Like its predecessors, Batman Forever is a triumph of style over substance. One major difference is the lighter tone. The most obvious evidence of this was the signing of comedian Jim Carrey, one of several characters designed to breathe life into the movie series. Carrey plays Edward Nygma, also known as The Riddler, an intelligent individual with a plan to pull a money heist and to install boxes on top of the television sets of Gotham City in an effort to transfer the brain waves of the population to his ever-expanding I.Q. His partner in crime is Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), a former district attorney who is embittered after having his face hideously scarred by acid. There is also Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), the latest in a string of highly attractive love interests for Batman. A student of abnormal psychology, Meridian is more interested in the mysterious image Batman presents than the dull reality she perceives in Bruce Wayne.

The Most significant character addition is Robin (Chris O'Donnell), who makes his first appearance in the film series. We first meet him as Dick Grayson. Early in the film, he saves the lives of a crowd attending a circus by throwing into a river a bomb created by the villainous Two-Face. Unfortunately, Grayson kills his own family in the process. Feeling sympathy for the man and a kindred based on their background in tragedy, Bruce Wayne befriends Grayson. In his incarnation as Robin, he joins Batman in battling Two-Face.

The five-movement suite on this disc was personally assembled by the composer. The main title theme is cast in stylistic framework similar to Elfman's, but the thematic material is different. A major departure from the Elfman aesthetic was the decision to view Gotham City in terms of New York City during the jazz era. The result was a combination of the post-Wagner orchestral approach for the heroic Batman with the jazz rhythms of old New York. Staying away from the complex, late twentieth century harmonies and techniques (both acoustic and electronic) which are present in several of his other scores, Goldenthal selected a more straight forward approach. For example, Two-Face is treated with traditional villain music. The composer did fashion a sense of fun, however, with his retro-dance rhythms and instrumentation for the Nygma character, 'Nygma Variations' (the satirical track titles are a Goldenthal trademark) is kinetic and physical, just like Carrey's over-the-top performance. The relationship between Wayne and Meridian is underlined by subtle tango performed by jazz trumpet and piano. In actuality, the sex appeal of 'Chase Noir' is less about romance than it is about two strong characters posturing for power and domination.

Despite director Joel Schumacher's sometimes irreverent approach to the material, Batman himself is still presented as an elusive, shadowy figure. As a result, Goldenthal was asked to include an appropriate amount of brooding moodiness in his score. Even with the changes made in the wake of Batman and Batman Returns, the third film hapily did not allow Batman to escape his gothic, operatic origins.