If you’re fascinated by “what ifs” and studio interference, track it down. If you just want to see Jim Carrey chew scenery, stick with the theatrical. Just don’t expect the workprint to redeem the film—only to make you mourn the better, darker version Warner Bros. refused to release.
The Batman Forever workprint is like reading a novelist’s first draft—messy, bloated, but alive with ideas the final product sanded down. It proves Schumacher originally aimed for a Batman Returns -level psychological drama, not a toy commercial. But the theatrical cut, for all its flaws, is a tighter, more energetic (if dumber) movie.
