Batman & Robin ««½
PG-13, 125m. 1997
Cast & Credits: George Clooney (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Chris O’Donnell (Robin/Dick Grayson), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze), Uma Thurman (Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy), Alicia Silverstone (Barbara Wilson/Batgirl), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), Pat Hingle (Commissioner James Gordon), Elle McPherson (Julie Madison), Viveca A. Fox (Ms. B. Haven), Jeep Swenson (Bane), John Glover (Dr. Jason Woodrue). Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Directed by Joel Schumacher.
Batman & Robin finally addresses the problem that has plagued the series ever since it began in 1989. From Jack Nicholson’s homicidal Joker and Tommy Lee Jones schizophrenic Two-Face to Jim Carrey’s techno-nerd, The Riddler, it has always been the villains who were the most interesting having the most fun and stealing the show from the Caped Crusader; a hero who should have been just as intriguing.
As box office tallies have shown, however, with this successful franchise, what has brought in the crowds were the big name stars who were cast as the villains.
Now the tables have turned this time around. Not only does the venomous Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s silvery bald, cigar smoking Mr. Freeze lose out to the Dark Knight as has been the case with all the villains in the past three films, but they are also outmatched in character development by ER star George Clooney who now dons the leather clad, pointy eared bat costume.
Clooney’s Dark Knight Detective/millionaire Bruce Wayne is no longer the depressed brood Michael Keaton was in the first two. Val Kilmer’s version at least cracked a smile underneath that Halloween costume as when Nicole Kidman’s Dr. Chase Meridian told him she was in love with Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995). Kilmer approached the role with the same deadpan seriousness Keaton did and his performance was marred by his inability to deliver the third installment’s comic wit.
What’s nice about Batman & Robin is Clooney’s Dark Knight actually has a personality. He can be socially affable with the public and the press, decide whether or not to marry his girlfriend (Elle McPherson), fight crime, and still wrestle with the idea of being a loner at the same time. The Dark Knight even manages to get sentimental as when he learns his butler, Alfred (Michael Gough), is dying.
“I love you, old man,” Wayne tells him.
To think underneath all that solemnity and stoicism was a human being after all.
And for a while, the film is even good for a couple laughs. Just as he did with the third installment, director Joel Schumacher wants to get away from the ominous themes the first two dealt with and do something a little more on the lighter side. The movie has all the silliness of the Batman campy TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968. In one scene, when Batman and Robin (Chris O’Donnell) fight over who will date Poison Ivy, the Dark Knight takes out a special bank card with a one million dollar credit line in a bid for her love. The card, of course, has a “Bat” logo on it.
The best scenes are the ones where the Dynamic Duo who argue over whether the two should go their separate ways to fight crime. DC Comics has often explored this little subplot off and on with the characters for the past several decades ever since the Batman comic was born.
The problem is Batman & Robin has too many subplots, characters, and a lot of endless chase sequences. All of which serve as only distractions. Everyone is off doing their own thing.
Alicia Silverstone’s role as Batgirl is one example. The role that doesn’t require her to do much except act as Uncle Alfred’s niece, race with a bunch of rowdy bikers at night, and learn about Bruce Wayne’s secret identity.
The Batman movies have always been about characters with split personalities. Both the heroes and the villains went through a major crisis in their lives that caused them to fall off the deep end. That’s what made the original so memorable.
The villains this time, however, are now just mere caricatures from previous outings. Thurman’s nerdy environmentalist Poison Ivy, who wants to turn the world green with deadly plants, makes a great entrance crashing a party doing sort of an erotic dance to an instrumental version of the song “Poison Ivy.” But her contempt for men is really a resemblance to Michelle Pfieffer’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman minus the leather and whip in Batman Returns (1989).
Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is just Danny Devito’s Penguin in disguise only not as mean spirited. His dream is similar. He will put the world into another ice age unless Gotham City gives him enough money to find a cure for his wife who lies in suspended animation and suffers from a deadly disease. For someone whose character is supposed to be an intelligent scientist, though, Freeze’s vocabulary is extremely limited. Every line he utters has something to do with ice.
“Chill,” Freeze yells out as he blasts people with his ice gun in one scene. And before battling the Dark Knight in the climax, Freeze says, “Tonight’s forecast, a ‘Freeze’ is coming.” The dialogue is typical of the kind of quick wit Schwarzenegger has delivered in previous action films but it is humorous only to a point.
I have come to the conclusion this series follows along the same lines as the Star Trek movies. I have always felt the even numbered ones were better than the odd numbered Trek films.
The Batman movies are just the opposite. The best ones were the first and third. Perhaps if Warner Brothers gives the green light to a fifth, they will go out with a bang and come up with some better ideas and a more enticing storyline.
Then again, after seeing all the leather nipples, rear ends, codpieces, and high heeled black boots the heroes wear in this fourth outing, it wouldn’t surprise me if the film makers turn Batman V into a sadomasochistic freakshow.
©6/20/97
PG-13, 125m. 1997
Cast & Credits: George Clooney (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Chris O’Donnell (Robin/Dick Grayson), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze), Uma Thurman (Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy), Alicia Silverstone (Barbara Wilson/Batgirl), Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth), Pat Hingle (Commissioner James Gordon), Elle McPherson (Julie Madison), Viveca A. Fox (Ms. B. Haven), Jeep Swenson (Bane), John Glover (Dr. Jason Woodrue). Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman. Directed by Joel Schumacher.
As box office tallies have shown, however, with this successful franchise, what has brought in the crowds were the big name stars who were cast as the villains.
Now the tables have turned this time around. Not only does the venomous Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s silvery bald, cigar smoking Mr. Freeze lose out to the Dark Knight as has been the case with all the villains in the past three films, but they are also outmatched in character development by ER star George Clooney who now dons the leather clad, pointy eared bat costume.
Clooney’s Dark Knight Detective/millionaire Bruce Wayne is no longer the depressed brood Michael Keaton was in the first two. Val Kilmer’s version at least cracked a smile underneath that Halloween costume as when Nicole Kidman’s Dr. Chase Meridian told him she was in love with Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995). Kilmer approached the role with the same deadpan seriousness Keaton did and his performance was marred by his inability to deliver the third installment’s comic wit.
What’s nice about Batman & Robin is Clooney’s Dark Knight actually has a personality. He can be socially affable with the public and the press, decide whether or not to marry his girlfriend (Elle McPherson), fight crime, and still wrestle with the idea of being a loner at the same time. The Dark Knight even manages to get sentimental as when he learns his butler, Alfred (Michael Gough), is dying.
“I love you, old man,” Wayne tells him.
To think underneath all that solemnity and stoicism was a human being after all.
And for a while, the film is even good for a couple laughs. Just as he did with the third installment, director Joel Schumacher wants to get away from the ominous themes the first two dealt with and do something a little more on the lighter side. The movie has all the silliness of the Batman campy TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968. In one scene, when Batman and Robin (Chris O’Donnell) fight over who will date Poison Ivy, the Dark Knight takes out a special bank card with a one million dollar credit line in a bid for her love. The card, of course, has a “Bat” logo on it.
The best scenes are the ones where the Dynamic Duo who argue over whether the two should go their separate ways to fight crime. DC Comics has often explored this little subplot off and on with the characters for the past several decades ever since the Batman comic was born.
The problem is Batman & Robin has too many subplots, characters, and a lot of endless chase sequences. All of which serve as only distractions. Everyone is off doing their own thing.
Alicia Silverstone’s role as Batgirl is one example. The role that doesn’t require her to do much except act as Uncle Alfred’s niece, race with a bunch of rowdy bikers at night, and learn about Bruce Wayne’s secret identity.
The Batman movies have always been about characters with split personalities. Both the heroes and the villains went through a major crisis in their lives that caused them to fall off the deep end. That’s what made the original so memorable.
The villains this time, however, are now just mere caricatures from previous outings. Thurman’s nerdy environmentalist Poison Ivy, who wants to turn the world green with deadly plants, makes a great entrance crashing a party doing sort of an erotic dance to an instrumental version of the song “Poison Ivy.” But her contempt for men is really a resemblance to Michelle Pfieffer’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman minus the leather and whip in Batman Returns (1989).
Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is just Danny Devito’s Penguin in disguise only not as mean spirited. His dream is similar. He will put the world into another ice age unless Gotham City gives him enough money to find a cure for his wife who lies in suspended animation and suffers from a deadly disease. For someone whose character is supposed to be an intelligent scientist, though, Freeze’s vocabulary is extremely limited. Every line he utters has something to do with ice.
“Chill,” Freeze yells out as he blasts people with his ice gun in one scene. And before battling the Dark Knight in the climax, Freeze says, “Tonight’s forecast, a ‘Freeze’ is coming.” The dialogue is typical of the kind of quick wit Schwarzenegger has delivered in previous action films but it is humorous only to a point.
I have come to the conclusion this series follows along the same lines as the Star Trek movies. I have always felt the even numbered ones were better than the odd numbered Trek films.
The Batman movies are just the opposite. The best ones were the first and third. Perhaps if Warner Brothers gives the green light to a fifth, they will go out with a bang and come up with some better ideas and a more enticing storyline.
Then again, after seeing all the leather nipples, rear ends, codpieces, and high heeled black boots the heroes wear in this fourth outing, it wouldn’t surprise me if the film makers turn Batman V into a sadomasochistic freakshow.
©6/20/97
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