Batman & Robin (Blu-ray)
Included in "Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997"
George Clooney plays the Dark Knight, facing his deadliest threat yet: cold-hearted Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and venomous Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). Batman has more than Gotham City to protect: the youthful eagerness of crimefighting comrades Robin (Chris O'Donnell) and Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) puts them frequently in harm's way. New very special effects include a wild sky-surfing sequence and Mr. Freeze's outrageous arsenal of ice-blasting weapons.
Member Reviews
Almost the death of the franchise... - bry1926
Joel Schumacher will forever be remembered as the man who single-handedly killed the Batman franchise.
Batman and Robin was an ill-fated return to the campy style of the TV series - exactly what the fans did not want to see. The dialogue was horrible (especially Schwarzenegger's cringe-worthy one-liners), the costumes were ridiculous (Bat-nipples??), the casting was terrible...I could go on and on.
Batman fans wish this movie could be erased from history.bad, but not horrible - clauditorium
Batman and Robin must fight new foes, but they are joined by a new ally.
I love a good train wreck, so I thought I'd check this one out. And it does hold a certain fascination: how could a screenplay this moronic get green-lit? I suppose the powers that be didn't pay much mind to those kinds of details because they figured they had an unbeatable franchise on their hands. As is its custom, Hollywood underestimated its audience. Surely you've heard what a cringe-worthy pun festival this script consists of. Writers of big action movies in the mid-nineties seemed to think the only way they could keep the audience interested was to pepper their scripts with punchlines. Generally, the unintended effect was to keep the audience at a distance, thereby neutralizing any possibility of suspense or character investment. Batman & Robin was the epitome of this practice, and if there's anything to cherish about this movie, it's that it was so reviled that it apparently ended the trend.
The gems quoted above (they're actually much worse in context) all belong to Mr. Freeze. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a lousy, one-note villain, but it's not as though he had anything to work with. Even the usually reliable Uma Thurman (as Poison Ivy) is defeated by having to breathe life into a character who spouts lines like, "I can help you grab your rocks." She puts on some sort of embarrassingly "sexy" voice that another review accurately described as a bad drag queen trying to imitate Mae West. As for George Clooney, he just seems bored trying to play Batman.
All effort seems to have gone to the special effects and the look of the movie. That didn't pay off either, unfortunately. Some of the effects look surprisingly shabby (considering the high budget), and the movie is the visual equivalent of an overdose of cheap candy. The action scenes are indifferently directed and too often just silly (Batman and Robin surfing down to Earth from the stratosphere?).
Member Reviews
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Almost the death of the franchise... - bry1926
Joel Schumacher will forever be remembered as the man who single-handedly killed the Batman franchise.
Batman and Robin was an ill-fated return to the campy style of the TV series - exactly what the fans did not want to see. The dialogue was horrible ...bad, but not horrible - clauditorium
Batman and Robin must fight new foes, but they are joined by a new ally.
I love a good train wreck, so I thought I'd check this one out. And it does hold a certain fascination: how could a screenplay this moronic get green-lit? I suppose the powers ...