Now that Matt Reeves’ The Batman has been released, we have gotten to see his take not only on the Caped Crusader, but on Catwoman, the Penguin, and the Riddler. The latter has received a lot of attention for the changes he has undergone from the character we have known in past interpretations. Gone from the Riddler is the over-the-top brightness. With the long dirty coat and the creepy mask, Paul Dano’s version looks more like a terrorist. Reeves himself has said that he modeled this take on the Zodiac Killer. This isn’t some lighthearted comic book movie here.
Dano is great in his portrayal in this new version of the Riddler, but it also brings an added respect for what Jim Carrey did as the Riddler in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever. To give a performance that differs from what fans know can be challenging enough, but in Carrey’s case, to lean into what we know and expect, to conform to the boundaries of such an exaggerated character, but also to bring in your own personality to help make the role your own, is perhaps even more challenging.
Batman Forever may have been the biggest film of 1995, but it was also a film with a lot of turmoil. Tim Burton, the director of Batman and Batman Returns, decided not to return this time around. His replacement, Joel Schumacher envisioned a more campy vibe that rejected the previous two films darker tone. This turned out to be a near catastrophic choice that led a disagreeing Michael Keaton to drop out. While this could have been a death knell, the film still continued on and found footing in its cast. After an exhausting search, Val Kilmer was chosen to be the next Batman. He was surrounded by a stellar cast of 90s heavyweights, including Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Carrey.
Carrey wasn’t the first choice to play the Riddler. That goes to Robin Williams, who no doubt would have nailed the role with his own comic mastery. Carrey was the best choice, however. For one, in 1995, he was arguably the most famous comic actor on the planet. In the previous year, a trifecta of mega hits (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber) launched Carrey into super stardom. Most importantly, his comedic timing and physical presence were perfect for what the Riddler had been in the past, and for how much farther the character could be pushed.
The final product for Batman Forever was a mixed bag. The campy tone wasn’t what fans were wanting. Batman was meant to be a dark tale about tragedy and loss, not an expanded McDonald’s commercial. Still, the performances mostly received good reviews. While no Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer did the best job possible to fill his shoes. Tommy Lee Jones was magnificent as Two Face. Jim Carrey steals every scene he’s in, however. This led to jealousy from Jones and a decades long feud. Carrey recalls saying hello to Jones, only for Jones to come back with, “I hate you. I really don’t like you. I cannot sanction your buffoonery.”
Carrey’s tendency to stay in character even when not shooting has annoyed many of his co-stars over his career, but that type of method acting is ideal for a character of such emotional intensity. There is no way though for Carrey’s zany, pinball presence to not command the screen. You could even argue that it saves the film. With the misguided approach and the loss of Keaton, Carrey’s star power kept the film from falling apart and being ignored by fans.
One of the few things that Schumacher for sure got right was the portrayal of the Riddler. If camp was what they were going for, the Riddler is the perfect villain for that. Edward Nygma has the maniacal personality of the Joker, but somehow cranked up even higher. He is a theatrical gimmick with his speaking in sinister riddles, and his dress of green suit, green bowler hat, mask, and a cane shaped like a question mark are the epitome of comic book villainy. One wonders how Tim Burton would have handled the character. Nicholson was superb as the Joker, but there was always just that tiny bit of holding back, of keeping him sinister without becoming unrealistic. It’s harder to do that with The Riddler and Schumacher seemed to know it. He let Carrey loose with free rein to go over the edge and make the character his own. By allowing this, the Riddler splits in two, the comic version and Carrey’s hyper comedy, coming back to meld into something familiar yet completely original. It’s hard to know where the character ends and the actor begins. Carrey becomes the star of the film, a master at his peak who can make even Batman himself take a backseat to what he’s doing.
Carrey plays the Riddler as a cartoon, just as he did in The Mask, with every frenzied move and thrust of the hips. His clothing evolves from the old school suit to a raving Ziggy Stardust impression complete with tight bodysuit and spiked red hair. His face is like silly putty, the expressions stretched to the max and changing constantly from glee to insanity and back again. He has the best lines of the film, the enunciation and tone exaggerated to the limit. The most memorable dialogue is not anything spoken by Batman, but Carrey’s, “Riddle me this, riddle me that, who’s afraid of the big, black bat.” Even though Carrey and Jones didn’t get along, their scenes work the best, resulting in the best laugh of the movie when the Riddler teases Two Face with, “That’s not gonna heal if you don’t stop picking at it.”
Twenty-seven years later we are left with a film remembered as being ranked near the bottom of the Batman films — only Schumacher’s follow up, Batman & Robin, is considered to be worse. While that film is deemed unwatchable, Batman Forever is still seen as flawed but fun. Sure, there’s some nostalgia involved, a return to simpler days when everything wasn’t so dark and serious, and a time before cancer had robbed Kilmer of his voice. But there’s also joy found in the performances, most notably Carrey’s Riddler. It’s impossible to ever recover from it after you’ve seen it. In one scene, after doing something particularly heinous, The Riddler asks, “Is that over the top? I can never tell.” Carrey may as well be asking that about himself too. It’s not much of a question, though. We already know the answer. It’s Jim Carrey as the Riddler. How could it be anything but? And what else would we ever want?