Val Kilmer’s performance as Doc Holliday in Tombstone was so good that it proved his later performance in Batman Forever was simply misunderstood. Tombstone is often called one of the best Western movies ever made, and Val Kilmer’s performance is one of the genre’s greatest. His role as Doc Holliday is often singled out as one of the very best things in the film, and he deserves all of his flowers. Kilmer actually deserves more recognition than he got, however, and his performance in Tombstone should have shown audiences how great he was in a superhero movie just two years later.
Some of Val Kilmer’s most iconic roles came in the 1990s, like Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Chris Shiherlis in Heat, and Jim Morrison in The Doors. One of his films didn’t get the same praise his other performances did: Batman Forever. Kilmer took over the reins as Batman after Michael Keaton left the cowl behind. That’s no easy act to follow, and many people thought Kilmer was a significant downgrade from Keaton. However, Kilmer wasn’t just a worthy replacement for Keaton, he was a great Batman actor, and Tombstone makes that easier to see.
Val Kilmer Was Great In Tombstone & Batman Forever, But The Latter Didn’t Get Enough Credit
Kilmer Was One Of The Best Parts Of Tombstone & Batman Forever & He Deserved More Recognition
Batman Forever isn’t as good of a movie as Tombstone is. It has an embarrassing 41% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to Tombstone’s 74%, and most of the criticism it receives is well-deserved. For years, Kilmer was ridiculed for his portrayal of both Bruce Wayne and Batman, and he usually ends up near the bottom of lists of the best live-action Batman portrayals. However, Kilmer is one of the only things about Batman Forever that actually works. Kilmer’s acting in Tombstone actually shows that the very things people criticize Batman Forever for are the same things that made him such a great Bruce Wayne.
Watching Tombstone, It’s Easy To See Why Val Kilmer Makes A Great Batman
Kilmer Is A Master Of Snide Remarks, Effortless Charisma, & Terrifying Intimidation
In many ways, Doc Holliday is a lot like Batman and Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever. Some of Doc Holliday’s best moments in Tombstone see him telling jokes in almost the same way Batman does, they’re just a bit funnier. Doc Holliday also proved that Val Kilmer can more than handle dark moments, such as Bruce’s flashbacks in Batman Forever. Even his voice was well-suited to both roles, like Doc Holliday’s airy inflections and the subtle differences in Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne and Batman voices. Kilmer was able to recreate some of the best things about Doc in Bruce, yet very few people recognized how impressive that was.
Tombstone makes it clear that Val Kilmer was a great Batman, and if he was in a better movie, he would be considered just as good as Christian Bale or Robert Pattinson. If Batman Forever had given Kilmer more chances to channel his Doc Holliday performance, it would be one of the defining live-action depictions of Batman, at least for fans of sillier adaptations of the Dark Knight. As it stands, Batman Forever is a bad movie, but it’s certainly not because of Val Kilmer’s performance as Bruce Wayne, and Tombstone shows that.