Batman at the Circus: 'Massacre Under the Big Top'
Friday, April 22, 2011 at 6:00PM Kurt here from Your Movie Buddy, offering a circus-themed post to coincide with the release of Water for Elephants, 20th Century Fox's spring tentpole (nyuk, nyuk). My three-ring subject is a pivotal scene from Batman Forever, that neon-coated guilty pleasure that gave way to what's likely my most hated movie of all time. It begins with a cube of cheese:
I've really got to get you out of those clothes...
"Excuse me?"
...and into a black dress. Tell me, doctor, do you like the circus?"
And with that, Bruce Wayne (Val Kilmer) and the bankly-named Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) head out for a very script-friendly first date, conveniently opening the door for The Birth of Robin. We soar into the Hippodrome, a waterfront arena just outside the downtown area of Joel Schumacher's rainbow vision of Gotham, and pass multiple instances of the production designer's imperialist-society-by-way-of-paper-mâché aesthetic.
Inside, Gotham's finest gather to watch the acrobatic stylings of The Flying Graysons, a carnie clan that includes Dick (Chris O'Donnell), his brother, and his mom and dad. To my knowledge, this setup adheres rather closely to the lore of the Batman comics, though Dick/Robin was just a wee lad of 10 when taken under Batman's cape.
Anyway (getting ahead of ourselves), the Graysons prove a crowd favorite.
They smile...
They soar...
And they make quite the fan out of a riveted Doc Meridian...
Yes, baby!
I love the link between the doctor's fervent fascination with the acrobats and her lustful yearning for the Caped Crusader (this, you'll remember, is the movie wherein Nicole knowingly asks Batman, "Do I need skin-tight vinyl and a whip?"). You know she's fantasizing about him as she watches the Graysons at work, their leaping from trapeze to trapeze akin to his bounding from building to building. She's interrupted from her trance by Bruce, who asks her to go rock-climbing with him (a startling proposal, seeing as nothing in the Batman milieu seems to ever exist beyond the metropolis). Chase would love to, but she's "met someone," which, of course, equals a big win-win for Mr. Wayne.
"He just kind of dropped out of the sky," she says, "and BANG!"
Attentions are drawn back to the big show, where the bangs continue. Dick's "Death Drop" supermove gets big cheers from the audience, and a gaping-mouth reaction from the ever-enamored doctor. But a scratchy cackle interrupts the merriment, as Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones + purple prosthetics) emerges as the satanic new ring leader. The best part of the Tommy Lee takeover is by far the sick glee it elicits from mad scientist Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey), an ex-employee of Wayne Enterprises who's watching a telecast from home and who's still plenty pissed about Bruce shooting down his "brain-drain" concept. Whenever Two-Face gets especially vicious with his threats, Edward loses his s**t.
I have to hand it to Schumacher. For all the damage he did to this franchise, he and his Oscar-nominated cinematographer, Stephen Goldblatt, certainly givea lot of great imagery. One of the better setpieces of the movie (which, end-to-end, is rather carnivalesque), this scene is comprised of wild, contempo-evocative action shots, and a whole lot of juicy close-ups. The best, naturally, are of a perfectly porcelain Kidman, whose delight turns to terror once it's clear that Two-Face's should-I-or-shouldn't-I coin flip doesn't land bright-side up.
amused by viciousness
elation to terror
Despite Bruce's efforts to answer the cloven villain's call for Batman's true identity ("I'm Batman!" Val screams to deaf ears amidst the din – another contrived tidbit and close-up opportunity), Two-Face grabs a neon machine gun and takes out the wires supporting Dick's relatives, who were (somehow, I don't know) trying to stop the ascending bomb timed to blow the whole circus to bits. The Graysons plummet, and Dick, who does manage to ditch the ticking device, returns and peers down from above, in shock. Don't ask me to explain the logic of the scene's environment (is he atop a circus tent? I thought we were in an arena...), but Dick's horrified mug is, appropriately, its final image – a close-up to cap things off.
And thus, Robin is born.
What do y'all think of Batman Forever? Big-top disaster? The greatest show on Earth?
Reader Comments (12)
In 1995 I loved this movie just as every other male teenage loved it. I’ve watched it again and noticed it was not that good. It’s just a “not so good” sequel of a real great movie (a sequel itself).
I've always thought that this was the ultimate, over-the-top COMIC book movie. All the ridiculously saturated colors everywhere, the blissful scenery-chewing of Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey, the complete and utter lack of anything that makes sense.... I love it, even though it isn't really very good! And for my money, Val Kilmer and Chris O'Donnell are the best hero duo of superhero movies. Is it because they're the prettiest? Perhaps...
Plus, Nicole Kidman was a HOOT as the good doctor. I remember when I first saw this, I had no idea that she was even Mrs. Tom Cruise, and I wondered why she hadn't done anything else, and lamented the fact that she would probably never do anything of substance, because I liked her.
Then, To Die For came out and everyone was talking about her. I was so relieved! I've loved her unabashedly and never doubted her ever since.
I hate this movie. And I love it. That's it, our relationship is, well, complicated.
The whole circus scene is as awful as the rest of it, but at the same time it's one, big guilty pleasure - so over the top, so ridiculous and soooo fun.
i remember thinking that this movie got way too many oscar nominations ;) and that they had somehow benefitted from Batman Returns because.... seriously? but it's interesting in a way tthat this one was so well received and then the next was... not... because aren't their impulses kind of similar?
I'll always remember Batman Forever as the first movie I had ever seen Nicole Kidman in. My mind was blown to pieces.
Come to think of it, the circus scene was actually one of the better parts, but the whole movie was all over the place - I don't mind it though.
This was my first Nicole Kidman movie , but I remember thinking for the longest time that she was Aunt Becky from Full House (it wouldn't be until I saw Moulin Rouge that I knew she was NICOLE KIDMAN). I have no idea what that was about! But anyway, I remember really liking this movie because it was just so over-the-top. It's certainly not my favorite of the franchise, but I think it's just (barely) good enough to escape being labeled "so-bad-it's-good".
Count me among those that love it, even if it's not really that good. I think it has something to do with seeing it as a teenage boy, like Andrés said. It was perfection then, and despite recognizing what a general mess it is now, it still works. That, or maybe that Clooney thing that followed was so god-awful it makes this look masterpiece level by comparison.
@thefilmjunkie -- "I remember thinking for the longest time that she was Aunt Becky from Full House ." So funny.
I love the over-the-TOP consensus. If only because we're working with the big-TOP theme. ;)
I loved this. Definitely my favorite Batman movie.
Nicole is so damn sexy in this movie. Those lips! Those eyes! That hair! That voice!
... every boys' dream.
Bad movie. An even worse Batman movie. Not sure how it can even count as a guilty pleasure. There's nothing pleasurable about seeing great characters ruined.
As a 12-yr. old Batman Forever was awesome. I loved it and still think it holds up well after multiple viewings but it's hard to take that moviegoing experience away from me now (I linked directly to a review of it). Batman and Robin sucked but Batman Forever wasn't as far down the slippery slope as some might have you believe.
The make-up job in Tommy Lee Jones was better than Aaron Eckhart's, and Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones were pretty in sync on their performances and both were pretty good.
I also liked the color scheme and think Kilmer was a pretty good villain. Kidman was pretty hot here.