Val Kilmer was a great Bruce Wayne and Batman, he managed to get a great balance of the two roles. Check out this video that looks into why Val Kilmer is an awesome Bruce Wayne/Batman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz4TkfDtuq4
Kilmer did a great job as both. I'd love to have seen him in another, more serious Batman movie.
All for a box of chocolates...
Despite what most say, he doesn't really bother me in the role. Kilmer was Warner Bros. way of saying "now that Keaton's gone, lets appeal to the naysayers that wanted a taller, hunkier bruce wayne/batman."
shareHe arguably looked more like Bruce Wayne than Keaton, Clooney and Bale, but he brought no personality to the role. All the other Batman performances have been distinctive, even Clooney's, but not Kilmer's.
shareI've realized Kilmer was a fine Batman especially given the circumstances of working opposite Jim Carrey. He had his corny moments like "I'll get drive-thru" but he was like the happy medium of Clooney's nonchalance and Keaton's intimidation factor.
He WAS pretty good...but Val was hard to work with...
shareI can't say he was great in the role, but the fact that he was notoriously difficult to work with may have cost him the sequel. (In which Clooney was worse.) IMHO he was pretty dull in the role, but I don't blame him for failing to awe. It was Jumping Carrey's film, and the writers and director handed the film to Carrey, and Carrey played it so damn big that he squashed all the other actors; Tommy Lee Jones looks resentful in sone of their scenes together.
Which isn't to say that I don't like this film or anything, I actually love it just as it is.
Would Val Kilmer made more of an impact as Bruce Wayne had he played him decidedly more arrogantly (even if it's a facade like Christian Bale's interpretation in The Dark Knight)? You can argue that Kilmer is at his best when he plays arrogant but still likable assholes (Tombstone, Real Genius, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Willow, and even Top Gun). Thus, having him always play a brooding Bruce Wayne was just a waste of what he does best.
shareI was just reading a conversation on Reddit and I'm kind of in agreement. You could really see the potential creeping out in the toyetic studio project.
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/vhtkzm/comment/ida3snv/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
For example, there's the scene where Bruce talks to Dick about revenge and the consequences behind such a thing. Bruce says if not outright warns Dick that if you go out for revenge it very well could consume your whole life.