Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997)

From: [email-masked] (John M. Bozeman)
Date: 23 Jun 1997 15:28:08 GMT

BATMAN AND ROBIN
                       A film review by John M. Bozeman
                        Copyright 1997 John M. Bozeman

    Tonight I made it to a sneak preview of _Batman and Robin_,
the new Batman movie.  Featured is George Clooney as the newest
incarnation of Batman, with Chris O'Donnell returning as his side-kick 
Robin.  Joining the caped crusaders is Alicia Silverstone as Bat Girl--
who is not the police commissioner's daughter this time (which is
just as well, as most of the police here seem as dumb as a box of
rocks), but rather as Alfred's niece, Barbara, who comes to visit
and then stays after getting kicked out of a posh school somewhere.
And finally, there are the Bad Guys--Uma Therman as Poison Ivy,
and "Ah-nold" Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze.

   The strongest part of the movie is certainly not the plot, 
which would have been hard to follow had the film not been
so amazingly unsubtle.  In fact, several plots vie for attention:
on the one hand, there are super villains who must be created
and who then begin rampaging through Gothem City.  However, there
are also problems at home:  Robin is chaffing under Batman's
overly protective tutelage.  Alfred's neice feels that Alfred
has been exploited by Bruce Wayne.  And, worst of all, Alfred
himself is dying.  These various threads do manage to remain
at least tenuously connected throughout the entire movie,
though perhaps at the cost of some depth of characterization.

   But if plot is not the film's forte, what is?  The answer
would probably be spectacle.  On many occassions the film goes
over the top--and keeps on going, and going, and going...
The action is incredible, to the point of being at time preposterous.
The art direction and city design isn't just eye-catching, it is
eye-popping.  The ulimate goal  of  the villains isn't just
wealth, or even world conquest--it is human extinction.  And
in the Bat Cave, the weighty issues of trust and loyalty
are examined.

   So what to make of the film?  On the one hand, we have a
somewhat weak plot.  On the other, we have over-the-top action,
visuals, and melodrama galore.  What makes this combination work
as well as it does is the vital element of humor, which somehow
keeps the film chugging merrily along.  Each of the stars 
have their share of one-liners that serves
both to lighten things up and to humanize the characters.
And, for once, the bad guys don't get all the good lines.
One example:  when Batman and Robin first encounter Barbara
in costume after a fight, they ask her who she is.  
"Bat Girl," she replies.  Batman muses, "That's not very 
politically correct.  How about `Bat Woman'?  Or `Bat Person'?"

   There is also a very funny scene when Batman and Robin meet
Poison Ivy at a charity auction, and she enchants them with
a pheromone dust.  The two heros proceed to bid for her hand.
"One million!" says Batman.  "Two million!" says Robin.
Batman is shocked, as whispers, "You don't have two million!"
Robin replies and says, "I'll borrow it form you!"  

   In conclusion, I would say that the movie rates about
3 stars on a four star scale.  While the the film is a bit long
(about 2 1/2 hours, including previews), contains some serious
flaws in logic, and has special effects that vary from impressive
to just silly, its humor and sheer audacity score a number 
of points.  Also, some of the flaws of the prior movies of 
the series are corrected:  the villains are better drawn and
have interesting motivations; also, one villian does not overshadow 
the other in appeal (as the Cat Woman did the Penguin, or as the 
Riddler did Two-Face).  Clooney is less of a block of wood than
Val Kilmer was.  And gadgets do not overshadow characterization
as badly as in the past.

Overall grade:  B+, or  *** out of ****