Jim Carrey Vs. Paul Dano: Here's Who Played The Better Riddler

"Batman Forever" doesn't exactly have a ton of support in its corner. Even at the time of its release, it was seen as a step down from the previous two live-action Batman outings, helmed by Tim Burton. Part of that can be attributed to the changing of the guard with Joel Schumacher taking over directing duties and the fact "Batman Forever" was far sillier and campier than what had come before. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that "Batman Forever" has a critics' score of 39% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Still, the movie isn't a total waste, and among the positive reviews the film has, many critics spoke highly of Jim Carrey's performance as Edward Nygma, a.k.a. Riddler. In a 2019 retrospective of the film, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian thought Carrey's Riddler was at least amusing, writing, "Tommy Lee Jones is Two-Face and a typically hyperactive Jim Carrey gets laughs as the Riddler." 

The review on Entertainment Weekly went into more details about how Carrey steals the show from Batman himself: "What a pleasure it is to watch Carrey take over the movie! His performance builds slowly, getting gaudier and crazier (right along with his Riddler-as-mad-dandy outfits), until he's swiveling his hips as he tosses grenades, then turning into a deranged game-show host." He may be goofy and silly, but that's clearly the point, and it's obvious Carrey's having a blast as the supervillain.