After Joel Schumacher’s “Batman Forever” was released in theaters in 1995, it quickly became one of the best selling films of the year (over $336 million worldwide). But is Schumacher’s view on Batman something good? Well… the answer is a bit complicated as “Batman Forever” was generally preferred at the time of its release, despite winning mixed reviews from critics. Some aspects of the 1995 flick are worth highlighting, such as the groundbreaking use of CGI in the form of the first digital double ever used. But the rest is a flirty movement in the kaleidoscope excess.
In hindsight, the film’s overwhelming success is rather confusing. That imperfection appears more obvious each day. The term “camp” can only be lifted so heavily before it reaches its limit. Certainly, this is a type of entertainment that appeals to a wide range of demographics (including children who were targets for film ty-in toys at the time), and the film’s light, humorous tone helped to increase mainstream popularity. But this does not change the fact that “Batman Forever” is a very rough watch, and its impressive technical achievements lie in the loggerhead with an incredible lack of depth.
That said, it’s not surprising that Warner Bros. will soon be gleeting the Schumacher sequel and expects to perform just like its predecessor. Unfortunately, 1997’s “Batman & Robin” became a franchise entity that everyone would want to forget, as this critically panned title didn’t inspire confidence, despite the decent box office revenue. There’s been a lot to say about how Batman & Robin is (although some believe it’s an important comic book), but that reception led to the cancellation of the third Schumacher sequel, which has been planned for quite some time. Let’s shed some light on “Batman Unchained,” the cancelled, capped Crusader story.
Batman Unchained would have featured the psychologically complicated (and tortured) Batman
After Warner Bros. decided to proceed with a sequel to “Batman & Robin,” Schumacher hired writer Mark Protosevich (“Sel”, “I’m a Legend”) in late 1996. The 1999 release date was announced tentatively. However, details about Protosevich’s script reveal a darker, mature tone, and are thought to be closer to the fun eccentric Tim Burton “Batman” entry that explores the grittier Gotham. “Batman Unchained” was to move away from stupidity and embrace pure psychological horror.
This sounds obviously promising, but we see that a similar premise will come to a spectacular effect in a few years after the critically assumed video games. Yes, 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum is primarily inspired by the Batman comics (including Grant Morrison’s graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Earth), but the cancelled “Batman Unchain” and its story could overlap. After all, both stories involve Batman hallucinations due to scarecrow terror toxin. They can throw him into Arkham Asiram as villains like the Joker and Riddler (along with the misguided Harley Quinn) together to push him to absolute limits.
However, “Batman Unchained” was also intended to feature Robin. Robin appears at the last minute to save his partner from the scarecrow clutch (despite breaking up with Batman over previous differences). Schumacher’s handling of “Batman” films feels confusing at best, but “Unchain” managed to take away the instincts of his best directors, including his unbound style and his unconventional affinity for underdogs. So was it really just as messed up and inconsistent as “Batman & Robin”? I would like to believe that “unchained” could have been decent, but I don’t think we’ll ever know.
If you want to experience this discarded storyline bit, playing “Batman: Arkham Asylum” (and “Batman: Arkham Knight”) may help fill this mysterious “uninjured” shaped void.
