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BATMAN & ROBIN (1997) Starring: George Clooney, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Chris O'Donnell, and Alicia Silverstone Directed by Joel Schumacher After the expected success of 1995's BATMAN
FOREVER, Warner Bros wasn't going to let a large amount of time pass
before they churned out another Cape Crusader adventure. Everything that was
going on behind the scenes was widely reported on, from Val Kilmer's refusal
to reprise the role (which was given to Clooney), to big name actresses such
as Julia Roberts and Demi Moore being considered for the villainous part of
Poison Ivy (Thurman snagged the role, without reading a script). The
anticipation was building, and when the first glimpses of Arnold Schwarzenegger's
Mr. Freeze outfit where released, the hysteria over the bat once again went
into gear. Like the previous three movies, it would open in June and
unquestionably slaughter the competition for at least a solid two weeks
before it would begin to slide into the back of people's memory. The
promotional campaign for the film would be fierce, with fast food toy tie-ins
and Clooney's mug on cereal boxes. And on June 20th, 1997, I was one of the
many people in line to see what wonders would await me in Gotham City. Well,
I got my answer... I'm not going to bother writing up a synopsis
for the film since it can be summed up in a few words. Bad guy Mr. Freeze
unleashes a frozen hell on the city, and is aided by sultry Poison Ivy, who
wants to take over the planet and destroy mankind. Batman and Robin must save
the day, but tempers flair when Robin gets the hots for Ivy. Batgirl is
introduced and helps the dynamic duo save the day. And there it all is in a
nutshell. Now, in the past four years the movie has been
a prime target for some extremely harsh words, and chances are I'd agree with
a large portion of complaints made against it. But though I see it as a
disaster, I see more of a tragedy in the fact the film was attempting to put
in some pretty sensible themes about family into it. Through all the wacky
costume designs and horrendous one-liners, I do think something more was
trying to thrive here and it was essentially trying to be a family oriented
film. After BATMAN RETURNS sent kids out of the theatre crying, Warner's
decided to tone things down with the next installment. They unfortunately
turned BATMAN FOREVER into a relentless parade of eye candy and
incoherent jungle of nonsense. They hit pay dirt with that film, and since it
out grossed the second film by a few million bucks, the thought that the
fourth film would do even bigger business probably popped into the studios
mind. But their biggest flub was allowing Joel Schumacher to return as
director, since he was more interested in designing colorful set pieces then
zeroing on the characters. Here he makes the same fatal mistake, and that it
glamorize Gotham and then have the characters jumping up and down hoping to
be noticed. The next flaw was that, and another unfortunately applies here,
we do notice the characters and they are pathetically drawn out. Mr. Freeze
isn't a villain, he is merely a misguided soul who turns into the hero at the
end. Thurman would have made a delightful villain, but is forced to perform a
Mae West imitation that butchers the characters appeal and her character has
loads of potential but everything about her is wasted. Silverstone
embarrasses herself as Batgirl, a character which wasn't needed (as the
series went on, more characters where added on, which left little to no room
for any actual development). O'Donnell returns to the role as Robin, and
though he does a fair job (for this sort of thing), he really possesses to
real presence and like his co-stars, is reduced to say some pretty moronic
things that should never have been considered when the script was being
written (then again, Akiva Goldsman wrote the script, and his resume might as
well be considered a joke). But the movie is nothing but a machine that must
have looked even worst written down (why doesn't Batman just scream Yabba-Dabba
Do! when sliding down a dinosaur as he hurdles towards Mr. Freeze?), and
considering that most of the cast weren't permitted to read the script before
they signed on, chances are they where smacking themselves in the head during
the shoot. I do think Clooney was a superior Batman then the invisible and
arrogant Val Kilmer, but in all honesty none of the actors who donned the
mask ever looked to comfortable doing it. I would vote Michael Keaton to be
the best Batman, but by the time the first sequel came along he was merely a
supporting player in his own show. And through all of the verbal beatings the film
endured, it grossed over $40 million its first weekend and then disappeared
as quickly as it arrived. The movie, along with many others, proved that it
is hype that people crave on, not the actual movie experience. Before the
movie hit theatres, there was much more joy in discussing its possible
greatness and the chance it may be the worst thing to hit theatres. I've seen
it twice since it opened, both times in theatres and though I do consider it
a terrible, terrible, terrible movie, under all the useless clutter
and corny atmosphere, I think a better movie was screaming to be made. My Grade: D- |