From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:24:59 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:08 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!surfnet.nl!newsgate.unisource.nl!fido.news.demon.net!demon!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!europa.clark.net!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: jmb5b@faraday.clas.virginia.edu (John M. Bozeman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 15:28:08 GMT Organization: - Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5om4m8$1aj@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: jmb5b@faraday.clas.virginia.edu (John M. Bozeman) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07915 Keywords: author=Bozeman Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Lines: 72 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7331 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1372 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 **** From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:04 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:09 1997 From: mrbrown@ucla.edu (Michael Dequina) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 16:27:07 GMT Organization: Yale CS Mail/News Gateway Lines: 117 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5om84r$1he@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: mrbrown@ucla.edu (Michael Dequina) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07925 Keywords: author=Dequina Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Path: news.ifm.liu.se!hk-r!genius!seunet!news2.swip.net!mn6.swip.net!nntp.uio.no!news-feed.inet.tele.dk!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7300 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1360 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Michael Dequina Copyright 1997 Michael Dequina Batman and Robin (PG-13) * 1/2 (out of ****) Holy Bat-astrophe! The Batman film franchise as we know it is dead, thanks to Batman and Robin, director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman's campy and most disrespectfully lighthearted reinterpretation of Bob Kane's Dark Knight. To most clearly and thoroughly address all that is wrong with this Bat-flick, I will first review the film character by character: Bruce Wayne/Batman (George Clooney): Clooney has gone on record that his aim in taking on the role of Batman was to wipe off the scowl from under the cowl and lighten up the Caped Crusader. Big mistake. What seems to be lost on Clooney, Schumacher, and Goldsman is that angst and brooding is what makes Batman Batman--strip away that and you have in effect stripped away the meat of the character, not to mention the whole motivation behind millionaire Bruce's nocturnal adventures in a rubber rodent suit. So what Clooney serves up is a not-too-interesting guy with a grin perpetually glued onto his face, a flat, distant character we have absolutely no insight into whatsoever. Dick Grayson/Robin (Chris O'Donnell): I am not a Robin fan; I never have been, and I probably never will. However, despite a shaky, whiny beginning, O'Donnell made me tolerate the Boy Wonder by the end of Batman Forever by simply calming down. In Batman and Robin, though, Dick and Robin are back in ultrawhiny mode, playing up the petty jealousy and brash youth and naivete which are the very characteristics which annoy Robin-haters the most. Presumably, the audience is supposed to sympathize with Dick/Robin's frustration with not being treated as an adult by Bruce/Batman, but based on his behavior in the film, there is no reason for Bruce/Batman to treat Dick/Robin as anything but the whiny kid he comes off as. Barbara Wilson/Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone): The big problem with Batgirl is that no one figured out how to fit her into the story. Unlike the introduction of Dick/Robin in Forever, which tied directly into the storyline with Two-Face, Barbara, Alfred's (Michael Gough) niece, simply turns up on the Wayne Manor doorstep in act one and, in a most superfluous subplot, is revealed a closet biker chick in act two. There is an attempt at convergence in act three, when Barbara becomes Batgirl (though her ear-less getup makes her more resemble Robingirl) and aids the dynamic duo in their cause, but her most significant contribution is pulling an Ariana Richards in Jurassic Park (that is, hack into a computer). The zaftig Silverstone is a good enough sport, but she never appears completely comfortable as either biker Barbara or brainy Barbara (or, for that matter, in her rubber costume). Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger): The filmmakers seem the most confused with how do deal with Dr. Victor Fries. Schumacher and Goldsman use the tragic origin for the character from Batman: The Animated Series--Dr. Fries experimented with cryogenics in an effort to save his terminally ill wife, Nora (played by supermodel Vendela), but a lab mishap made him unable to survive in non-freezing temperatures. Instead of leaving it at that, in an apparent concession to the casting of Schwarzenegger in the role, Mr. Freeze is a wisecracker, which is totally at odds with the tragic depiction that is also presented. What results is a most jarring mess of a character. Case in point: one early scene shows a somber Freeze wistfully watching old home movies of him and his wife. Suddenly, an underling comes in and interrupts his viewing with some important news. Freeze turns around in his chair, freezes the guy with his freezing gun, and quips, "I hate it when people talk during the movie." Just what exactly are Schumacher and company going after here? Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman): The one character that is the slightest bit done right is that of seductive eco-terrorist Pamela Isley--but it's more due to Thurman's lively performance than anything done by the filmmakers. Like Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns (though not nearly as good), Thurman has a firm grasp on the key to her character: she's not a vamp, she's a natural wallflower acting like a vamp--thus the act is that much more extreme. Thurman pulls it off beautifully, but, in the end, even she's not immune to Schumacher and Goldsman's camp. For a gifted scientist, her master plan--to populate the world with toothed, tongued plants that come straight out of Little Shop of Horrors--is idiotic. Bane (Jeep Swenson): Idiotic doesn't quite cover what is done to the character of Bane, who definitely is the most ruined character in this film treatment. In the Batman comics, Bane is Batman's ultimate challenge--not only is he physically stronger than Bruce Wayne, he is also smarter. The problem is that the venom which coarses through his veins makes him crazy. In Batman and Robin, the only thing left of Bane comic fans know and love is his bulk and the venom. Bane is nothing more than a generic, grunting, intelligence-impaired, muscled henchman to Poison Ivy. The saddest thing about the raping of Bane, he being a rather recent addition to the Batman comic universe, is that most mainstream moviegoers won't even know that anything has been done wrong. Schumacher and Goldsman's wrongdoing do not end with the characters. Their most heinous crime is the overwhelming atmosphere of camp, from Batman pulling out a Bat-credit card during an auction to Mr. Freeze's bunny slippers, polar bear pajamas, and freezer full of frozen dinners. Schumacher has said that he wanted to "put some 'comic' back in comic book," but he forgets what comic book he's dealing with--Batman, which is a "comic" book in name only. In camping everything up, Schumacher, who claims to be a comic book fan, just reinforces the most widely held stereotype about comics--that they're just for kids. The irony is, of course, that the film Batman and Robin is more juvenile than any Batman comic you'd find on the stands today. I can go on about what is wrong with Batman and Robin, but I must give some credit where credit is due. B&R does boast the most impressive visual effects of the series; effects supervisor John Dykstra (of the recently closed Warner Bros. effects house) comes up with some very convincing for Freeze's freezing weapons and Ivy's pheremone dust. Production designer Barbara Ling provides another striking vision of Gotham, with its towering buildings and statues. And, yes, I guess I can say something "positive" about Schumacher's work--he's an equal opportunity exploiter. Not only are we treated to a Batman and Robin suiting-up sequence filled with butt, crotch, and chest shots, their female counterpart is similarly exploited when she gets her chance to suit up. The most telling indication of Batman & Robin's shoddiness is the audience reaction at the screening I attended. When the lights dimmed and the curtain rose, the crowd cheered, and it applauded the names of the five main stars. When the film ended with the image of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl running in front of the Batsignal, there was a smattering of tepid applause, but mostly boos. Let the Bat-lash begin. __________________________________________________________ Michael Dequina mrbrown@ucla.edu | mj23@the18thhole.com Visit Mr. Brown's Movie Site at http://members.tripod.com/~MrBrown/ Personal Page: http://members.tripod.com/~MrBrown/home.html __________________________________________________________ From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:10 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:10 1997 From: ben.hoffman@bcsbbs.com (Ben Hoffman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 17:07:54 GMT Organization: The BCS BBS - Los Angeles, CA - 213-962-2902 Lines: 56 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5omaha$21b@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: ben.hoffman@bcsbbs.com (Ben Hoffman) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07928 Keywords: author=B.Hoffman Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!news.tizeta.it!rain.fr!news-paris.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!news-lond.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!uknet!uknet!EU.net!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7317 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1367 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Ben Hoffman Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman A new Batman, who when not Batman-ing around town is really Bruce Wayne (George Clooney); a shiny new Batmobile that can ride upside down on the ceiling of a tunnel; a new villain, Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) Robin (Chris O'Donnell) now has a turbo-charged motorcycle and is better able to assist Batman; some old character actors from various prior Batman films; Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler, friend and father figure, and Gotham City's harried Police Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle). Add to that Barbara Eilson, "Batgirl" (the lovely, sprightly Alicia Silverstone); the stunning model Elle McPherson who has the role of Julie Madison, in love with Bruce. But the one who grabs the ball and runs with it through the whole film is Uma Thurman as the villainous Poison Ivy. In addition to her own shapely lines, Akiva Goldman who wrote the script has given Poison Ivy the best lines. Ivy was not always a villain. She once was Dr. Pamela Isley, a good person, a botanist, but something happened that turned her into Poison Ivy whose kiss means death. Robin comes close to touching lips with her. The fact is, Robin has a crush on her and when Batman tries to warn him about her, he argues that Batman is just jealous because he is actually in love with her himself. It looked for a while that Batman and Robin might actually split up. Like Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze was not always a hateful person. As the famous Dr. Victor Fries, a molecular scientist, he tried to cryogenically preserve his wife who was terminally ill so that one day when a cure was found for her illness, she could be defrosted. Something went badly wrong with that operation and turned Fries into a madman, mad at the whole world. Schwarzenegger does a great job as Mr. Freeze. He is aided by some fancy special effects that freeze people and objects when he fires on them with a special gun. No action movie, it seems, is anything without special effects; fortunately for us, they are getting better and better. Lots of action, lots of freezing and defrosting and shooting and terrorizing Gotham but all with humor. While Batman and Robin go about their business of saving the city, Freeze and Poison Ivy keep the film rolling. They and the special effects are what give the film whatever value it has. The visual effects are the work of John Dykstra. Directed by Joel Schumacher who also directed BATMAN FOREVER. 2.5 Bytes 4 bytes = Superb 3 bytes = Too good to miss 2 bytes = Average 1 byte = Save your money Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:13 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:11 1997 From: jestertb@tiac.net (Terri Buchman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 17:12:16 GMT Organization: - Lines: 105 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5omapg$222@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: jestertb@tiac.net (Terri Buchman) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07932 Keywords: author=Buchman Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Path: news.ifm.liu.se!hk-r!genius!seunet!news2.swip.net!mn6.swip.net!nntp.uio.no!news.uoregon.edu!marlin.ucsf.edu!overload.lbl.gov!agate!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7306 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1362 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Terri Buchman Copyright 1997 Terri Buchman BATMAN AND ROBIN: ahm, well, that was something. I'm not quite sure what, but that was something. I'm not sorry that I went, but I'm not sure I'd go again. It had terrible, horrible, teeth-grindingly bad dialogue that made me want to slap not only the credited screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman, but every Elementary school teacher who ever told him he could write. (What could they have been thinking?) On the other hand, there were some solidly gorgeous visuals in the flick, the costuming was a hoot and Uma Thurman ain't half bad as Poison Ivy. So, I'd say flip a coin. Heads, the visuals win and you get to spend two+ hours in air conditioning. Tails, the dopey plot is just too difficult to take. This is one loud damn picture. (Which is actually sort of a mixed blessing, since some of the idiotic dialogue is acutally drowned out. Just thank the Divine for small miracles and pass the popcorn.) I'm not exactly sure of the specific plot sequence, but it doesn't really matter. Batman and Robin get another couple of psychotic bad guys to fight, one armor-clad uber-male and one barely clad uber-female. The Caped Crusader has also been very busy in the old Bat-metalshop and has come up with a host of new bat toys that I almost actually saw. (It was a somewhat dimly lit picture. Why Warner Bros would spend mega-bucks developing all these cool toys and then forget to light the set so that the audiience can acutally see them is beyond me, but there it is.) Let's see, what else do I remember.? (It was that kind of a picture. You have trouble recalling what the heck was in it ten minutes after you leave the theater.) Well, Chris O'Donnell was in it. This was actually a highlight of the movie for me, since my 12 year old daughter has a huge crush on Mr. O'Donnell and sighed heavily every time he came on screen. (You haven't lived until you've been to an action picture with a love-sick preteen. I knew parenthood would be tough, but I never thought I would have to warn my daughter about getting involved with guys who have obvious rubber fetishes. On the other hand, it made the picture more interesting.) I really, really like George Clooney. He has a nice screen presence. Unfortunately (And it kills me to say this, because I really like Mr. Clooney) his Batman is not really very good. (No wonder my daughter has a crush on Mr. O'Donnell instead of Mr. Clooney. Mr. O'Donnell has a pulse and his Robin is a bit of a rebel. He's very cute. Mr. Clooney's Batman acts like the dorm mother in a large frat house. "No, you can't get your own car until you've proved you can handle it. No I will not loan you money. You have lousy taste in women. Would you stop whining all the time and act your age." Geez, if I were Robin I'd leave Wayne Manor and set up shop somewhere else. Batman is getting a little stodgy and difficult to be around. Alicia Silverstone plays Batgirl. Yawn. Okay, everybody loves the Bat-Villains. (Well, sorta. I loved Catwoman in the second Bat movie, but I hated the Penguin. I loved Nicholson's Joker and Carrey's Riddler. I tolerated Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face. That's not a bad villain track-record.) Ahnold is ahm, well Ahnold. This poor, poor man is saddled with some of the worst puns and lamest, dumbest dialogue I've ever heard. (See .sig below. I've seen a lot of dumb dialogue and I am, generally speaking, a forgiving woman, but even I have a limit.) It's as though someone took all the dalogue from past Ahnold movies and put them in a Cuisinart and then gave him the finished product. The character's costume is fun (RoboCop Lite) and Ahnold certainly seems to be having fun with the part. But the character doesn't really take off and start doing this joyful dance of psychotic rebellion that the best Bat-Villains do. The character is weighted down by an indecisive plot that can't decide whether Mr. Freez is a deluded and sad character or a silly upbeat homicidal freak. I still can't figure it out. (Geez, they stole the characterization from one of the best episodes of 'Batman: The Animated Series.' The least they could have done was run with it. Victor Freez, sad and pathetic character who was, in a way, a victim of love.) Ahnold ain't a victim of anything and his Mr. Freez is an anti-climax. Uma Thurman is wonderful as Poison Ivy. Batman has a long tradition of infatuation with the wrong woman and Ivy is a truly messed-up Bat-Babe. Thurman is lively and beautiful and graceful and underclad as the luscious and vengeful Poison Ivy. She is the highlight of the movie. (Well, I also have a soft spot for Michael Gough who has been Alfred the Butler through all 4 installments of this series. He has surely endured a lot.) Ms. Thurman's performance isn't as rich as Michele Pfeiffer's was in BATMAN RETURNS, but she is a strong and funny character and is almost worth the price of admission. Gotham City is wonderfully, breathtakingly brought to life. (Damn. Writing this makes me think of that line of dialogue from BULL DURHAM. To paraphrase: This picture has a multi-million dollar art design, but a ten cent brain. Too bad.) Particular highlights include shots of all those wacky giant sculptures and a gorgeous and fully imagined shot of Arkham Asylum. (Could someone please tell MR. Schumacher that in the next picture we would like to see some of the stunning visuals put to good use. Hey, maybe we could break a few wackos out of Arkham, let them use their brains and give Bats a real challenge. That might be fun.) Anyway, I can neither recommend nor discourage anyone from going to see BATMAN & ROBIN. It depends on how you like your action flicks. If you like bright, loud, splashy popcorn movies and don't mind bad dialgoue and extremely fuzzy plotting, then go, have fun. (Hey, if you happen to like lots of shots of black-rubber clad toushies, then this is the picture for you.) If you want movies to make sense and you want a picture that slows down for five minutes so that you can actually find out what the heck is going on, then pick something else. terrib I really liked some of it. Honest-to-gawd. But then again, I really, really hated parts of it. Go figure. From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:17 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:13 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!neru.mt.luth.se!newsfeed2.luth.se!news.luth.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news99.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!mn6.swip.net!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!sn.no!uninett.no!news-feed.inet.tele.dk!news.maxwell.syr.edu!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: berardin@bc.cybernex.net (James Berardinelli) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 17:13:25 GMT Organization: - Lines: 118 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5omarl$225@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: berardin@bc.cybernex.net (James Berardinelli) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07935 Keywords: author=Berardinelli Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7339 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1375 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 4.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of **** United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 6/20/97 (wide) Running Length: 2:06 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Cast: George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle Macpherson, John Glover, Jeep Swenson Director: Joel Schumacher Producer: Peter MacGregor-Scott Screenplay: Akiva Goldsman, based on characters created by Bob Kane Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt Music: Elliott Goldenthal U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers With BATMAN AND ROBIN, the fourth entry in the recent BATMAN movie series, the profitable franchise appears poised to take a nosedive. This film, which places yet another actor in the batsuit, has all the necessary hallmarks of a sorry sequel -- pointless, plodding plotting; asinine action; clueless, comatose characterization; and dumb dialogue. Sadly for all the batfans who have been waiting with baited breath for this one, BATMAN AND ROBIN has become the latest blight on the long summer movie season. Fetishists will probably love BATMAN AND ROBIN. There are rubber nipples, crotch and butt shots as the dynamic duo (and later Batgirl) suit up, bikers and crooks decked out in kinky, CLOCKWORK ORANGE-like regalia, and Uma Thurman dressed and acting like a dominatrix. It all goes nicely with the film's attempt at sensory overload. Director Joel Schumacher has taken Tim Burton's dark vision of Gotham City and shifted it into overdrive. This is a weird, wild, wacky world where gothic skyscrapers reach like twisted fingers into the clouds, and where the batsignal shines brighter than the moon. However, like the movie as a whole, this aspect is as briefly captivating as it is hollow and soulless. It quickly becomes clear that the picture's lone selling point is that it looks great, but, in an era when blockbuster budgets are routinely topping $100 million, that's no longer special. Never has Batman been less believable or human. It's not actor George Clooney's fault -- he gives it a game try, but, really, his function is to provide a body to put into the costume. We see even less of Bruce Wayne's heart than we do of his face. Gradually, over the previous three movies, bits and pieces of Batman's character began to surface. Not so here. All attempts at development are obligatory, perfunctory, and not terribly convincing. The same is true of Chris O'Donnell's Robin, who comes across more as a spoiled brat with an ego problem than an integral member of an unusual family. Then, to further complicate matters, yet another cardboard-thin hero is added in the person of Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), who equals her caped cohorts when it comes to a ready supply of wisecracks and a lack of personality. In the previous BATMAN movies, the villains took center stage. First it was Jack Nicholson's Joker (BATMAN), then Danny DeVito's Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman (BATMAN RETURNS), followed by Jim Carrey's Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face (BATMAN FOREVER). Now, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman add Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy to the roster. These are the two least-interesting bad guys to date. Schwarzenegger, aside from looking like a cross between the Michelin Man and Robocop, appears totally confused about what he's doing. Sometimes he's in TERMINATOR mode; on other occasions, he's chomping on a cigar like he's back in LAST ACTION HERO. Meanwhile, Thurman manages to do a pale imitation of Carrey. Her character is essentially a female representation of the Riddler (scientific experiments gone awry give a mentally-unstable nerd extraordinary powers), only far less engaging. There's also a hulk of a creature called Bane (Jeep Swenson), who's reduced to playing Oddjob to Poison Ivy's Goldfinger. His fate is rather pathetic, which proves that it doesn't pay to be the henchman in a movie like this. There's actually a poignant story behind Freeze. He's a one-time peace-loving scientist who became obsessed with saving his terminally ill wife, regardless of the cost. The forces driving him are, therefore, incredibly complex -- too complex for Schwarzenegger to convey effectively (wasn't there a point when Patrick Stewart was being mentioned for this role?) or for Schumacher to care about exploring. As a result, Mr. Freeze ends up being a frustratingly incomplete brute who's out to smother Gotham City under a blanket of ice. Old friends like Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) and the ever- reliable Alfred (Michael Gough, gamely trying to give a serious performance amidst all this silliness) are back. Both of these men have kept the same face while the lead character has gone through three changes. Supermodel-turned-actress Elle Macpherson is one of many newcomers, but her role as Bruce Wayne's girlfriend is so small that she's reduced to a background decoration. At times, BATMAN AND ROBIN comes close to matching the tone of the '60s TV series. Only two things are missing: the on-screen cartoon captions ("pow!" "bam!") and an Adam West cameo. Meanwhile, anyone who comes to BATMAN AND ROBIN expecting great action sequences will be disappointed. The fight scenes aren't interesting -- they're poorly choreographed, badly edited, and interrupted by too many one-liners. The "hockey team from hell" sequence is a perfect example: it seems to go on forever, but we're never really sure exactly what's happening (or why it's happening, for that matter). BATMAN AND ROBIN moves at a dizzying pace, yet goes absolutely nowhere. Somewhere between the quarter and mid-point of this film, things turn repetitious and tedious. We see basically the same fight scene re-enacted three or four times -- and it isn't all that impressive on the first occasion. We become numb to the glitz and glamour, but, looking beyond it, we see only a vacuum. In trying to put the "comic" back into "comic book", Schumacher has reduced BATMAN to the equivalent of a daily newspaper strip -- disjointed and painfully shallow. The character probably deserves more respect, but, in BATMAN AND ROBIN, he doesn't get it. And, for that matter, neither does the audience. e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:22 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:14 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!dciteleport.com!europa.clark.net!feeder.chicago.cic.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 24 Jun 1997 14:42:25 GMT Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc. Lines: 87 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5oomch$5ld@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07944 Keywords: author=Rhodes Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7359 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1378 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): 1/2 If a producer had ever been foolish enough to give Ed Wood (director of arguably the worst movie ever made, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) a hundred million dollars, the result could well have been this BATMAN & ROBIN. In summer Hollywood studios usually figure that big budget action pictures will sell regardless of quality. But even with diminished expectations, BATMAN & ROBIN is surprisingly bad. It insults the viewer's intelligence with lifeless acting and a tired script. In our packed advanced screening, there was excitement in the air before the film started. But after the lights went down, the audience stared in almost silent disbelief at a film that was so DOA. The third Batman movie, BATMAN FOREVER, which felt like it went on forever, had the misfortune to have been directed by Joel Schumacher. Schumacher appears to turn control of his action pictures over to the special effects department, and he takes an MTV rock video approach to the filmmaking. The fourth in the Batman series, BATMAN & ROBIN, again has Schumacher as the director. This time he manages to badly miscast the roles of Batman and Robin and then coach Arnold Schwarzenegger into giving the worst performance of his career. From the film's opening line of "The Iceman Cometh," by Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze, the dialog itself is frozen. The show features bad acting masquerading as camp. Mr. Freeze's lines are spoken staccato style, and all of the cast speaks without intonation. Less like acting than the reading aloud one would expect from a second grader. The sets by Barbara Ling and the costumes by Ingrid Ferrin, Bob Ringwood, and Robert Turturice are quite colorful. There are the primary colors of the save-the-rain-forest benefit as well as scenes of blue gray ice. Savor these elements of the picture for they are all that is worthwhile. Had I not been there to review the film I would have walked out after five minutes, literally. It is that bad. If you think George Clooney is an unlikely and unpromising choice for Batman, you are right. Whereas Michael Keaton was quirky and Val Kilmer was outlandish and brooding, Clooney gives such an inconsequential performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman that he blends into the background. Chris O'Donnell suffers the same problem. As Dick Grayson/Robin, it is easy to forget he is even on the set. The other leads, Uma Thurman as Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson/Batgirl, had promise, but again, Schumacher manages to modulate their work and quickly to get to the repetitive stunts. Akiva Goldsman's script gives the two women the same throwaway lines as the rest of the cast. ("Come with me," teases Poison Ivy to Robin. "My garden needs tending.") As I sat frozen as if by Mr. Freeze's big gun, I whiled away the time suffering through BATMAN & ROBIN wondering if there was any movie I enjoyed less this year. Although I could not recall all 137 movies I have seen this year, I could not think of any that were worse. "If I must suffer, humanity will suffer with me," warns Mr. Freeze. And so will BATMAN & ROBIN's audiences. BATMAN & ROBIN runs two long hours. It is rated PG-13 for cartoonish violence and sexual innuendoes. The film would be fine for kids around 8 or 9 and up, but I recommend seeing anything else. In comparison to BATMAN & ROBIN the summer's other action pictures look like masterpieces. If you do go, bring an interesting watch; you are going to be looking at it frequently. I thought about giving the film no stars, but decided I would give it one half of a star for the sets. Even so, I think I am being too generous. _______________________________________________________________________ **** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture. REVIEW WRITTEN ON: June 17, 1997 Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's. From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:26 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:15 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!dciteleport.com!europa.clark.net!feeder.chicago.cic.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: chuckd21@southeast.net (Chuck Dowling) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 24 Jun 1997 14:44:02 GMT Organization: Southeast Network Services, Inc. Lines: 105 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5oomfi$5li@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: chuckd21@southeast.net (Chuck Dowling) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07948 Keywords: author=Dowling Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7347 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1377 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Chuck Dowling Copyright 1997 Chuck Dowling Batman and Robin (1997) 1/2 out of ***** - Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Elle Macpherson, John Glover, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Jeep Swenson, Jesse Ventura, Vendela, Vivica A. Fox, Coolio. Written by: Akiva Goldsman. Directed by: Joel Schumacher. Running Time: 130 minutes. Ed Wood is alive and working under the name Joel Schumacher! Run for your lives! "Batman and Robin" is the fourth film in a movie series which, in a span of only eight years, has managed to go from good to outstanding to bad to stomach churning retartedness. As the "film" begins, Batman and Robin are summoned to battle a new villain, Mr. Freeze, who has broken into a museum and is attempting to steal a big diamond to power his freeze machine (oh so THAT'S what diamonds are good for). The opening scene manages to rival the opening scene of 1996's "Romeo and Juliet" as the most ridiculous movie sequence ever put to film. Anyway, soon they have to battle other villains as well, Poison Ivy (Thurman) and Bane (Swenson). George Clooney steps into the Batsuit this time and it's now official, Batman has no personality whatsoever. It's not Clooney's fault, he's just going by the script and by Schumacher's (shudder) direction. Batman is known as the Dark Knight, meaning that Batman is supposed to have a dark, brooding personality. Joel Schumacher (vomit) has managed to change all that over the course of two films, as Batman is now a cartoon. He always has a lame pun to spout out or an afterschool special message to deliver. Speaking of puns, that's all Mr. Freeze has to say. He hardly has one line of dialogue which doesn't involve a pun using any of the words: cool, cold, ice, freeze or chill. After the first two, you're sick of it. But, alas, it continues. As with "Batman Forever", there are way too many characters. One villain is all that's needed, not three. Bane is the worst of the three, which is surprising because of what little I know of the comic books, Bane was a major force. Here he's just a masked goon, grunting like Frankenstein's monster. And he's also amazingly easy to defeat, as his weakness are these big tubes coming out of his head. Pull one out, and he's dead. If he walks into a coat rack, he's a goner. Poison Ivy is way too talky, and most of the time she's babbling to herself, which is even more irritating. Gotham City now represents a city which must exist on some other planet other than Earth. The laws of gravity seem to have little effect in this world. Also, it seems that no one really lives in Gotham, except for street criminals, which makes me wonder why in a city protected by Batman would there be the highest crime rate ever in the history of civilization? Batman's not protecting anyone, as there's mass terror constantly going on in the streets. Perhaps it's Joel Schumacher's (gag) views of capital punishment at play here, because in both "Batman Forever" and here, long speeches are given about how it would be wrong to kill the main villain after he's been captured. Instead, to punish them for their crime of attempted mass homicide, villains in Joel Schumacher's (puke) vision of Gotham City get locked up in an asylum, which everyone knows they will break out of in no time to kill more people. To go into further detail about all the ridiculous aspects of this movie would take a review longer than the written screenplay itself. So I'll just mention the worst of the bunch. Now, when Alicia Silverstone becomes Batgirl, she shows up late in the film to help Batman and Robin defeat Poison Ivy. Now, keep in mind that Silverstone has been living in Wayne Manor and chatting with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson for the entire film. Also keep in mind that her Batgirl "disguise" wouldn't fool an infant. Anyway, she arrives, cleans house, and then chats with Batman and Robin... who DO NOT RECOGNIZE HER! She actually has to tell them who she is. But the moment which made me groan the loudest comes at some sort of charity auction where old men are bidding on scantily dressed women on stage. Poison Ivy arrives and puts the audience under some sort of spell. Batman and Robin, who are actually at a party dressed as Batman and Robin, are also captivated by her spell. Soon the audience starts to bid on her, and Batman and Robin join in on the bidding. Batman increases the bid to something like seven million dollars, and then whips out, I kid you not, a Batman credit card, complete with the Batman logo on it as well as "BATMAN" typed out on it. This is absolutely the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Think about this for a moment won't you? What bank honors this card? Did they call Batman to offer him this special card? Only Batman can use this card, so do you think Batman does his own shopping? Perhaps goes to Ace Hardware to pick up some more Batapults and charges them to the Batcard? At that moment it became true, the Batman movie series, which once prided itself from being 180 degrees different in tone and style from the campy 60s TV show, is now just as good as the WORST episodes of that TV series. I do give the film credit for two things. One is the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as a villain, but I only give credit to the concept, not the actual performance. Also, as with "Batman Forever", the film looks great. It looks like every penny of the budget was spent on the look of the film. The set design, costumes, and special effects are all top-notch. I'm all for a silly summer movie. Sometimes I like shutting down most of my brain and just enjoying a fun movie. But to consider "Batman and Robin" to be fun, you'd have to completely tear your brain out of your head and throw it away, never to be used again. Please someone stop Joel Schumacher before he vomits into a film cannister again and tries to pass it off as a movie. [PG-13] -- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,600 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, film related links, and reader's reviews. From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:28 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:16 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!dciteleport.com!europa.clark.net!feeder.chicago.cic.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: chandlerb@geocities.com (Ted Prigge) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 24 Jun 1997 15:04:26 GMT Organization: - Lines: 151 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5oonlq$5ns@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: chandlerb@geocities.com (Ted Prigge) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07963 Keywords: author=Prigge Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7366 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1380 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge Director: Joel Schumacher Writer: Akvia Goldsman Starring: George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle MacPherson, John Glover, Vivica Fox, Coolio The last line (or near to that honor) is the great butler, Alfred (the ubergod, Michael Gough) saying, "I think we need a bigger bat cave," or something to that note. That's exactly what this film is - too big for its own good because it has too damn much. Cut Batgirl out. Cut one of the villains. It's too much to handle in one dosage. It's so much that characters get left behind. Poor Elle gets a mere 3 scenes and a subplot which is introduced but never finished in any way, shape or form. And Elle deserves better. This is the fourth in the gigantic film series and the second from director Joel Schumacher. It's also the fourth worst in the series (and second worst from Joel). The series has been declining since its stunning debut, followed by the almost-as-stunning sequel and then the anti-climactic third one (first by Joel). This one's not anti-climactic - I knew it was gonna suck. It's up to Joel to make it fun though. "Batman Forever" was fun. This is a big bore of over-produced action sequences and shallow characters. I mean, this one bit. I'm gonna put all the plot in one paragraph: Mr. Freeze (Ah-nold), who's wife was dying of some disease, has become the new big villain these days. He's a huge ex-scientist who fell into some weird liquid (Hello? Joker?) and now has a body temperature of a big fat zero and has a blue body. Batman (George) and Robin (Chris) fight him a bit but find they're growing apart. Meanwhile, another villain shows up, Poison Ivy (UMA!), who was a dorky scientist chick working on flowers in South America with a twistet scientist (John Glover) who kills her when she finds out he's used her research to develop an uberman, Bane, who is basically a man pumped with chemicals which probably killed any personality he ever had. She emerges from her chemicals (don't ask 'cause I can't tell ya) as a sexy woman (the real Uma) who's poison when or if you kiss her and has some aphrodiasiatic scent she blows at people. She starts to tear away at the dynamic duo. Meanwhile, Alfred's dying of the same disease Mr. Freeze's wife has (but in an earlier state than she), and his niece, Barbara (Alicia), comes all the way from Oxford without an English accent to get him away from the butler trade, but soon (well, not really soon, it takes her 2 hours) becomes Batgirl. MEANWHILE, in an unfinished subplot, Bruce (Batman's alter-ego, if you forgot) has been dating the lovely Julie Madison (the even lovlier Elle MacPherson) who wants a commitment after a year but he says nothing. End of her for all we know. Mr. Freeze ultimately teams with Poison Ivy and they want to freeze the world and then take it over growing new plants as their population (Don't ask!!!). The trio must team together "as family" to beat them. There ya go. Not the whole story but no big context clues. Too much, right? Right! The films seems patched together of nice little ideas which would have made for a couple good sequels. However, while Tim Burton nicely balanced the villain/Batman storyline (although not wonderfully), Joel seems to do almost nothing with Batman in this one. He gets some corny speeches, a couple clever lines and that's it. Maybe some stunts. For all this, I can't even comment on George Clooney as Batman - I hardly saw the guy! And when I did, he had horrible dialogue to say. I think Michael Keaton is the quintessential Batman but Val Kilmer was too robotic and fake as Batman in the last episode. George is in between them. He's not quintessential, he's not horrible, he's good. But I'm sure next time when they decide to renovate the series since they'll be critically murdered for this sorry effort, we'll get a good script and Clooney will shine (if he still has the job). The villains are the only interesting part of the series according to Schumacher. Last time, we had the brawn of Two Face as played by Tommy Lee Jones and the brains/comedy supplied by the Riddler as realized by Jim Carrey. This time we have a somewhat sympathetic and somewhat hatable villain (the same guy), Mr. Freeze. We feel bad for his mental/physical collapse but does he really need to kill everyone for plants? Arnold isn't very good - too hokey but kinda sympathetic at some points. When he watches old movies of his wife, he actually looks somber. Wow. But Uma makes the most of her seductive character, getting the right point between hamminess and seductiveness. It's like she's almost parodying herself in "Pulp Fiction" at points. She's incredibly hot and makes the movie pretty much a star better. As for the lower Bat-people, Chris is the same as he was in "Batman Forever," although I think his work in these is too hokey when he's best at quieter parts in "Scent of a Woman" or just plain cool parts in "Fried Green Tomotoes." Alicia - I love the girl but she's not particularly good in this film. She can hypotheitically act, we all saw that in "Clueless," but her lines kinda sound weird. And it isn't the mushy-mouth this time. But in all fairness, she has virtually no part. Joel gets around to her occasionally and when she's on, she does stupid stuff...although I know I'm not the only one who loved the catfight between her and Uma... And poor Elle. Poor, poor Elle. I love that woman and she can also hypothetically act (for those of us who saw "Sirens"). But she has no part!!! It seems like Joel had so much footage that he had to edit almost an hour out of the final product. There are no "couch" scenes (like my best friend noticed). Now listen to me on this one - in every "Batman" flick, there's a couch scene. In the original, it was with Vicki. In "Returns," it was a good make-out scene with Selena. And in the last one, it was a chat with Nicole. This one, it's nothing. And Batgirl does next-to-nothing in this film till the end when she's suddenly "part of the family." Fortunately, we get a lot of Alfred. He's the always reliable butler, in case you didn't know, who has been with Bruce all his life. He's a god. He's a father figure. He's also dying. This got to me. I love Alfred almost as much as Bruce and to see him in a robe, not in his tux, and freaking dying just gets to me. We also get the idea that he might have been unhappy the whole time...but this is never answered, as this film is too cluttered. But in defense, it does have some good parts, other than Uma. For one, George IS a good Batman but unfortunately gets nothing to do. And there are some nice touches. When they show the asylum at one point, they show the patient's belongings in a room and we see the Riddler's costume. I laughed. And during a biker scene (involving Robin and Batgirl - another subplot never handled past initiation period), we not only see Coolio but a bunch of bad-asses dressed as "droogs" from "A Clockwork Orange." I laughed at all these. The film falls apart around the five-minute mark during an enormously long action sequence which must last around 20 minutes...or did it just feel like that? The film should serve as another in the long-line of films which demonstrate that we need more intelligent films nowadays. People are fed up with stupid films. That's why the word of mouth killed "The Lost World!" That's why last year, indy films grossed more than ever. That's why this will have a strong box-office initative from people who just want to see it, like me, but will die after a week or two when the word around the grapevine kills it. That's why the next two big-budget aciton pics are John Woo's "Face/Off" and Barry Sonnenfeld's "Men in Black," both which are the first two to catch on to the wave early on. I like Joel Schumacher more as a person than an artiste. I like some of his films ("Flatliners," "A Time to Kill") but a lot of them suck. He's a really eccentric person and I loved one of his quotes about how he admits to being a mediocre director and that's what makes him great. But his costuming for Woody Allen's "Sleeper" was more interesting than this one (and his costuming WAS cool - look for the nazi number). I love the "Batman" series. The first two rocked and I did like the last one. But this one is not going to be one that I watch repeatedly like the other three. Hopefully, this will also serve as a springboard to a better Batman next time. And maybe they'll get smart and bring back Catwoman. And Michael Keaton. But we can only hope. MY RATING (out of 5): ** From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:31 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:17 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news-stkh.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!news-paris.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!globalip.ch!rain.fr!jussieu.fr!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca (Alex Fung) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 24 Jun 1997 16:03:54 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 145 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5oor5a$64a@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca (Alex Fung) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07983 Keywords: author=Fung Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7341 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1376 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: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:34 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:18 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news-stkh.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!sn.no!uninett.no!news-feed.inet.tele.dk!europa.clark.net!mis1!worldnet.att.net!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: mredman@bvoice.com (Michael Redman) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 26 Jun 1997 15:47:17 GMT Organization: ... Lines: 100 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5ou2u5$drn@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: mredman@bvoice.com (Michael Redman) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07992 Keywords: author=Redman Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7393 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1385 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Michael Redman Copyright 1997 Michael Redman ** (out of ****) (Note: Beginning in my single digit years, I grew up with Batman in the comic book form. I survived the goofy Batman of the late fifties and early sixties and the "pop"ular Batman of the mid-sixties, cringed in embarrassment at the "Pow! Zap!" Batman of the television series and finally found _my_ version in the grim dark night avenger which reprised the original version of the character. Having a well-defined Batman in my imagination for decades definitely colors my view of the cinematic Batmans. You've been warned.) The film version of Batman has never been done right and they are getting worse over the years. As the series of films continue, the tone of the movies appears to draw more from the television series of 30 years ago than from the comic book. Obviously the slam-bang antics we see on the screen draw in more thrill-seekers than would the deadly serious vigilante. George "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" Clooney is the latest in the never-ending series of actors to slip on the cowl and he's really not too bad at filling in the rubber suit. He looks good: much better than Michael Keaton who was surprisingly adequate himself and equal to Val Kilmer. Of course, with the acting skills called upon by the role, just about anyone could fit the role as long as he possessed the required strong jaw. One of the many problems with this film is that we now have a kinder and gentler Batman. Rather than the shadowy brooding character that supposedly populated the first three films, our hero here is a wise-cracking Father Knows Best. Not the best persona for a champion who chose the bat as a symbol to "strike fear into the hearts of criminals". Chris O'Donnell returns as Robin and is the most successful at creating a three-dimensional human being. While he began his Boy Wonder career in the last film with unsure footing, by the middle of this one he has a secure sense of the sidekick. The Batman mythos has an enormous stable of colorful and dangerous arch-foes. It's easy to understand the filmmakers' (in this case Joe Schumacher) temptation to showcase them. After all, with the way they have chosen to present Batman, the bad guys are much more interesting. Thus we come to another failing with the films. There are so many new characters and sub-plots introduced that by the time all that happens, there isn't much space for a movie. Here we have Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, Batgirl as new characters. Toss into the mix Alfred's deadly illness, Freeze's attempts to resurrect his cryogenically preserved beloved wife, Ivy's ecologist-gone-wrong crusade, Batgirl's leaving school and closet biker babe life, Batman and Robin's bickering and half a dozen other story elements and you get a film that is held together with a shoestring. It's traditional to attract big names to play the Bat villains and this movie is no exception. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a stand-out as the frigid Mr. Freeze. With his blue flecked skin and bald head and booming voice, Ahnold fits the role to a T. Uma Thurman is less triumphant as Poison Ivy, the plant and snake venom temptress with the deadly kiss. Thurman can be seductive and that is what the role calls for, but all we get is cartoon allure. On the bright side, she does have the best lines in the film, puns that they are. The less said about Bane (Jeep Swenson), the better. In the comics, Bane was presented as Batman's superior in strength and intelligence and the only enemy to ever best the hero, breaking his back and putting him into retirement for a year. Here he is a grunting chauffeur on steroids. Even the animated version had more depth. Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl is a throwaway character. Alfred's niece who comes to stay in Wayne manor discovers the truth about the happenings in the caves below and overnight becomes a super heroine. Silverstone comes off as nothing more than a chubby spoiled high school girl who always gets her own way. Oddly enough in the suiting-up scenes with the traditional Bat close-ups on the chest, crotch and buttocks, it is apparent that Batgirl's black suit isn't quite as anatomically correct as are the men's. In the topsy-turvy world of Batman, men have nipples and women don't. As usual, the visuals are dynamic. Mr. Freeze's cold gun spreading ice throughout Gotham is a highlight. The real star of the film continues to be Gotham City itself. The architecture is spectacular. A city that could exist only in Art Deco nightmares. The observatory held aloft in the arms of an enormous statue is remarkable. (Footnote: The direction that the Batman films have taken is probably unstoppable. I'll never see _my_ Batman in the silver screen. In my mind a younger Clint Eastwood is Bruce Wayne. It's not too late: the current Eastwood would be perfect in a cinematic version of Frank Miller's classic "The Dark Knight Returns". Only in my dreams.) [This appeared in the 6/26/97 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be reached at mredman@bvoice.com ] -- mailto:mredman@bvoice.com From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:36 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:20 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.algonet.se!news-feed.inet.tele.dk!europa.clark.net!mis2!worldnet.att.net!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: stirling@netlink.com.au (Tim Voon) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 26 Jun 1997 16:33:02 GMT Organization: Mariah Lines: 36 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5ou5ju$e31@nntpa.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: stirling@netlink.com.au (Tim Voon) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #08017 Keywords: author=Voon Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7404 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1388 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Tim Voon Copyright 1997 Tim Voon Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Elle Macpherson. Written by: Akiva Goldsman. Directed by: Joel Schumacher. The Batty bunch is back! With what is undoubtedly, the 'Cape Crusaders' corniest and most comic outing. Every line is a punch line with more misses than hits. Batman (Clooney), 'I love you old man', shows a more sensitive side to him; Robin (McDonald), 'I want my own car, the chics love it', also wants a Gotham emergency signal of his own; Alfred, 'I love you too', is dying of McGregors syndrome; and Batgirl (Silverstone), 'I love you Uncle Alfred', joins the gang to battle the villains - the fertile 'my garden needs tending' Poison Ivy (Thurman), and 'I love my wife' Mr Freeze (Schwarzenegger). Gosh there's a lot of LOVE going around! I almost thought they would break out in a chorus at the end. All this and more in a day of the life of Bruce Wayne. Plenty of kiddy fun to hate or appreciate. With a splashy, action packed opening sequence, which lapses in the middle of the movie, before picking up again towards the end. Comment: One happy, loving, batty family which is best appreciated in the grave. Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:40 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:21 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!pumpkin.pangea.ca!nntp.mbnet.mb.ca!news.bc.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: mleeper@lucent.com (Mark R. Leeper) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Jun 1997 23:50:47 GMT Organization: Lucent Technologies Lines: 85 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5p9gon$2m2@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: mleeper@lucent.com (Mark R. Leeper) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #08023 Keywords: author=Leeper Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7442 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1397 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1997 Mark R. Leeper Capsule: BATMAN AND ROBIN combines the pacing of a Hong Kong action film with the plot depth of a Hong Kong action film. The current chapter has some interesting visuals if it would ever slow down enough to let the audience appreciate them, but the writing is the worst of any of the series. Rating: low -1 (-4 to +4), 2 (0 to 10) New York Critics: 2 positive, 10 negative, 12 mixed Someone decided it was time for another Batman film. Note that this is not the same thing as saying that somebody had a good idea for a Batman story that they wanted to film. I did not say that someone was really excited about the possibilities for the Batman character and the peripheral people in Batman's life. But time has definitely passed and the cash cow was ready for another squeeze. Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) battle Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a villain who wants to freeze the world and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) who can make people love her, has a poison kiss, and wants to make the world safe for plants. Batman's butler Alfred (Michael Gough) is dying. Batman and Robin have a falling out over Ivy. Alfred's British niece (Alicia Silverstone) becomes Batgirl. And this plot is just one minor feature of the new BATMAN AND ROBIN! If I seem not to consider the plot very important, you should see the treatment it gets from director Joel Schumacher. The script was not ready to film and Schumacher should have rejected it. Clearly there are better things to do with the villains than to have them call the title characters "Batface and Birdbrain." Ivy was turned into a monster by being buried with some poisons for a few minutes. She comes back to life and immediately says various parts of her have been replaced by chemicals and her lips are now poison. How would she know? One sparkling line in the film has a scientist claiming to have drilled "three concentric circles" into somebody's skull. Top-billed as Mr. Freeze is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who may be able to bench press a Buick but finds it beyond his ability to push a performance out through thick layers of blue makeup and plastic suit. The concept of a villain who fell into a freezing vat and now wants to freeze the world left me cold, and Schwarzenegger's performance is an absolute zero with none of his natural wit and far too many lamely unfunny one-liners. Physically, George Clooney looks the most like the comic book Bruce Wayne of the three actors who have played him so far, or put another way, this is the first one who looked at all the part. The problem is that Clooney is not a very exciting or even interesting actor. And if you cannot be exciting as Batman, you may just not be destined to be exciting at all. Chris O'Donnell plays Robin, the Boy Wonder who in my days of reading the comic was eternally about fourteen years old. Unfortunately it is hard to find a fourteen-year-old with marquee value. Putting O'Donnell in the role becomes an increasingly silly piece of casting each time he shows up. This leaves the BATMAN AND ROBIN wide open to be stolen by the fourth-billed Uma Thurman. Uma Thurman! How bad do three actors have to be for a decorative but dull Uma Thurman to turn in the most interesting performance? Next comes Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson, soon to be Batgirl. Silverstone is a cute blonde who gets most of her personality by making funny expressions with her mouth: biting her lower lip, pouting, so forth. The script apparently calls for her to be British, but she made no attempt to sound British and nobody cared. Michael Gough, who has been in ALL FOUR Batman films turns in the most touching performance and may well be the best actor in the film. With each new Batman film Gotham City becomes more deeply engulfed by the inevitable and all-consuming advance of Art Nouveau. The art style appears to be chewing up all the more normal-looking buildings and spitting out titanic geometric formations and baroque reliefs and statues of colossal human figures. Gotham seems unable to stem the tide, but apparently Batman has not been called. The city has gone from resembling Helsinki in the first film to being an incredible architectural nightmare in BATMAN AND ROBIN. Perhaps the one saving grace of the film is that it does bring this abstract art-form to the masses. But this combines with Stephen Goldblatt's dark photography and Dennis Virkler's fast editing. The result is a film that might be entertaining to look at if it were just a little more sparse and if the pace were cut down just a bit. But there were many scenes in which I had to ask myself what it was that I just saw. BATMAN AND ROBIN is a sloppy and slapdash film that gets a low -1 on the -4 to +4 scale. Mark R. Leeper mleeper@lucent.com From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:42 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:22 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!pumpkin.pangea.ca!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: ram@iris3.carb.nist.gov (Ram Samudrala) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Jun 1997 23:53:43 GMT Organization: The Centre for Advanced Research in Biotechnology Lines: 70 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5p9gu7$2ml@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: ram@iris3.carb.nist.gov (Ram Samudrala) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #08040 Keywords: author=Samudrala Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7439 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1396 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by Ram Samudrala Copyright 1997 Ram Samudrala The latest Batman movie, /Batman and Robin/, the fourth in the series, would've been much better off had it been a silent flick. The cinematography is spectacular, but the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired and the plot is non-existent. My feeling is that if the characters hadn't spoken a single word, I'd have enjoyed the movie a lot more. As it is, I couldn't help myself groaning every time a bad one-liner was made. When I reviewed /Batman Forever/, it was from the perspective of an avid Batman comic book reader (the Knight Fall series had just completed). I had problems with that movie not being faithful to the /spirit/ of its main character, the Dark Knight. I have the same problems with this movie, but I can put a better handle on why this is the case, and perhaps even offer some solutions. Director Joel Schumacher's Gothic Gotham does indeed have the comic book look and feel to it. It is dark, dreary, and befitting the Dark Knight. But the story is way too campy and too many villains are introduced for no good reason. When I criticised /Batman Forever/ for not being faithful to the comic book, people wrote back and said I was expecting too much. But the expectations arise because villains like Two Face, the Riddler, Freeze and Poison Ivy are included in the movies. I think a /terrific/ Batman movie could be done without /any/ reference to Batman's famous villains, while having a tremendous commercial appeal and still remaining faithful to the comic book. Some of the best stories written have featured such villains: Ten Nights of the Beast, written by Jim Starlin featuring the KGBeast, is one of the best Batman stories ever written even today. Some good choices were made in this movie: George Clooney is by far the best Batman. He has the look and the attitude, though he doesn't make such a great Bruce Wayne as Val Kilmer did. As was the case in the past movies, it is the villains who are more charismatic and appealing than Batman and Robin. Every Batman movie I've seen, I've found myself rooting for the villains. In /Batman and Robin/, both Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) steal the show. Thurman is brilliant in all possible incarnations she adopts: she is convincingly innocent and confused at first, and sexily seductive and deadly at the end. She goes through her lines with style, and was the only person who made me laugh. Schwarzenegger appears to be having a lot of fun barking out his lines. But a lot of bad decisions were made too, outweighing everything else: The Knight Fall series featured Bane as one of the greatest villains Batman has faced; the person who broke Batman's back, after almost breaking his mind. In /Batman and Robin/, Bane (Jeep Swenson) is a grunting villain not even worth a couple of laughs. In fact, I think a great story could've been structured alone Bane alone. The way Bane is defeated in the end is insulting to anyone who is familiar with the character. Both Robin (Chris O'Donnell) and Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) are completely unnecessary in this movie, except for their looks. The sub-plot involving Robin and Batman competing for Poison Ivy's affections is incongruous. The sub-plot involving Alfred's sickness is unnecessary. These are just distractions to make up for the lack of a main plot. The final problem I have with this movie is that Batman is as much a detective as he is a crime fighter. That aspect of it is never explored here, even though opportunities abound. However, I expect Batman to do well at the box office, and I do think it's worth the matinee fair (certainly not worth renting). email@urls || http://www.ram.org || http://www.twisted-helices.com/th Movie ram-blings: http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies.html From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:25:45 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:23 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!newsfeed.sunet.se!news99.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!mn6.swip.net!nntp.uio.no!nntp.uib.no!nntp-bergen.UNINETT.no!uninett.no!news-feed.inet.tele.dk!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: david.wilcock@btinternet.com (David Wilcock) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 30 Jun 1997 23:57:05 GMT Organization: - Lines: 39 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5p9h4h$2n7@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: david.wilcock@btinternet.com (David Wilcock) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #08055 Keywords: author=Wilcock Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7466 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1401 BATMAN AND ROBIN A film review by David Wilcock Copyright 1997 David Wilcock Starring Arnold Schwarnegger, George Cloony, Chris O'Donnel, Uma Thurman and Alicia Silverstone. Also starring Michael Gough as Alfred A Warner Brothers Release Here's another summer blockbuster, which, although being a terrible film, is bound to make a lot of money. However, although there have been many bad reviews about this film, I found it to be quite enjoyable. Sure, the script is awful, and the one liners cringe worthy, but I found it quite exciting. The action scenes are directed well by Joel Schumacher, who seems quite content at pointing the camera at the action, with the odd swooping camera shots. Clooney does a good Batman (better than Val Kilmer, although he grins way too much) and Gough plays the ill Alfred well. I was pleased that the story centered more on Alfred, as he seemed to be generally ignored in the last three films, with him just saying 'Good Luck' or helping out a bit. The film has it's bad points though. One of the major ones is that the bad guys just aren't evil enough! They've softened Mr. Freeze (Arnold) so he dosen't even really seem like a bad guy at the end of the film. Also, Uma Thurman gives a good performance as Poison Ivy, but again, she's not terrible evil. Also, the music surrounding her, to tell the audience that she is 'sexy' is not necessary. The only evil person in the film was Ivy's sidekick, Bane, who was brilliant! Overall then, although not a brilliantly written and acted film, I found this film enjoyable. Overall Rating=*** out of ***** Review By David Wilcock =============================== DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Sep 18 22:43:08 2003 Path: news.island.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.lth.se!news.solace.mh.se!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!newspeer.monmouth.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Dragan Antulov Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Retrospective: Batman & Robin (1997) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 19:19:38 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 35590 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1191242 X-RT-TitleID: 1077027 X-RT-AuthorID: 1307 X-RT-RatingText: 1/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #35590 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 112 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7415 rec.arts.sf.reviews:638 BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997) A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 2003 Development of technology always represented something like double-edged sword for Hollywood. Some inventions - like sound, colour and CGI - brought huge increases of profit to movie industry, while others - like television, VCR, satellite dishes, DIVX, DVD - brought those profits down. The latest modern invention to hurt Hollywood is a cell phone, at least according to business analysts who try to explain unexpectedly bad results of Hollywood blockbusters this summer. They claim that the huge audience drop- off between the first and second day of showing is the result of young viewers sending text messages to their friends while watching the film in theatres and telling how bad the film is. If SMS hypothesis is true, it wouldn't be the first occurrence of Hollywood being hit by technologically-enhanced word of mouth. In 1997 Warner executives complained about "Internet geeks engaging in massive smearing campaign" against one of their movie. The movie in question was BATMAN AND ROBIN, directed by Joel Schumacher. These days BATMAN AND ROBIN is known as the title that managed to kill modern-day BATMAN movies franchise. Poor commercial results, even poorer reviews and open animosity of the original fan base - all that conspired to make the fourth instalment in the series the last. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman must have been subconsciously aware of the franchise's bad prospects so he used this last opportunity to put as many subplots and characters as possible into a single movie. So, in this film the franchise's titular protagonist, millionaire and part-time crime fighter Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman (played by George Clooney) is going to face more problems than usual. First one is the widening rift with his sidekick Dick Grayson a.k.a. Robin the Boy Wonder (Chris O'Donnell). Second is the apparently terminal illness of their beloved butler Alfred (played by Michael Gough). Third is appearance of Alfred's niece Barbara Wilson (played by Alicia Silverstone) who wants to become Batgirl - addition to Batman-Robin team. However, all those problems are secondary to those created by two new supervillains. First is Dr. Victor Fries (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), scientist who went insane and became Mr. Freeze, evil genius determined to turn whole world to ice and the second is Pamela Isley (played by Uma Thurman), biologist who became Poison Ivy, evil seductress determined to protect world's flora at the expense of world's fauna, including Gotham City humans. In 1990s audience could witness the steady decrease of quality in Hollywood movies. This was due to studio executives seeing that in this modern world hype and successful marketing was more important than quality of products. Joel Schumacher, director of this film, was unfortunate enough to embrace this sad truth with religious fervour and, consequently, pay even less attention to film's quality than usual. As a result, BATMAN AND ROBIN was bad even beyond the tolerance levels of complacent moviegoer masses. Its well-deserved reputation of one of 1990s worst Hollywood movies not only killed one very successful Hollywood movie franchise, but also damaged subsequent careers of almost every major player involved in project (except George Clooney and Akiva Goldsman). Merely naming everything that is wrong with BATMAN AND ROBIN would require encyclopaedic volumes of text. The most obvious flaws stem from Joel Schumacher raising "style over substance" principles of Hollywood filmmaking to pathological levels. Sometimes it can work and lead to campy "guilty pleasures", and sometimes not, like here, where "style" in question reflects rather questionable aesthetic criteria. The most valuable parts of the film (in terms of money spent) are production design which gives new meaning to the phrase "architectural nightmare" and costumes that give bad name to all fetishists. (Un)fortunately, audience have little time to ponder on those details, because Schumacher, in desperate attempt to stuff as much of material into two hours of running time, treats movie as an endless series of action scenes with plenty of explosions, movement and zero coherence or sense. Even if Akiva Goldsman's script had some semblance of quality (which, in this case, it did not), it would have mattered very little in the end. Characters are under-developed, acting is atrocious, dialogue is lame and two of movies' supposedly charismatic villains - Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy - look like caricatures under tones of bad make-up. Things look even worse for BATMAN AND ROBIN when the movie is compared with its predecessors, including Schumacher's own BATMAN FOREVER. Fans of the original comic book and 1960s TV series would have even more reasons for complaint, but to name only fraction of them would make this review longer than the quality and importance of this film deserves. In the end, the author of this review must say that he was once criticised by his friend for decision to watch BATMAN AND ROBIN. My friend - comic book fan who had refused to watch this film on principle - claimed that even the tiny sum paid for movie ticket would serve as justification for Hollywood to continue producing celluloid excrement. If only I and many other people had accepted such reasoning. RATING: 1/10 (--) Review written on August 26th 2003 Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in Croatian ========== X-RAMR-ID: 35590 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1191242 X-RT-TitleID: 1077027 X-RT-AuthorID: 1307 X-RT-RatingText: 1/10