The Death Of Batman (Batman And Robin, The Adventures Of, Poison Ivy (DVD))

Member Name: bhayanid

Product:	Batman And Robin, The Adventures Of, Poison Ivy (DVD)
Date:	05/12/08 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Directing, Acting, Plot, Effects. Everything

I am one of the biggest fans of the Batman franchise and am a big fan of Tim Burton's first two Batman films. Batman Forever was not too bad and Joel Schumacher stuck with the same style here for Batman and Robin. Starring Clooney, Schwarzenneger, O'Donnel, Thurman, Silverstone. It seems to have the cast for a top quality movie. However to say this movie is even anywhere near average would be a joke. I would put it in my bottom ten movies I have ever seen. It is not even one of those bad films that are still watch-able as they are funny. This is just plain awful. Released in 1997 and I apologize if my review goes a bit over the top, but believe me that this film is really bad.


CASTS:

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze / Dr Victor Fries
George Clooney as Batman / Bruce Wayne
Chris O'Donnell as Robin / Dick Grayson
Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy / Dr. Pamela Isley
Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl / Barbara Wilson
Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon
John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue


PLOT SUMMARY:

I am sure everyone knows the basic premises of Batman. If not, to put it simply it is a man who fights crime by dressing up as a bat. In the same style as Superman he keeps his identity secret by the bat outfit. In this movie he is assisted by Robin who is another crime fighter dressed in a disguise. Batman and Robin have been working together for a while now but tensions have been brewing between them. This is mainly due to the villainess Poison Ivy who can make any man fall in love with her. Poison Ivy plans to team up with Mr. Freeze, a former doctor whose blood is laced with cryogenic liquid, which is simple terms means that he looks like an ice man and has cold feelings. Batman's faithful servant, Alfred, has procured the same disease that Mr. Freeze's wife has so they need more help to try and secure the cure from Mr. Freeze. Bat girl duly obliges to help the two of them defeat Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and just generally make the world a safer place one again.


OPINION/MY VIEWING EXPERIENCE:

From the word go this film is a joke. I can see what Schumacher is trying to do here. He must have been watching the old Adam West batman TV series, as that is the only explanation. That had a comedy twist to it and was very slapstick, but for the Batman films of this day and age this is not the way to do. Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton both have their own unique styles but they captured the essence of Batman very well. This film is not funny as Schumacher intended. First things first, what is up with Batgirl? She seems like a useless superhero and not at all someone I would want helping to protect the world. To top it off they get Alicia Silverstone to play the tough girl and bless her, but it does not quite suite her at all. Maybe Uma Thurman could have been a better Batgirl, but then she can not play two roles in one movie. Although for a movie as bad as this I would not have been surprised if this did happen. I found Thurman playing Poison Ivy just plain boring and she overacted terribly. I know she can act as she was awesome in the Kill Bill movies and thank god this movie did not ruin her career. It easily could have as Poison Ivy is a joke like the movie itself. Now onto Mr. Freeze, I see where Schumacher was going here getting the big bad boy Schwarzenneger to play him, but it does not work here. It seems that all Mr. Freeze does it deliver one liner after one liner. If you are not a fan of one liners I implore you not to watch this film. If you are then well please watch this as that is the only enjoyment you will get from the film. The problem is that as Mr. Freeze is all about the freezing cold and ice that is all you will hear one liners about. Let me give you a few of the classic one liners from Mr. Freeze, 'Kick Some Ice', 'Stay cool', 'Cool party', and my personal favourite (that's sarcasm by the way) , 'What killed the dinosaurs' and the answer is 'the ice age'. George Clooney is not bad as Batman I guess, but he hardly sticks out and is really wasted in his role. The funny thing about this movie is that even Schumacher a few years later admitted that it was a pathetic attempt to make a Batman movie, well not in those exact words but at least he admitted it. There seems to be so many characters crammed into this film and it all just a big mess of cinema garbage. Thank you Schumacher for wasting over two hours of my life that I will never get back.

OVERALL/CONCLUSION

A great film is one that is not this film. This makes The Mummy 3 look like the Godfather and Batman and Robin is a film that no one should be allowed to watch. I would not force my worst enemies to watch this film as it is pure torture. Full of clichés and one liners that could drive any man insane. Thank god Christopher Nolan was handed the reigns and completely rebooted the Batman franchise. He has made batman more than simply respectable and made two very good movies. As I stated before I am sometimes a fan of bad movies as they are so bad that they are good. This film is not one of them and is just simply bad. There are lots of other terms I can use like pathetic, awful, and ghastly and lots of other words that I am not allowed to say here. Strength, courage, honour and loyalty. Here they all come together to make one big mistake.

Summary: One Of The Worst Films Of All Time...