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It's admittedly small pickings because of the mediocre quality of the villains. Nonetheless, I'd say the Riddler is the only character who comes close as compelling because of his obsession over Bruce Wayne. He was the kind of unstable, needy guy who desperately wanted to be acknowledged positively, and Nigma idolized Bruce and thought that he would approve his invention. When that didn't work out, he resented Bruce and decided to do whatever means necessary to get ahead with producing his device i.e. joining forces with Two-Face. The riddles that appear to taunt Bruce might come across as a sign of Nigma's resentment instead of challenging him intellectually like in the comics. But it still adds some depth to the Riddler's character when you compare him to the other villains, in my opinion.

Who is your favourite villain in Schumacher's movies?

Poison Ivy. She was corny at times but so were Riddler, Freeze and Two-Face. Bane didn't have much of a personality. I thought Ivy was the closest to how I'd picture her.

Jim Carrey's Riddler is the only one I think works well.  Carrey actually brought something to the part whereas some of the other actors were miscast.

Carrey was great as sycophantic but simultaneously supercilious scientist who was bitter and envious of Bruce Wayne.  He did such a good job Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3 was basically a rip-off.

Alway's liked TLJ's Two-Face.

Pam. So influential. I think my mom still has the home video of my Mae West imitation (I thought it was my Uma as Ivy imitation) in the attic somewhere. I need to find that thing and destroy it.

Riddler. A stalker before the term ever even entered the lexicon. Two Face (for better or worse) was treated like another comic book movie supervillain. But the Riddler's motives have creepy and disturbing depth. And they're only too applicable to modern times... perhaps even more than when the movie first came out.

Riddler for me too. However I'd say Poison Ivy would be number two. I love what Uma did with the role, and I don't care who knows.

Quote from: The Dark Knight on Mon, 27 Jun  2016, 06:43Riddler for me too. However I'd say Poison Ivy would be number two. I love what Uma did with the role, and I don't care who knows.

One thing that's become apparent to me is just how much influence Schumacher took from the comics, particularly Shadow of the Bat Annual #3. I hope the day comes when Schumacher gets credit for how much he really did take from comics. Apparently they're comics that most of his critics have never read. But they are still comics. Damn good ones too in most cases.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Mon, 27 Jun  2016, 13:40
One thing that's become apparent to me is just how much influence Schumacher took from the comics, particularly Shadow of the Bat Annual #3. I hope the day comes when Schumacher gets credit for how much he really did take from comics. Apparently they're comics that most of his critics have never read. But they are still comics. Damn good ones too in most cases.

Giving Schumacher any credit would defeat the narrative that he "destroyed" the franchise. He's the only director who never had Batman arm his vehicles with any guns, but you still won't ever see the purists giving him any acknowledgement.

Needless to say Riddler for me but here's the rest of my rankings

2. Ivy. The 'partnership in peril' was one of the better plotlines in an overstuffed film and Ivy's character becomes the centerpiece towards creating animosity amongst the dynamic duo (I wonder if this film was 19 years head if it's time for having superheroes clash with each other?)
3. Freeze. This is not my definitive version of the character but if they were going to go the corny route, Arnold at least had fun with the role while other actors may have been tired and bored with the dialogue (ie Clooney).
4. Two Face. I've enjoyed TLJ in many of his roles but not this one. It was just too out of place and obvious he was trying to out-Carrey Carrey. He also copied Nicholson but didn't make his character dark and terrifying the way Nicholson did. Nicholson made the audience afraid for the other characters, Jones didn.t
5. Bane. Last by default, it was barely even a character and had virtually no relevance, I don't think the character is ever even mentioned when he's not on scene.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Mon, 27 Jun  2016, 13:40

Quote from: The Dark Knight on Mon, 27 Jun  2016, 06:43Riddler for me too. However I'd say Poison Ivy would be number two. I love what Uma did with the role, and I don't care who knows.

One thing that's become apparent to me is just how much influence Schumacher took from the comics, particularly Shadow of the Bat Annual #3. I hope the day comes when Schumacher gets credit for how much he really did take from comics. Apparently they're comics that most of his critics have never read. But they are still comics. Damn good ones too in most cases.

Shoe Maker's greatest strength, apart from creating comfortable and durable footwear, lies in the sheer entertainment value of his films. BF and B&R are infinitely re watchable and take cues from the comics. If this is as bad as Batman gets for some people, I'd say Batman's doing quite well for himself.

I like a lot of Poison Ivy's scenes, pretty much her whole character in the first half and in the second she was still pretty interesting, but I still think the Riddler was the best of Schumacher's villians.

Quote from: Andrew on Wed, 13 Sep  2017, 17:33I like a lot of Poison Ivy's scenes, pretty much her whole character in the first half and in the second she was still pretty interesting, but I still think the Riddler was the best of Schumacher's villians.

The thing about BF that works for me even 22 years later is how the Riddler and Two-Face are pretty complementary villains as far as the story of BF goes.

It's rather clever on Schumacher's part to set Two-Face up as a fairly straight forward villain who's trying to kill the hero while the Riddler is more of a vengeful stalker with a mad-on for the hero's secret identity. It was ahead of its time in the 90's but it resonates deeper now. Bruce is shown to be in conflict with himself all through BF. He's getting it all on sides from Two-Face, the Riddler, Dick and Chase.

The only way for him to survive is a sort of synthesis of his various masks and alternate identities. It's really well done.

But yes, Riddler is top notch in Schumacher's movies.