in this movie, but even the ones that were just threatened to be killed were threatened with things like acid and a watery spiked grave."

Some people might argue that a lot of death is a bad thing in a superhero movie, as many people bring their kids to see these movies. But, I would have to argue that your kids have been seeing innocent people die in comics for years, and with the help of the heroes in these comics, learn to understand that senseless violence may happen, but it’s not okay. Sorry, started to head into a rant about comics and people claiming they screw up our youth. Back to the point, Riddler and Two Face kill people in this movie with the same giddy, reckless abandon that Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight.

"#3 – BATMAN WAS BATMANLook, I know what you are probably thinking, and totally understand. Val Kilmer was not a great BATMAN, and I admit that his acting was off, but as far as the character goes he was the BATTIEST of the BATMEN! He had the money, the gadgets, the attitude, and the dialogue. He wasn’t the most threatening, but there is just something about a superhero that can be locked within a safe dangling from a helicopter as a guard hysterically grabs at his genitals while the whole thing fills with acid and then not only escaping to save the guard, but plan the escape so well that he uses gravity to put the safe right back into the same location it was ripped out of a second later. BATMAN!"