Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Alex Fung)
Date: 24 Jun 1997 16:03:54 GMT

BATMAN AND ROBIN
                       A film review by Alex Fung
                        Copyright 1997 Alex Fung

(Warner Bros. - 1997)
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma
  Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough
Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman
Produced by Peter Macgregor-Scott
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Running time: 130 minutes

                      *1/2 (out of four stars)

Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers.
      Be forewarned. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

   "Quick, Robin! The anti-shark repellant!"
          - Adam West in the 1966 BATMAN feature film,
            casually kicking at a pathetic-looking rubber
            shark attached to his leg 

I had never thought that an entry in the modern incarnation
of the BATMAN feature film would approach this level of
campiness, but in many instances BATMAN AND ROBIN nears, and at
some point even exceeds this standard.  This is a
disasterously bad film, easily the worst in the series to
date, and fairly epitomizes a cinematic definition of the word
excessive - it's loud, garish, and obnoxious, with pointless,
gratuitous action sequences and set pieces which clutter up
the screen with elaborate production design to the point of
overkill. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN features the Caped Crusaders (George Clooney
debuting as Batman, with Chris O'Donnell returing as Robin)
squaring off against another bevy of chemically-induced
villains - the nefarious ice-cold Mr. Freeze (Arnold
Schwarzenegger), armed with a weapon which freezes everything
in its sights, and the slinky Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), who
has the ability to blow powerful love dust into the faces of
men in order so that they will fall helplessly in love with
her (not that the dust is really necessary to accomplish this
result, but whatever), and then dispatch them with a poisoned
kiss.  By Ivy's side is the giant steroid monster Bane (Jeep
Swanson), a grunting hulk of a beast.  The villains' goals
are noble ones - Freeze steals diamonds to power his climate
suit (in order to keep his body temperature at zero degrees),
so that he can survive in order to devise a cure for his
beloved wife (Vendela), dying of a degenerative disease and
frozen in suspended animation, and Ivy's intent is to restore
the dominance of plant life on Earth, albeit by destroying all
human life.  Meanwhile, on the homefront, life at Wayne Manor
is thrown into upheaval by the illness of butler Alfred
Pennyworth (Michael Gough), and the arrival of his niece
Barbara (Alicia Silverstone). 

Akiva Goldsman's screenplay for the film is ridiculous and
laughably bad, with astonishingly terrible dialogue, lame
jokes, and an awful by-the-number plot which simply coasts
along and fails to generate any genuine excitement.  It makes
Goldsman's screenplay of BATMAN FOREVER, which I thought was
dreadful, look positively inspired in comparison. I am still
astonished that a cheesy plot device which I'd seen used in -
no joke - an episode of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND somehow make its
way into a multimillion dollar blockbuster production. 

Joel Schumacher's direction of BATMAN AND ROBIN is horrific,
with a terrible balance of flashiness over substance.  There
is a clear conceit towards neon in this film, even moreso
than with his previous BATMAN FOREVER, with the revamped
Batcave helpfully sporting gigantic glowing emblems for the
Dynamic Duo (just in case, I suppose, if they ever happen to
forget that the Batcave is the headquarters of Batman and
Robin), and with neon prominently figuring in an
utterly-pointless fight sequence with Bane and a street gang
over Ivy's chosen new abode.  Another action sequence which
fails to serve any useful point other than to chew up five
minutes of screentime involves an incredibly uninvolving
late-night motorcycle race with Barbara and some Gotham
goons.  Mr. Schumacher's focus for BATMAN AND ROBIN appears to
be to make the film as visually striking as possible, to the
detriment of the story - there are drastic shifts in the tone
of the film between all-out camp and heartfelt drama, with
the latter completely unconvincing and ineffective. 

It is perhaps not the most promising of signs when the group
I was with burst out laughing within twenty seconds of the
film's opening, even before a single line of dialogue had
been uttered.  Is BATMAN AND ROBIN supposed to be campy? I
think it is - it's hard to imagine that the filmmakers could
have intended many parts of the film to be taken at all
seriously.  (One of my favourites was when Bane helpfully
grunted "Bomb!" each time he laid down an explosive device in
the Gotham Observatory.)  Is it supposed to be as overly
campy as it turned out to be? I somehow doubt it - the
subplot involving Afred is delivered so solemnly and with
such graveness that the impression is made that the film
isn't attempting to be the utter farce which it is. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger is top-billed in the film as the
villainous Mr. Freeze, and is bland and uninteresting,
perhaps the worst thing that a villain can be.  Mr.
Schwarzenegger's attempts to be menacing are laughable, and
his attempts at conveying pathos are laughable; frankly,
everything he does onscreen is laughable.  By the end of the
film, I was stifling a chuckle every time he simply appeared
onscreen.  The bulk of his performance consists of uttering
near-unintelligble puns and one-liners featuring every
possible permutation of "Cool!" in the least inventive way. 

George Clooney has been given very little to do in BATMAN AND
ROBIN, being overshadowed by the villains, and consequently
he looks rather uncomfortable in the film.  His Batman is
hardly an imposing figure.  Chris O'Donnell is unimpressive
in a one-note performance, while Alicia Silverstone
lackadasically fails to make any impression at all. 

The film's one saving grace? Undoubtably Uma Thurman's
entertaining performance as sexy villainess Poison Ivy.  Her
work in BATMAN AND ROBIN is certainly over-the-top, but in a
controlled fashion which works splendidly within the tone of
the film.  Ms. Thurman's comic timing is impeccable, and
reminds us that it takes skilled performers to make campiness
work successfully.  (I'm already starting to positively
reassess Jim Carrey's performance in BATMAN FOREVER.)  Her
amusing Poison Ivy is the most entertaining character in the
film, and when she's offscreen the film greatly suffers.  I
figure that if one has to die, being kissed to death by Uma
Thurman isn't a half-bad way to go. 

While BATMAN AND ROBIN was hardly a ride of pulse-pounding
excitement, I must admit that I was not bored watching it,
although I did glance at my watch repeatedly through the
screening - my attention was kept through anticipation of the
utterance of yet another terrible pun or one-liner, and by
awaiting yet another scene to fall flat.  It's been a long
time since I've laughed so much at a movie.  "At", of course,
is the operative word. 

      - Alex Fung
      email: [email-masked]
      web  : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/