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Harvey Dent, the former Gotham City district attorney who became the villain Two-Face after half his face was disfigured, escapes Arkham Asylum and robs the 2nd National Bank, holding a guard hostage. Bruce Wayne goes into action as Batman, meeting with criminal psychoanalyst Chase Meridian who find

Batman Forever is a 1995 superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher. Intended as the sequel to Batman Returns, it depicts the eponymous hero's attempt to stop the supervillains Two-Face and the Riddler, while also taking in a rebellious Dick Grayson as his ward.

The film was made much lighter in tone than the preceding movie, drawing heavy inspiration from the Silver Age Batman comics and 1960s TV series. It received mixed reviews, with many criticizing the script and atmosphere, while the visuals, action sequences, and soundtrack garnered much praise. It was followed up by Batman & Robin two years later.

Synopsis for "Batman Forever"

Two-Face on the Loose

Harvey Dent, the former Gotham City district attorney who became the villain Two-Face after half his face was disfigured, escapes Arkham Asylum and robs the 2nd National Bank, holding a guard hostage. Bruce Wayne goes into action as Batman, meeting with criminal psychoanalyst Chase Meridian who finds herself attracted to Batman. He takes down Two-Face's goons and rescues the guard from the bank vault he was trapped in, but fails to stop Two-Face before he causes his helicopter to crash into the Statue of Justice in Gotham Harbor prior to his departure.

Too Many Questions

Bruce Wayne visits Wayne Enterprises, where he encounters Ed Nygma, a scientist who is working on a prototype entertainment device called the Box which beams realistic images from television signals into a person's brain. Bruce notices that Nygma says that the device manipulates brain waves and says that he can't fund the project because it raises too many questions. Nygma fumes at the rejection and decides to continue on with his work.

False Alarm?

Bruce sees the Batsignal in the sky and goes out as Batman to meet with Commissioner Gordon, but instead finds Chase, who has used the signal for a more personal encounter. The commissioner interrupts this by asking what the signal was for, and Batman simply says it's a false alarm before he departs.

Guinea Pig

Ed Nygma's superior Fred Stickley finds him still working on the Box during his off-hours and threatens to fire him. Nygma has Stickley tied up and used as a test subject for his device. As he does, Nygma discovers that it enables him to grow smarter by feeding off other people's brainwaves. He then sends Stickley to his death by pushing him through the window of Wayne Enterprises and drowning in the Gotham River to silence him, then covers up his death as a suicide and feigns a mournful attitude, choosing to leave his job.

Mysteries and Riddles

As the Gotham City police investigate Stickley's death, Bruce finds a mysterious riddle on his desk that was anonymously sent. He takes this riddle and another that comes soon after to Chase Meridian's office to find out who would send him riddles. Chase suggests that the sender has some psychotic fixation on Bruce with the intent of destroying him. She also sees that there is more going on in Bruce's mind than he's letting on during the visit. He quickly ends the meeting by asking if she wants to go with him to the circus.

Murder at the Circus

As Bruce and Chase watch the Flying Grayson family acrobats at the circus, Two-Face and his goons come in and threaten to blow up the building and the people in it with a time bomb unless Batman reveals himself for who he really is. Bruce Wayne tries to tell Two-Face that he is Batman, but cannot be heard over the crowd. After Two-Face activates the time bomb, the Flying Graysons try to get to the bomb to shut it off before it blows. Dick succeeds in doing so and causes the bomb to blow up in the river. But he fails to stop Two-Face in time from killing his parents and brother by shooting at the cables they were climbing on.

Broken Wings

Bruce takes Dick into his custody at Wayne Manor, but all Dick cares about is getting even with Two-Face. Although at first Dick desires to take off, he sees Bruce's impressive collection of motorcycles and decides to stay. Alfred notices that Dick's motorcycle helmet has a robin on it. Dick says Robin is his brother's nickname for him after coming to his rescue when his trapeze robe broke. Dick hands Alfred his Flying Grayson costume and tells him to dispose of it, saying he won't need it anymore. Alfred decides to put it away, saying that broken wings will mend in time, and Robin will be able to fly again.

The Riddler Comes Knocking

After Two-Face's next failed attempt to destroy Batman, he finds an unexpected visitor in his personal hideout -- Ed Nygma, who now calls himself the Riddler. He shows Two-Face how he managed to find out where he lived through a demonstration of his completed invention called the Box, using it to feed off the brainwaves of others in order to make himself smarter. The Riddler seeks a partnership to steal enough capital to mass-produce enough Boxes to put into every home in exchange for revealing to Two-Face who Batman really is. Two-Face flips his coin to decide whether to accept the offer or kill the intruder. The flip rests in the Riddler's favor, and soon they go on a crime spree together, raising up enough money to open up NygmaTech, the mass producer of the Boxes.

A Knight on the Town

Dick Grayson, however, discovers the Batcave and decides to go cruising around town in the Batmobile when he rescues a young woman from a thug, only to be soon overwhelmed by a gang of thugs. Bruce Wayne comes to Dick's rescue as Batman and the gang of punks are runaway by scare, but Dick is angry at Bruce for not stopping his family's murder and wants to kill Two-Face for it. Bruce tries to reason with Dick that killing Two-Face won't make the pain go away, but instead will make it worse.

Unexpected Partner

At the gala party that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson attended where Ed Nygma was showing off the latest advances to his Box, Two-Face shows up, scaring the people with a hail of gunfire, impatient for Batman to appear. Soon he does, and Two-Face lures him underground where he tries to kill the Dark Knight with a gas explosion, and then buries him under a ton of sand. Fortunately, Batman escapes with the unexpected help of Dick Grayson, showing up in his Flying Grayson costume and wearing a mask, but Bruce is far from grateful and says Dick could have gotten himself killed. Dick says he's going to be Bruce's partner whether he wants it or not, and has Alfred put his Flying Grayson costume alongside the Batsuits in the Batcave.

Paying the Doctor a House Call

Alfred turns Bruce's attention to Chase, the young woman whom he desires his master to fall in love with and possibly marry. Bruce tells Alfred that Chase is in love with Batman. Alfred tells him to let the lady decide.

Soon Bruce shows up at Chase's apartment balcony as Batman. Chase embraces and kisses them, then realizes she is starting to think about someone else and tells him that. As Batman departs, he smiles, realizing that she is now thinking about Bruce.

A Bat on the Mind

As Two-Face mourns yet another failed attempt to destroy Batman, the Riddler shows him what his Box has recorded from Bruce's mind -- the image of a black bat -- suggesting that Bruce Wayne is the very person who is secretly Batman.

Kidnapping Chase

During a private evening at Wayne Manor alone with Chase, Bruce reveals some secrets about himself that she figures out led him to becoming Batman. However, Two-Face and Riddler invade the estate in order to kidnap Chase, blow up the Batcave, and leave behind another riddle for their victim to solve.

Solving the Riddles

Bruce Wayne discovers that each of the riddles have a number -- 13, 1, 8, and 5 -- and believes that they are all connected to a letter -- M, A, H, and E. He deduces that 1 and 8 may actually be 18, which makes the letter MRE -- resulting in Mr. E, or "mystery", which is another name for enigma, or Mr. Ed Nygma.

Enter the Dynamic Duo

Bruce discovers that one of the Batsuits, an untested prototype with sonar detection features, is undamaged and decides to use it. Dick Grayson offers to help Bruce take down Two-Face and the Riddler as he now presents himself wearing an armored version of his Flying Grayson outfit, calling himself Robin. Bruce finally accepts him as a partner.

The Deadly Duel

Upon reaching the island where the Riddler's hideout was, Robin first faces off with Two-Face, who nearly falls to his death before Dick Grayson decides he would rather see the villain be turned over to the police. Batman enters into the chamber of the hideout and finds Robin and Chase tied up and ready to be dropped to their own deaths at the touch of a button. Riddler asks Batman which one he will save first. Batman confronts the Riddler with a riddle of his own, which he uses to distract Nygma long enough to hurl a Batarang to destroy the receiving aperture of the Box, causing Nygma's brain to be scrambled.

A Final Toss of the Coin

After Batman succeeds in rescuing both Chase and Robin, Two-Face threatens to kill all of them when Batman has him flipping the coin to see whether he should. As he does, Batman hurls a handful of coins at Two-Face, causing him to fall to his doom trying to catch the right coin.

The Secret is Safe

After Nygma is turned over to Arkham Asylum, Chase visits him in his cell, who claims to know who Batman is. He appears unto her in a straitjacket, claiming that he is Batman. Chase realizes from this that Nygma has gone insane and that Bruce Wayne's secret is now safe. She meets Bruce outside the asylum and kisses him, telling him not to work late.

And soon Batman fights crime in Gotham alongside his new partner Robin.

Appearing in "Batman Forever"

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Notes

Trivia

  • This movie saw a complete facelift. The producers wanted to base this film on the Batman comics of the 1940's and early 50's. Batman Forever had a new director in Schumacher with a new colorful and vibrant look and feel that was a complete turn-around from Tim Burton's darker look and there was a new composer in Elliot Goldenthal who wrote a new theme for the Batman.[citation needed]
  • There were a group of scenes that were cut from the movie that would have explained why Bruce Wayne chose to retire (and then un-retire) Batman. These included a scene where Bruce catches an TV editorial where the reporter says he believes that Batman is the cause of Gotham's problems and that he should leave.
    The other scene would have shown Bruce returning to the cave where he fell many years ago, only to find his father's journal on the ground. He then would read a passage from the journal implying that Bruce indirectly caused his parent's murders by wanting to go to the movie theater that night. Then, a giant bat would come flying out of the darkness at Bruce and stop in front of him. This would somehow remind him that he is still Batman. These scenes are preserved on the two-disc special edition DVD set released in 2005.
  • Michael Keaton was ready to step into the batsuit once more for this movie, but after Tim Burton left the project, he didn't like how the story was going and followed him.[citation needed]
  • The soundtrack boasted two big songs. One of them was U2's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and the other was Seal's major hit single Kiss from a Rose. The video for Seal's song featured the singer standing in front of the Bat-Signal and was intercut with clips from the movie.
  • Tim Burton's proposed version of the film was very different than Joel Schumacher's version. In Batman III, Batman would be fighting against the Riddler, Chip Shreck and Two-Face. However, Batman would be allied with Catwoman and Robin.[citation needed]

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