Rating of
1/4
Let's kick some ice!
MikeInMotion - wrote on 08/18/12
By this point, most people consider this to be one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and they are right. This is the film that completely destroyed the first Batman series on the big screen. Director Joel Schumacher took everything from his first (mediocre) effort, Batman Forever, and took everything to the extreme. The dialogue is even cornier, the acting is somehow worse, and the plot is just ridiculous. In the grand scheme of things, Batman & Robin is the absolute worst Batman film ever made, and will probably hold that title for a LONG time.
What is the genius plot they came up with this time? Batman & Robin are trying to stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from covering Gotham City with Ice and Vegetation. Mr. Freeze needs to steal diamonds because he needs them to survive following an accident that occurred in his lab. Poison Ivy wants to kill all humans because of how cruel they are to plants, and then have her mutated plants to be the masters of the world. Yup! Somebody actually sat down and decided that this would be a good plot. Not only that, but lets throw in a new hero, Batgirl, annoyingly portrayed by Alicia Silverstone. Also, while all of this is going on, Alfred is slowly dying from a disease called Macgregor’s Syndrome. Oh, and Robin is still annoying and wants to be trusted by batman. It seems like the crew had a lot crappy ideas, and instead of just picking one and trying to flesh it out to something meaningful, they said, “Hey… let’s use ALL OF THEM!!!”.
Batman has once again been recast, this time being played by George Clooney. He is not a very good Bruce Wayne, as he doesn’t really have the charm or wit the character should have. The acting isn’t terrible, especially compared to what else you’ll find in this movie, but is definitely far from ideal. Chris O’Donnell also returns as his sidekick, Robin. His acting is just as bad as it was last time around, and the character is still annoying, but that’s more the writer’s fault.
Continuing the tradition of Batman Forever, Batman & Robin is campy, way campier than the previous film. Pretty much everything that Mr. Freeze says is a cringe-inducing one-liner, and much of the dialogue from everyone else is either emotionless or pointless. Bruce Wayne, Robin, and Bat Girl all deliver some pretty terrible lines, and given the *talent* of each actor, it makes the dialogue even worse. Poison Ivy’s character isn’t as bad as most of the others, as she doesn’t fall into the whacky, over-the-top characterization that is stamped on most villains in the Schumacher Batman films. She is a very deceptive character that lures people in with her charm, and basically puts them under a spell in which she can tell them to do anything and they will do it. Her dialogue might not be much more inspired than anyone else’s, but the character itself is much more interesting.
Batman & Robin tries a LOT of different things, and falls on its face almost every time. More villains, more heroes, and more camp is not the direction that a filmmaker should go in for a sequel. The whole thing just reeks of a cash-grab. The attention to the script is non-existent, the actors all give mostly terrible performances, and Joel Schumacher wraps it all up in one giant, disastrous neon-ribbon. Batman & Robin is, quite simply, a horrible movie that never should have gotten the green-light. The only positive I can think of for this movie is that it showed everybody how NOT to make a Batman movie.
