Jasonic's Favorites: Batman & Robin
Hello, and good evening, Internet!
The title may as well be clickbait because most people despise this movie. As with Batman Forever, however, I am simply reviewing this movie as a means of going over Batman's history in cinema for the purpose of this blog.
Released in 1997, Batman & Robin is one of -- if not THE most -- despised comic book movies of all time for a number of reasons. For one, Tim Burton was not involved in this production in any way, meaning that his influence was never felt. While Joel Schumacher as a director could be dark even in deleted scenes of Batman Forever, he made the executive decision to go full lighthearted camp for this movie, resulting in this movie's justified, but in some ways undeserved, backlash it receives even to this day. On top of that, the actor playing Batman was replaced AGAIN this time by George Clooney, an actor known for more comical performances, Arnold Schwarzenegger is at his campiest with delivering some of the most infamous ice puns known to man, and, like Batman Forever, the movie exists solely to sell toys as opposed to deliver quality content to comic book fans and moviegoers alike. With as bad of a reputation as it received, it's no surprise to see that the Batman film franchise was rightfully rebooted 8 years later with Batman Begins, which took the character back into a properly dark direction and allowed audiences to forget this movie even existed. Originally, I avoided this movie like the plague for the reason that everyone on the Internet, critic or otherwise, called it trash and therefore I believed that watching it was like peering into the the PS2's Red Screen of Death -- in other words, horrifyingly unfunny. All that said, Batman & Robin shockingly has a cult following with some such as my sister even liking it for George Clooney and its campiness among other things, which shocked me as I never knew a single person who liked it until then. When I decided to give this movie a chance alongside the Batman media I was consuming a few years back, I found myself having an epiphany and believing that there was enjoyment to be had in watching movies that are considered the worst especially when it's as infamous as this. That said, does Batman & Robin ultimately deserve the hate it gets? For the final time in the Burton/Schumacher era of Batman, let's strap on the bat cowl, charge up our bat gadgets, and dare to grapple our way into the silliness that is Batman & Robin!
*SPOILERS for a 25+ year old movie* (I'm old)
The story picks up however long after Batman Forever; in it, Bruce Wayne/Batman (George Clooney) and Dick Grayson/Robin (Chris O'Donnell) are summoned to stop a museum heist orchestrated by Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his ice-skating thugs. Although he tries to kill them, the heroes pursue until Freeze apprehends Robin with his ice gun and ultimately escaping, Batman saving Robin before the latter freezes to death. Bruce, Dick, and their butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough) soon discover that Mr. Freeze was formerly Dr. Victor Fries whose goal was to restore his wife, Nora (Vendela Kirsebom), from a terminal disease and that a lab accident resulted in him being forced to live life at subzero temperatures using a sub-zero suit powered by diamonds -- which Freeze successfully stole a large one from the museum. Meanwhile in Brazil, Wayne Enterprises botanist, Dr. Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman) is shocked to discover her partner, Jason Woodrue (John Glover), is using her plant toxins to create a supersoldier serum known as Venom, which the latter uses to turn serial killer, Antonio Diego (Michael Reid MacKay), into an abomination known as Bane (Robert Swenson). When Woodrue discovers Isley stumbling upon his experiment showcase, she attempts to expose him only for him to attempt on her life; to Isley's fortune, she is injected with her various plant toxins, mutating into the plant-controlling goddess named Poison Ivy and killing Woodrue, partnering with Bane and heading to Gotham City. When her attempt at a partnership with Bruce Wayne to save the environment fails, she intrudes upon Bruce's charity event to lure Freeze out by auctioning off his Wayne Family diamond, which Ivy wears before Freeze sabotages the event, takes the diamond, and attempts to escape with it. Forcing Robin to stay back and not help him, Batman incapacitates Freeze and has him incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Robin jealous of living in Batman's shadow while also frustrated that he won't trust him enough to a point where the two fight over Ivy for mysterious reasons. When Ivy breaks Freeze out of the asylum with Bane, the world eventually falls under the threat of Freeze utilizing Wayne Enterprises' telescope to freeze out Gotham before turning to the world with Ivy hoping to give new life to it by overrunning the world with her plants and plant-like creatures. With Alfred's neice, Barbara Wilson (Alicia Silverstone) thrown into the mix, the partnership between Batman and Robin as well as the world of Gotham will never be the same.
Like Batman Forever before it, the movie's plot is full of good and sound ideas on paper, but the execution is overshadowed by the story's campy nature, resulting in a very cartoonish live action movie, villains taking over the world and all. People more often than not fault the movie for this approach merely because they don't expect a superhero, much less Batman, to take this approach outside of the 60s Adam West show, which this movie no doubt took inspiration from tonally. From Mr. Freeze's ice-skating thugs, the many infamous ice puns of Mr. Freeze and other characters referring to him, and the cartoony nature of some of the actors and locales, there have been many an outcry from angry fans and critics who believe this movie is insufferable for going this direction even back then when the darkest Batman movie was only two movies before it. So what do I think of it? Call me out for my hot takes all you want, but I think this movie is the perfect way to introduce your kids to the live action realm of Batman simply because I get the feeling that was what it was made for. After the initial outcry against Tim Burton for making Batman Returns "too dark" and unsettling for the kids, Joel Schumacher showed twice with Batman Forever and this movie that Batman could be portrayed as family friendly during a time where family friendly films were more prominent than they are today. People of back then and today, of course, bash on this movie for being afraid of getting cold feet (no ice pun intended) by tackling more serious subject matter and I'm here to say that it is there, it just isn't as poignant as the way Tim Burton would have portrayed it had he directed this movie. For example, the plotline of Alfred being sick with the same disease as Nora tackles the serious issue of a character like Batman being afraid of losing a loved one again after he's tried for so many years to beat back death all around Gotham since that's the reason he took up crime fighting in the first place. Sure, it gets buried amidst the more comical elements of this movie, but during those scenes tackling such issues, I still felt the idea of the emotions especially since this Alfred was both the most significant figure in Bruce's life as well as the same actor throughout all four of these films. Sure, he ends up cured in the end, but my point stands that this movie still tackles some serious themes even if naysayers say that it's not there. If anything, I would say that the Alfred plotline and the themes of partnership and trust allow younger audiences to dip their toe into some potent superhero dilemmas before they get older and watch more serious superhero action flicks such as the darker Batman movies, the Spider-Man movies, and the endless amount of MCU products that tackle serious ideas while balancing out comical elements better than this movie does.
While I won't necessarily fault the movie for the intention and mindset behind it, I will say that despite the intentionally campy nature of the action scenes that I noticed some genuine issues with the fights and some of the editing involved. The opening fight scene of Batman and Robin against Mr. Freeze's thugs had me humming the Adam West Batman theme song, no doubt, but what took me out of it was the sound design and some obvious practical effects. Unlike most superhero fight scenes, which have genuine, impactful punch and kick sounds for the sake of the audience feeling such brutality, Batman and Robin's connecting hits sounded like soft pillow thumps that I hardly felt the impact of them beating up the thugs -- even the opening cartoon of those two hitting thugs in the Adam West show's intro is more effective; for what it was, the choreography was fine, but the connecting hits and their foley sounds left much to be desired. I also noticed a couple shots where the actors were so obviously on strings as their flying through the air looked wobly like I was watching an old superhero serial -- a problem that seemingly would have been fixed by 1997. Fortunately for the action scenes, the later fights become less oriented with practical effects and more dependent on zany CGI action so it's thankfully not a problem that persists throughout the entire film. One example of bad editing I noticed was during Robin's confrontation with Ivy, which Barbara/Batgirl foils; when Robin emerges from Ivy's pond while struggling with the underwater vines, the film runs forward then immediately backward to give the illusion that he's being dragged back under -- a classic film tactic not easily noticed when you're younger, but my adult self noticed. When Robin ultimately emerges after Batgirl defeats Ivy, the same shot of him emerging is used, but it actually finishes with him coming up to notice his new partner in crime fighting saved him. If that isn't lazy filmmaking, I'm not sure what is and based on the fact that this film came out only two years after it predecessor -- unlike the three year intervals of previous installments -- I wouldn't be surprised if production on both the action filming and editing fronts was rushed to meet a deadline of sorts. I rarely hear about this movie's production as is, but knowing what I know about filmmaking nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Naturally, most people dunk on the actors for being "too campy", but is it their fault the script turned out the way it did? Definitely not! In fact, I would say most of them did a decent job with what they were given; Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance here as Mr. Freeze is infamous for legendarily awful ice puns, but honestly it's a decent breakaway from the serious action movie hero with snarky one liners mold he's best known for in films like Terminator and Predator and he manages to blend well with the comical tone and delivery of everyone else. Given Freeze's dilemma in attempting to save his sick wife, there are also some wholly heartbreaking closeups of him about to cry over his wife being in suspended animation and then later shedding a tear that freezes over the lie that Ivy shares with him about his wife being unplugged -- the only times I feel bad for someone throughout this entire movie. George Clooney often gets a bad rep for his more upbeat protrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman due to the established nature of the character being a lot more of a brooding antihero, but while he's far from the best live action Batman, the line he gives to the Press telling them not to point the telescope satellites at his bedroom got a genuine chuckle out of me and his jawline in the costume looks more like a proper Batman than Kilmer did. Sure, his acting leaves something to be desired, but he got a little bit right as far as some line deliveries and the Batman look. Chris O'Donnell is mostly remembered in this movie for being a whiny brat with his Robin expressing his jealousy over being in Batman's shadow and I agree though his acting, hammy as it is at times, reminds me a bit of a jealous teenager who's not getting what he wants out of life, which is mostly what he is. As an actress known for "bad" and hokey movies such as this and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Alicia Silverstone isn't quite a standout in the acting department as Barbara Wilson/Batgirl, but her character's rebellious ways allowed her to stick out in my mind as someone willing to go out on a limb to do the right thing and that's what I like about her other than looks. On the other hand, Michael Gough (may he RIP) manages to give a genuinely heartfelt performance as Alfred with the way he expresses love for real family like Barbara and his son figures of Bruce and Dick to a point where I am legitimately emotional about his kind words as well as the legacy the actor himself left. Perhaps, the most underrated performance of this movie is Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy; her character's initial persona of a meek scientist lady before becoming a sexy, seductive villainess is very reminiscent of Michelle Pfieffer's transformation into Catwoman in Batman Returns and although her thematic presence isn't as poignant as Pfeiffer's character, she manages to be seductive with her persona and wiles in a way that makes her feel like the real Poison Ivy fans know. There are a few moments where her performance is so cartoonishly cheesy (i.e.: her yelling "Curses!" when defeated), but otherwise, she's the typical over-the-top Batman villain performance this film franchise is known for.
To this movie's credit, it actually has better visual effects and CGI than Batman Forever two years before it. The CGI wideshots of Gotham's gigantic statues that make up the buildings have better graphics than the primitive 1995 CGI in wideshots of the previous movie, proving that while CGI was in its infancy during this time, it still came a bit of ways when they were making this movie. Mr. Freeze's freeze rays also don't look very cheaply made and like a real weapon that can fire such and the ice that encapsulates its victims make me feel cold looking at them. When Poison Ivy's plants start growing upon her taking over the Turkish Baths building, the graphics on those still look a bit cartoony/video gamey like what you'd see in games at the time, but perhaps that was the point because Poison Ivy's live plants that can envelop and strangle their victims aren't the most realistic things that exist in fiction. Perhaps the most impressive use of CGI is during the Mr. Freeze chase scene with the Batmobile and Robin's motorcycle; as brief as it is, them breaking through the statue and running down its arm during the escape looks like it's actually happening unlike the early CGI of the original Tron in the 80s. For that matter, whether or not they used a CGI model of Robin on the motorcycle is beyond me, but his appearance in those shots didn't stick out like a sore thumb so whatever they did to render him into the shot thankfully didn't suspend my disbelief. Apart from CGI, the actors and extras with makeup on look decently done as well; Mr. Freeze himself is, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger painted with blue and white prosthetic makeup and the complex costume they gave him (a process that took about six hours to apply each day, I might add), make him appear like someone who would legitimately cold to the touch. In addition to that, whatever they did to make his cold features look like they were receding when he exited sub-zero temperatures make it look like he could have easily died outside of it -- I almost couldn't help, but feel bad for him then. Freeze's henchmen who accompany him at his lair also appear to have some kind of icy aesthetic draped across their skin and, like Mr. Freeze himself, I feel chilled looking at them. Even the neon painted thugs that occupy Turkish Baths stick out in the black light of the location before Ivy takes over, and their appearance is pretty consistent with some similar-looking thugs that appear in Batman Forever, showing that Schumacher was pretty consistent with the aesthetic of his Gotham City. However much of a departure Schumacher's Batman/Gotham City was from Burton's vision in the previous films, there's no denying that he managed to make everything visually appealing.
However you look at it, Batman & Robin is not the best thing that ever (far from it), however it's not so bad that there were absolutely no good qualities about it -- I clearly managed to find a a few. As far as plot, tone, and themes, it's the perfect kids' introduction to live action Batman, and while the action and sound design leave something to a lot to be desired, it has decent to good campy acting, good CGI, prosthetic makeup, and an aesthetic that make it stand out from other awful movies. Ultimately, the best way to look at this movie is to view it for what it was: a film mandated to be more toyetic -- meaning made to sell toys -- by its studio and promptly done so by the director. Whether Schumacher wanted it to be that way is a different discusssion, but the bottom line was that it was made to be campy like I mentioned many times already -- I promise I won't say it again. As far as my enjoyment of this movie, I find that it's better enjoyed as a funny romp of a live action cartoon and not meant to be taken seriously like most other Batman movies -- I mentioned before that my sister liked it for George Clooney among other reasons. I will never say that Batman & Robin is my most favorite movie ever, but I won't say it's a bore, slog, or whatever sort of negative fest that I don't get any sort of enjoyment out of it. Personally, I would say it's the most fun bad movie ever and I imagine that I would have enjoyed it alongside Forever had I known or been allowed to watch either of them when I was a kid -- back then, I really loved simple stories about heroes saving the world from being conquered/destroyed and still kind of do. For that matter, I'll give this movie a D+ and recommend it to young kids getting to know Batman, the new and current fans of Batman who want to see everything, or people looking for a fun movie to roast in their free time with or without friends to accompany them.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
Comments
Post a Comment