An uneven flick with some legit highs — particularly VAL KILMER, who has died at 65… Val Kilmer has died at the age of 65 and while he was solid in any role he was in — he was a great Jim Morrison — at 13th Dimension we have to focus on his brief time as the Masked Manhunter in 1995’s Batman Forever. Batman Forever has sort of unique spot in Batmovie lore: It was the uneven bridge between the Burton/Keaton years and the outlandish, grossly self-indulgent Batman & Robin. And while few would put the movie at the top of their Batlist, there’s a lot to recommend it, so in honor of Kilmer, here are 13 REASONS TO LOVE BATMAN FOREVER. (Tip of the cowl to my son Sam, who suggested the idea.) — 1. Val Kilmer. This isn’t a ranking but far and away the strongest part of the movie is Kilmer himself. I’ve long felt what Franco wrote in his appreciation — that Kilmer was probably the best mix of Batman and Bruce Wayne, compared to his colleagues in the Modern Age. His Batman wasn’t as intense as, say Bale or Pattinson’s, but it was solid — and his Bruce Wayne was the best outside of Adam West (who embodied the Caped Crusader’s suave alter ego, camp or no). — 2. The Opening Titles. — 3. Gotham City. Tim Burton and Anton Furst’s 1989 vision of Gotham was so influential that major aspects of its aesthetic endure to this day. But Joel Schumacher added a whole new element, with even more bananas statuary and a metropolis bathed in neon. It’s not grim and gritty but it most definitely fits the oeuvre. — 4. Dick Grayson’s Circus Duds. The Flying Graysons made their live-action screen debut, wearing outfits that closely mimicked Neal Adams’ Tim Drake Robin design. The circus suit is actually better than the too-dark armor that the Teen Wonder wears later in the movie. — 5. The Opening Sequence. Batman opened with the Dark Knight beating on a couple of thugs on a dreary rooftop. Batman Returns starts with Oswald Cobblepot’s parents abandoning him as a newborn. Each perfectly set the tone for what was to come. In Batman Forever, we start off with a bombastic, action-packed set piece, reminding us of the Masked Manhunter’s larger-than-life...