STARRING: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris
O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat
Hingle, Elle MacPherson, John Glover, Vivica A. Fox, Vendela K.
Thommessen, Elizabeth Sanders, Jeep Swenson, Coolio
1997, 126 Minutes, Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Description:
Following Val Kilmer's portrayal of the caped crusader in Batman Forever, the
fourth Batman feature stars George Clooney under the pointy-eared cowl, with
Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin the Boy Wonder. This time the dynamic duo is
up against the nefarious Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who is bent on
turning the world into an iceberg, and the slyly seductive but highly toxic
Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), who wants to eliminate all animal life and turn the
Earth into a gigantic greenhouse. Alicia Silverstone lends a hand as Batgirl,
and Elle McPherson plays the thankless role of Batman/Bruce Wayne's fiancé.
I won't go
whinging on about how bad Batman & Robin was. The film
can be summed up in one word: crap. But I will however go
on about how surprised I am at the vehement response Batman
& Robin got because, in the end, it is no better or worse
than the previous Batman Forever movie.
Whereas
Batman Forever irritated me so much that I wanted to walk
out, I also wanted to walk out of Batman & Robin - but
for different reasons. Batman Forever illustrated how
good the previous Batman films directed by Tim Burton
actually were and how director Joel Schumacher made a mess.
Batman
& Robin was, well, boring. In fact, it is merely Batman
Forever recycled. Both movies even start with the same scene -
with Batman suiting up. The city looks the same, the music score
is pretty much the same, there's the same campiness, the same
unfunny one liners, etc., etc.
But
I still don't get the furor about this movie. It's crap, alright,
but so was Batman Forever. Watching Batman &
Robin you can be forgiven for thinking that you are watching Batman
Forever again. I didn't expect much from Batman &
Robin and I didn't get much in return - in that sense the
movie delivered . . .
Description: