Hey, everyone. I got sent an email recently from a reader - Dave - who had a great take on Tommy Lee Jones' often maligned portrayal of Two Face. I've reprinted here as this week's post. Hope you enjoy his take...
Two-Face in Batman Forever is a good interpretation of the character.
I know what you are thinking. I am completely out of my mind. You are thinking Tommy Lee Jones Two-Face is not only the worst character in a Batman film but quite possibly one of the worst characters in a piece of fiction ever. You are thinking TLJ as Two-Face is ironically the most one dimensional character with absolutely no depth. He is a cackling buffoon and just a Joker wannabe.
I will address the two (pun intended) biggest criticisms of TLJ Two-Face while also comparing him to Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face in The Dark Knight, an interpretation generally held in high regard.
Criticism #1: We only see TLJ Two-Face's bad side and never see his good side.
Two-Face is a villain through and through. He is not meant to be half bad and half good. He is a villain needing his coin to make key decisions in the commission of his crimes. When Eckhart becomes Two-Face, he is on a singular mission, to avenge the death of Rachel. He never pauses and wonders (good side) if what he is doing is wrong. There is never a good side. Heck, even when the coin lands good side up, when Eckhart Two-Face is questioning Ramirez, he still strikes her!
TLJ Two-Face is on a singular mission as well, to kill Batman. It is true, we never see a good side with TLJ Two-Face but we didn't see a good side with Eckhart Two-Face either. At least, however, with TLJ Two-Face we see the number 2 used during the commission of his crimes. The second bank of Gotham on the second anniversary of the day he was captured, two hundred sticks of TNT with a two minute timer and a two part plan at the NygmaTech party. One of the core concepts of this character is completely missing in TDK.
The point can be argued that Two-Face is not meant to be half good and half bad but meant to be half rational and half irrational. This form of duality is missing in both Forever and TDK since they are so singular in their missions. There is a lack of any kind of duality in Eckhart Two-Face. However, there is, believe it or not, a duality that exists within TLJ Two-Face. I will address the existence of that duality in Forever and the lack of duality in TDK further down.
Criticism #2: TLJ Two-Face is a cackling buffoon and just a Joker wannabe.
It is true, TLJ Two-Face, at times, cackles and laughs maniacally. He also, at times, displays anger, frustration and impatience. In other words, he is emotionally unstable throughout the film. This is a key component to his character and where his duality is demonstrated. The most important line that defines TLJ Two-Face comes at the end when he says, "emotion is always the enemy of true justice". TLJ Two-Face's singular mission is obtaining true justice which comes in the form of killing Batman. His entire being, existence and drive as Two-Face is obtaining this true justice.
TLJ Two-Face, however, can never obtain this true justice because of how emotionally unstable he is (demonstrated by the laughing, anger, frustration and impatience). The Riddler even says to him, "has anyone ever told you, you have a serious impulse control problem?" TLJ Two-Face is the living embodiment of the yin and yang, two diametrically opposite forces pushing against each other. The pursuit of true justice coming at odds with emotional instability. This is where the duality lies within TLJ Two-Face.
"Emotion is always the enemy of true justice". Enemy, as defined by Oxford Languages, is a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. The key word here is opposed. Emotion is in opposition of true justice. Emotion and the pursuit of true justice are two forces colliding against each other thus creating this duality.
TLJ Two-Face is doomed to never obtain his true justice but instead always be sabotaging himself because he is overrun by his own emotions. His impatience at the NygmaTech party almost ruined Edward Nygma's plan which in the end would have fulfilled his mission. He even defers to an emotion at Wayne Manor, opting not to kill Bruce Wayne/Batman, once again sabotaging himself. He instead defers to the feeling of the satisfaction of humiliating and crushing Bruce Wayne/Batman first rather than outright killing him.
You might be thinking, well, what about the part where TLJ Two-Face is sitting in Wayne Manor flipping the coin over and over. Surely, this demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the character. Once again, TLJ Two-Face sabotages himself with his emotions. Upon entering the manor, the Riddler says to TLJ Two-Face, "no killing". But TLJ Two-Face immediately grows impatient and begins flipping the coin.
However, he doesn't flip the coin over and over until he gets his desired result. He flips the coin three times: once for Chase, once for Bruce and once for Batman. It was a "cheating" tactic to kill Batman (two flips for his dual identities). Eckhart Two-Face employed this "cheating" tactic as well, flipping the coin twice at a chance to kill Sal Maroni. One flip of the coin for Sal, the second flip of the coin for the driver. Since Eckhart Two-Face wore his seat belt and Sal did not, Sal is killed in the ensuing car accident.
Batman Forever Wiki states that in the aforementioned manor scene, TLJ Two-Face flipped his coin three times: once for Alfred, once for Chase and once for Bruce. This is not how I interpret that scene. However, either way, TLJ Two-Face is not going against character and is not randomly flipping the coin over and over until he gets his desired result.
Now we can see where the duality exists within TLJ Two-Face, the pursuit of true justice vs. emotion. There is no sense of duality within Eckhart Two-Face though. It is essentially Harvey Dent going on a killing spree while using a coin to decide his victim's fates. Yet this version of Two-Face is well regarded and the other is not. There is no question that if TLJ Two-Face didn't ever cackle or laugh that it would improve the perception of his character. But those are emotions that actually play into his duality which I have explained up above.
And all this is why ultimately, I believe TLJ Two-Face is a good interpretation of the character: a form of duality is present, the coin is used in his decision making and the number 2 is used in the commission of his crimes.
Duality is a theme in this film and is present in not only TLJ Two-Face but in all of the major characters. Furthermore, the tone of the film itself is a testament to duality. It is a film split right down the center. It balances the dark elements of the main character and the examination of his trauma with moments of camp and over the top performances. Through its duality, Batman Forever is able to honor the character's entire history with various nods, homages and inspirations from the comic books to the 1966 show to the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns to the 1992 animated series.
As an aside I would like to point out the overarching "doomed forever" tragedy, for lack of a better phrase, in this film. Two-Face was doomed forever to never obtain his true justice because of his emotions. The Riddler is doomed forever to just be a person with no real identity stuck in a small space. He starts the film working in a small station and living in a small, narrow apartment. His whole identity is completely tied to a person who he idolizes and wants recognition from. He ends the film in a small padded room at the end of a narrow corridor with no sense of identity and believing he is someone else. Ironically, believing he is the person who he wanted recognition from the most. Not to mention, the Riddler suit on display before being worn, foreshadowing Nygma's fate, forever stuck in a small space.
Chase is doomed forever to fall for the wrong kind of man. Even when she chose Bruce over Batman, not knowing they were the same person, she doomed herself to be in a relationship that will never work. Despite her best effort and recognizing, "a girl has to grow up some time", she still picks the wrong man. Bruce is the wrong kind of man because of the dual life he lives. We have seen over and over that relationships with Bruce never work out.
The tragedies with Bruce and Dick of course are the loss of their families. Bruce choosing to be Batman forever to make up for his loss, and Robin going down the same path.
