Directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, and Elle Macpherson.
Sometimes, it is interesting to look at older movies, especially terrible ones, and see how they have affected cinema today (it is also fun to completely trash a movie). For today’s review, I selected one of the most infamous franchise-killers in movie history, the 1997 film Batman & Robin. The movie was released as the fourth in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher franchise, which began with the successful Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) and continued with the moderately-received Batman Forever (1995). Batman & Robin saw the third Batman actor in as many films, after the departure of previous actors Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer (though Kilmer’s departure was no tragedy). The fourth film, hastily put together by a studio hoping only to make money, starred George Clooney in the Batman role and Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Uma Thurman as villains Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.
Batman & Robin, as the title suggests, sees the return of Chris O’Donnell as the annoying Dick Grayson, better known as Robin. The movie introduces Alfred’s niece, Barbara (Alicia Silverstone), who becomes Batgirl. The film features a fairly standard superhero storyline: Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy are both, through separate accidents, transformed into villains and will do anything to accomplish their goals. Mr. Freeze hopes to save his terminally ill wife, while Ivy works to help plants take over the world (if you think at least one of those plots sounds dumb, you are not alone). For about 90 minutes, Batman, with the “help” of Robin and Batgirl, tries to take down both criminals. Meanwhile, Batman hopes to find a cure for Alfred (Michael Gough), who has conveniently contracted the same illness as Freeze’s wife.
For those who have only seen Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), it is likely difficult to imagine such a terrible Batman movie. Somehow, Joel Schumacher managed to ruin a franchise that had begun with so much promise. Nearly everything about this movie is absolutely awful, and I do not say that lightly. In listing out the good and bad aspects of the film, I was able to come up with only two redeeming qualities, both of which are admittedly weak. If nothing else, Batman & Robin is still a Batman movie, so fans of the character will still at least somewhat enjoy seeing the film. Also, the soundtrack to the movie is somewhat decent.
Listing the bad parts of the movie takes much, much more time. The story itself is very weak; though the structure is fairly standard, the content is simply unbelievable or just plain dumb at times. Alfred’s illness was either a bad idea or executed poorly; either way, it is not a very interesting storyline by any means. While Batman and Batman Returns featured several good subplots, the Schumacher films lack greatly in this department. Not a single storyline in Batman & Robin is engaging. Even worse than the story are the characters featured in the film. Batman and Robin exist only to fight the villains, and are otherwise very flat characters. The only additional plot for the titular characters involves Robin trying to accept his role as the sidekick, which mostly comes off as annoying. Batgirl similarly has very little to do; her role in fighting crime could very likely be taken over by Robin with no difference to the outcome of the story. The villains are perhaps the most interesting characters in Batman & Robin. Mr. Freeze at least has a reasonable motivation for his crimes, while he and Poison Ivy have interesting abilities. However, the acting and writing for each of these enemies is atrocious. Akiva Goldsman, the co-writer of Batman Forever, returned to write Batman & Robin alone, and for whatever reason decided to have Mr. Freeze speak entirely in puns (“Allow me to break the ice,” for example). While the Bane we saw in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) was performed expertly by Tom Hardy and directed very well by Nolan, the Bane in Batman & Robin (yes, Bane is forgettably in this movie) is demoted to a henchman of Poison Ivy, who, again, is trying to establish botanical supremacy over humans. Finally, Joel Schumacher’s direction for the film is just awful; this is obvious from the very first shots of the movie. While watching the movie, viewers will pick up on various scenes and shots and wonder what made Schumacher think they were good ideas.
Before the 1997 release of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. planned on producing a fifth film, to be directed by Schumacher, entitled Batman Triumphant. This film was to feature the three Batman & Robin protagonists, with Scarecrow and Harley Quinn as villains. Nicolas Cage had been considered for the role of Scarecrow, a part that was later filled by Cillian Murphy for the Nolan reboot Batman Begins in 2005. After the negative reception for Batman & Robin, these plans were modified several times and finally scrapped by 2000. Though this is certainly the worst of all Batman movies (even worse than 1966’s Batman: The Movie starring Adam West), it was necessary to allow Christopher Nolan to reboot the franchise, giving us unquestionably the best superhero movies ever made.
It is hard for me to convey just how bad this movie is. George Clooney, when apologizing for making the movie (it really is that bad), stated that it was “a waste of money.” Unlike some bad movies, however, Batman & Robin is actually watchable. While some movies are unbearable, this film is at least fun to watch, if only to make fun of it. For that reason, I would suggest the film to fans of the superhero genre, and especially to those who enjoyed other Batman films. I definitely recommend going into the movie knowing that it is terrible and hoping to find humor in its awfulness, rather than trying to enjoy it.
Batman & Robin is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
D
Kevin's Movie Reviews 