Batman & Robin (Movie Review) (Batman & Robin (DVD))

Member Name: john316

Product:	Batman & Robin (DVD)
Date:	29/06/02 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Arnie is mildly amusing and cheesy, Chris O'Donnell isn't abysmal somehow!

Disadvantages: The rest of this travesty

Leaves you cold, doesn't it. That empty, hollow feeling knowing that the Batman character has been slaughtered to death and back by so many bad elements that it boggles the mind. So many things went wrong here.

Now, to be fair, the movie looked good in its presentation. The previews gave us a glimpse of a colorful spectacle that the movie was going to deliver. The lights dim. Everyone hushes. The presentation is good. Then the script kicks in, and you feel queasy. The acting begins, and you feel a churning sensation. Then Clooney delivers a line, and it's straight to the toilet to heave the popcorn!

I HATE walk-through actors! With a passion!! Casting Clooney was a travesty and disaster to the character of Batman on so many levels! He walked through it, ignoring the fact that he's an actor (though you would never really notice it). The movie dragged when he was on screen, either as Batman or Bruce Wayne, slowing down the pace. The only reason that he was cast was so that the female populace would get off the couch and shell out some money to see Clooney in the rubber outfit! Blargh!

Uma Thurman was also a thorn in the side of the movie! She can't pull herself as an actor any more than Clooney can! Now, she did a better job in this movie than Clooney (heck, a brain-dead monkey would have done a better job than Clooney, let's be honest). She of course is just eye candy for the fan-boys out there. A true hack! She made Poison Ivy too spoiled-little-bratish for my liking, and I don't see any chemistry between her and the other actors on the film. She could have been left out, and no one would have noticed.

Bane....oh how painful! To see the greatest Bat-villain of all...reduced to a faceless henchman, mindless and dumb ( maybe the writer wanted the part for himself). Bane was never that way! I understand when a screenwriter molds a character from one medium to another, some changes are inevitable. But to make a
character the complete opposite of what he was to begin with is going to far. It's the same as writing that Batman is rain man or something. The actor was probably glad to be wearing a mask, just to hide his shame.

And, uh....Batgirl. Hmmmm. Why was she here? And by the way, written in as no relation to Gordon. Riiiiight! Here as eye candy only? Uh huh! and let's make the move of hiring someone who can't act (wait, w have Clooney here, and Thurman too. Hmm, must be going for a record).

And while we're at it, let's "Get Smart" sa well. The scene with Robin and his rubber lips were a direct throwback to the Don Adams show from the 60's. I guess the writers wanted as many 60's references as possible. Now, to be fair, I think Chris O'Donnell did a decent job reprising his role as Robin. The script DID accomplish one thing, by showing the tension that escalated between Bruce and Dick from the comic book, later resulting in Dick leaving to become his own person. Hats off to Chris here...the poor guy just didn't have much to work with.

Another redeeming feature the film has is Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze. Yes, there were bad, bad puns involved, but they weren't distracting at all. AND Arnold didn't walk trough the film. He did his job...ACTING! He was consistent with his role, and his outfit looked cool. Plus, I liked him here, not just because I'm an Arnold fan, but when I watch a movie, I enjoy it when it becomes apparent to me that an actor is having a good time. Look at Arnold when you watch this, and you can tell he's having a blast! And because he was having fun, I had fun watching him.

This last installment of the franchise failed to deliver on many levels. With a strong stomach, one can tolerate it. Very low in comparison with its predecessors. An unfortunate accident of bad directing, bad writing, and bad acting will do that to a movie.

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