With former District Attorney "Dent" (Tommy Lee Jones) badly scarred by an acid attack and now vengefully wreaking havoc on Gotham City, it falls to "Batman" (Val Kilmer) to try and thwart his over-the-top antics before people get killed. Meantime, his day job as "Bruce Wayne" introduces him to madcap scientist "Nygma" (Jim Carrey) who has plans to plunder people's brainwaves to find their greatest desires (or deepest fears). "Wayne" rejects this proposal as unethical but that just drives the unstable boffin into a partnership with the marauding "Two Face" and they have but one agenda. Kill "Batman". It's the circus that proves a most dangerous environment for everyone as it's raided with an huge bomb left timed to reduce the citizenry to dust, but luckily the performing "Grayson" family of acrobats intervene. Brave but foolish as their actions leave poor old "Dick" (Chris O'Donnell) orphaned and under the care of "Wayne". The sagely old butler "Alfred" (Michael Gough) who sees promise in the young man and similarities with his master, turns his hand to a little manipulation that duly compels the two to work together creating the legendary dynamic duo. Now the battle lines are drawn as the two caped crusaders have to combat their resourceful antagonists bent on their humiliation and destruction. With all of this mayhem going on, "Wayne" still finds time to nurture a little romance with "Dr. Chase" (Nicole Kidman) - a woman who can't decide whether she prefers him as himself or as his alter ego. What's gonna happen? The story here is a perfectly decent vehicle for the character, but there is nowhere near enough action, far too much verbiage and the leading performances are frankly quite annoying. To be fair to O'Donnell, he acquits himself adequately as the enthusiastic sidekick in lycra, but Kilmer is as rubbery as his suit, TLJ just seems to be doing it all by numbers and over-exuberant Carrey got on my nerves right from the start with a characterisation that's completely devoid of subtlety, wit or mischief. Joel Schumacher (and Tim Burton) have taken a sledgehammer approach to the story and tried to beat us into submission with a relentless series of repetitious scenarios that really do look like they've come straight from the static comic storyboard. As is so often the case with the "Batman", it's the butler who steals the show and Gough does that here, just by showing up. Otherwise, this is a long and disappointing big budget superhero adventure that's very long on special effects and gadgets, but seriously short on just about everything else.
