All this Riddler talk put me in a mood to revisit Batman Forever for the first time in probably 20 years. I thought the nostalgia of it might be fun, as I remember the soundtrack being iconic, and some of the visuals, at least, being somewhat memorable. I thought in a weird, zany way that it might have actually aged "well," but holy sh*t this movie is INSANE. And insanely bad.
It literally opens with Batman approaching the Batmobile in the Bacave, standing next to it in iconic fashion as the theme swells, then Alfred, in the background, saying, "Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir?" To which Batman replies, deadpan... "I'll get drive through." That's the FIRST exchange of the movie, one written SOLELY to include in a McDonald's commercial or whatever (which is now coming rushing back to me).
From there we're introduced to Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face, who is basically Nicholson's Joker on meth. But not before Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian lustfully says of Batman's arrival to a massive hostage situation, "Hot entrance."
And then after that bonkers set piece, we're next introduced to Jim Carrey's Edward Nygma, an obsessed-with-Bruce-Wayne scientist who works at Wayne Enterprises, meets Wayne, and immediately pitches him a device that can beam a television signal directly into someone's brain. Bruce hears him out, is extremely nice, and even tells Nygma to set up a meeting through his secretary so they can talk further about his device. But then for no reason whatsoever, Nygma says he needs an answer NOW. When Bruce says, in that case, "I'm sorry, Ed, then the answer's no," Nygma privately swears revenge on him. THAT'S THE SET UP. Bruce Wayne wants to hear more about the device, but doesn't say yes on the spot, while on a random tour of his science wing. And so... The Riddler.
In other words, I'd say Reeves is basically getting a fresh start with his iteration...