Batman & Robin (1997)
April 29, 2024 4:57 PM - Subscribe
Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.
It was definitely not good. But I'm not sure a good Batman movie is possible. They all seem either too campy or too serious (or both, as in Tim Burton's). Comics can get away with a tone that movies just can't replicate. Or maybe I'm too picky. Too campy isn't bad, I guess, but it's only a fraction of what Batman is. And Clooney is too cool to pull off an Adam West style performance.
posted by rikschell at 8:35 PM on April 29
posted by rikschell at 8:35 PM on April 29
I'm not sure a good Batman movie is possible.
I don't think that a Batman movie that makes everyone happy is possible. The Burton, Schumacher, Nolan, and Reeves movies all seem to scratch very different itches; I suppose that you could throw in the Snyder movies as well, although they seem very much more concerned with Cavill's Superman than Affleck's Batman. If they decided to do a true multiverse Batman: No Way Home movie, instead of the sorta-but-not-really thing in The Flash, they'd probably hate each other, instead of cooperating like the Peters Parker did.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:42 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]
I don't think that a Batman movie that makes everyone happy is possible. The Burton, Schumacher, Nolan, and Reeves movies all seem to scratch very different itches; I suppose that you could throw in the Snyder movies as well, although they seem very much more concerned with Cavill's Superman than Affleck's Batman. If they decided to do a true multiverse Batman: No Way Home movie, instead of the sorta-but-not-really thing in The Flash, they'd probably hate each other, instead of cooperating like the Peters Parker did.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:42 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]
This was pretty bad. Only Uma Thurman seemed to understand what the movie was trying to be. George Clooney was woefully miscast. Woefully.
posted by mrphancy at 8:48 PM on April 29
posted by mrphancy at 8:48 PM on April 29
Maybe there needs to be an anthology Batman movie of short stories by different directors. If nothing else, it'd be different.
posted by kokaku at 4:20 AM on April 30 [4 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 4:20 AM on April 30 [4 favorites]
"A Brief History of George Clooney Apologizing for Being a Bad Batman" (Vulture.com, 2014)
"Joel Schumacher apologizes for 'Batman & Robin'" (CNN.com, 2017)
"‘Batman & Robin’ at 20: Joel Schumacher and More Reveal What Really Happened" (Hollywood Reporter, 2017)
The Burton, Schumacher, Nolan, and Reeves movies all seem to scratch very different itches
Yes, and I'd go so far as to say that the Batman and Schumacher movies scratch four different itches. I always felt that Batman '89 was trying to feel—not real exactly, but plausible within the context of this deeply fucked-up city. Certainly the characters were drawn to feel like actual people. Returns was just Tim Burton's Batman, for good and ill.
I like exactly two things about this movie:
• Arnold is visibly having fun, so you can imagine a better performance had there been a less insipid script; and
• it makes Forever look restrained and grown-up by comparison.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:42 AM on April 30 [3 favorites]
"Joel Schumacher apologizes for 'Batman & Robin'" (CNN.com, 2017)
"‘Batman & Robin’ at 20: Joel Schumacher and More Reveal What Really Happened" (Hollywood Reporter, 2017)
The Burton, Schumacher, Nolan, and Reeves movies all seem to scratch very different itches
Yes, and I'd go so far as to say that the Batman and Schumacher movies scratch four different itches. I always felt that Batman '89 was trying to feel—not real exactly, but plausible within the context of this deeply fucked-up city. Certainly the characters were drawn to feel like actual people. Returns was just Tim Burton's Batman, for good and ill.
I like exactly two things about this movie:
• Arnold is visibly having fun, so you can imagine a better performance had there been a less insipid script; and
• it makes Forever look restrained and grown-up by comparison.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:42 AM on April 30 [3 favorites]
I think you all are overlooking the Lego Batman movie. (And The Lego Movie as well, for that matter.) Growly Will Arnett Batman for the win!
posted by SPrintF at 6:36 AM on April 30 [4 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 6:36 AM on April 30 [4 favorites]
Batman & Robin was where Schumacher just pushed it a little too far. I actually thought Batman Forever worked, and perhaps a lot of that was with Jim Carrey's performance, or maybe it was because there were fewer batsuit nipples. (That's right, no one has mentioned the nipples yet in this thread!)
This film wanted to be as cheesy as the Adam West Batman, but at the same time, balance that against the more serious undertone of the previous Batmans...and welp, that didn't jive.
Perhaps because I was in the right demographic (9 years old) when Burton's first Batman came out, but I loved it, and the second follow up, was great - minus the Burtonesque twist on the Penguin...gawd, that character was disgusting (but Devito did what he was hired to do!). Likewise, Pfiefer set the standard for an onscreen Catwoman that years later, Halle Berry had to deal with.
But this movie, this movie just didn't work at all. I thought Clooney actually was a decent Bruce Wayne, though.
posted by Atreides at 7:14 AM on April 30 [1 favorite]
This film wanted to be as cheesy as the Adam West Batman, but at the same time, balance that against the more serious undertone of the previous Batmans...and welp, that didn't jive.
Perhaps because I was in the right demographic (9 years old) when Burton's first Batman came out, but I loved it, and the second follow up, was great - minus the Burtonesque twist on the Penguin...gawd, that character was disgusting (but Devito did what he was hired to do!). Likewise, Pfiefer set the standard for an onscreen Catwoman that years later, Halle Berry had to deal with.
But this movie, this movie just didn't work at all. I thought Clooney actually was a decent Bruce Wayne, though.
posted by Atreides at 7:14 AM on April 30 [1 favorite]
I saw this in the theater when it first came out, and at some point I checked my watch and noted the movie felt longer than it was (and was looking forward to it being over).
Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy movie had the same effect on me, and both are on my list of movies whose badness warped time.
posted by rochrobbb at 5:06 AM on May 8
Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy movie had the same effect on me, and both are on my list of movies whose badness warped time.
posted by rochrobbb at 5:06 AM on May 8
[loisgriffin] Atreides! That's a terrible word... nipple. [/loisgriffin]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:51 AM on May 8 [1 favorite]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:51 AM on May 8 [1 favorite]
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1997 didn’t seem so far away until I saw Clooney and remembered that actually it was more than 25 years ago. Geez. Loved getting to see him, Thurman, Schwartzenegger, and Silverstone. I didn’t really get caught up in the story or anything, but it was fun to watch.
The AV Club shredded it but with a nod of respect, so there’s that.
posted by bunderful at 7:16 PM on April 29