Batman Forever

Right now you can watch Batman Forever in Australia on HBO Max, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV — and it goes further with its ideas than most genre entertainment bothers to. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. Its 5/10 TMDB score, built from 5,635 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Val Kilmer anchors it with a performance that grounds the bigger ideas in something human. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on HBO Max.

Batman Forever is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Batman Forever uses its genre premise as cover for asking bigger questions. Batman faces off against two foes: the schizophrenic, horribly scarred former District Attorney Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, and the Riddler, a disgruntled ex-Wayne Enterprises inventor seeking revenge against his former employer by unleashing his brain-sucking weapon on Gotham City's residents. As the caped crusader also copes with tortured memories of his parents' murder, he has a new romance, with psychologist Chase Meridian. Val Kilmer and Tommy Lee Jones lead a cast that makes the ambitious moments land. Batman Forever came out in 1995. What separates Batman Forever from lesser genre entertainment is a willingness to let the concept cost the characters something. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Sci-fi fans who want ideas alongside the spectacle will find Batman Forever genuinely rewarding. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Short enough to finish in one sitting, substantial enough to feel satisfying. Val Kilmer anchors it with a performance that makes the more abstract moments feel personal. If you have been burned by ambitious sci-fi before, this is the exception.