Batman Forever

Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the third installment of the initial Batman film series, with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, and Chris O'Donnell. The plot focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face (Jones) and the Riddler (Carrey) in their villainous scheme to extract confidential information from all the minds in Gotham City and use it to learn Batman's identity and bring the city under their control. He gains allegiance from a love interest—psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian (Kidman) and a young, orphaned circus acrobat named Dick Grayson (O'Donnell), who becomes his sidekick Robin.

Batman Forever 's tone is significantly different from the previous installments, becoming more family-friendly since Warner Bros. believed that the previous Batman film, Batman Returns (1992), failed to outgross its predecessor due to parent complaints about the film's violence and dark overtones. Schumacher eschewed the dark, dystopian atmosphere of Burton's films by drawing inspiration from the Batman comic book of the Dick Sprang era, as well as the 1960s television series. After Keaton chose not to reprise his role, William Baldwin and Ethan Hawke were considered as a replacement before Kilmer joined the cast.

The film was released on June 16, 1995, receiving mixed reviews, but was a financial success. Batman Forever grossed over $336 million worldwide and became the sixth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1995. The film was followed by Batman & Robin in 1997, with Schumacher returning as the director and George Clooney replacing Kilmer as Batman.

Plot
In Gotham City, the crime fighter Batman defuses a hostage situation caused by a criminal known as Two-Face, the alter ego of the former district attorneyHarvey Dent, but Two-Face escapes and remains at large. Edward Nygma, a researcher at Wayne Enterprises who idolizes Bruce Wayne, has developed a device that can beam television into a person's brain. Bruce offers to let Nygma come up with schematics for the device and set up a meeting with his assistant. However, after Nygma demands an answer from him immediately, Bruce rejects the invention, believing it to be too close to mind manipulation. After killing his supervisor and staging it as a suicide, Nygma resigns and begins sending Bruce riddles, seeking retaliation against him.

Bruce meets Chase Meridian, a psychiatrist who is obsessed with Batman, and invites her to come with him to a circus event. After a performance from the circus performers, The Flying Graysons, Two-Face arrives and threatens to blow up the circus unless Batman comes forward and surrenders his life to him. The Flying Graysons attempt to stop Two-Face, but most of them get killed as a result. Only Dick Grayson, the youngest member, survives as he climbs to the roof and throws Two-Face's bomb into a river.

Bruce invites the orphaned Dick to stay at Wayne Manor. Dick, still troubled by the murder of his family, intends to kill Two-Face and avenge his family. When he discovers that Bruce is Batman, he demands that Bruce help him find Two-Face so that he can kill him, but Bruce refuses. Meanwhile, Nygma, inspired and delighted by watching Two-Face's raid at the circus, turns himself into a criminal called the Riddler and forms an alliance with Two-Face. The two steal capital in order to mass-produce Nygma's brainwave device so that Riddler can use it to learn Batman's secret identity.

At Nygma's business party, Nygma discovers Bruce's alter ego using the brainwave device. Two-Face arrives and crashes the party. He nearly kills Batman, but Dick manages to save him. Meanwhile, Chase has fallen in love with Bruce, which surpasses her obsession with Batman. Bruce decides to stop being Batman in order to have a normal life with Chase, and to prevent Dick from murdering Two-Face. Dick runs away while Bruce and Chase have dinner together in the manor, where Bruce reveals his secret identity to her. The Riddler and Two-Face arrive and attack Wayne Manor; in the process, the Riddler blows up the Batcave. The criminals kidnap Chase after Two-Face shoots Bruce, and the Riddler leaves him another riddle.

Using the riddles, Bruce and his butler, Alfred, deduce the Riddler's secret identity. Chase is imprisoned by the Riddler and Two-Face in their hideout. Dick returns and becomes Batman's sidekick, Robin. Batman and Robin head to Riddler and Two-Face's lair, Claw Island, where they are separated. Robin encounters Two-Face and nearly kills him, but chooses to spare his life and is captured. The Riddler gives Batman a chance to save only one hostage, but Batman destroys the Riddler's brainwave collecting device, causing the Riddler to suffer a mental breakdown and allowing Batman to rescue Robin and Chase. Two-Face corners the trio and determines their fate with the flip of a coin, but Batman throws a handful of identical coins in the air, causing Two-Face to stumble and fall to his death, avenging Robin's family.

The Riddler is taken to Arkham Asylum and imprisoned, but he claims he knows who Batman is. Chase is asked to consult on the case, but Nygma says that he himself is Batman, due to his damaged memories. Chase meets Bruce outside and tells him that his secret is safe before parting ways. Bruce resumes his crusade as Batman with Robin as his partner to protect Gotham from crime.

Cast

 * Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman: After coming across the journal of his father, he starts questioning his act of vengeance. Bruce struggles with his dual identity as a crime fighter, becoming romantically involved with Dr. Chase Meridian.
 * Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face: Formerly the good district attorney of Gotham City, half of Harvey's face is scarred with acid during the conviction of a crime boss. Driven insane, he becomes the criminal Two-Face. He flips a coin to determine if he kills (tails) or not (heads).
 * Jim Carrey as Edward Nigma/The Riddler: A former Wayne Enterprises employee, Edward resigns after his newest invention is personally rejected by Bruce Wayne, whom he is obsessed with. He becomes the villainous Riddler, leaving riddles and puzzles at crime scenes.
 * Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian: A psychologist and love interest of Bruce Wayne. Chase is fascinated by the dual nature of Batman. She is held as a damsel in distress in the climax.
 * Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin: Once a circus acrobat, Dick is taken in by Bruce after Two-Face murders his parents and brother at a circus event. Bruce is reminded of when his parents were murdered when he sees the same vengeance in Dick, and decides to take him in as his ward. He eventually discovers the Batcave and learns Bruce's secret identity. In his wake, he becomes the crime fighting partner, Robin.
 * Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth: The Wayne family's faithful butler and Bruce's confidant. Alfred also befriends the young Dick Grayson.
 * Pat Hingle as James Gordon: The police commissioner of Gotham City.
 * Drew Barrymore as Sugar: Two-Face's "good" assistant.
 * Debi Mazar as Spice: Two-Face's "bad" assistant.
 * Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty: Gotham's top gossip columnist.
 * Joe Grifasi as The Bank Guard: Two-Face's hostage during the opening scene.
 * Ofer Samra as Two-Face's Thug
 * René Auberjonois as Fred Stickley: Edward Nygma's ill-tempered supervisor at Wayne Enterprises. After Stickley discovers the side effect of Edward's invention, Edward kills him and makes it look like suicide.