Batman and Robin

Synopsis:

This superhero adventure finds Batman (George Clooney) and his partner, Robin (Chris O'Donnell), attempting to the foil the sinister schemes of a deranged set of new villains, most notably the melancholy Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who wants to make Gotham into an arctic region, and the sultry Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), a plant-loving femme fatale. As the Dynamic Duo contends with these bad guys, a third hero, Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), joins the ranks of the city's crime-fighters.

Movie Review:

“Batman and Robin” is the forth and, thankfully, the last of the Batman films for a few years because of how painfully awful it is. Warner Brothers gave director, Joel Schumacher more creative control and he made this movie feel like a toy commercial for kids instead of a superhero thriller. The dialogue for this film is embarrassingly badly written, turning it into a cartoon instead of the action-packed superhero adventure the audience craves. It is as if the cast of actors knew the scripts was not worth giving it their best, because it seems every actor in this movie was ‘phoning’ in his/her performance, including George Clooney. Chris O’Donnell reprised his role as Robin--although I thought he was okay in the last Batman movie, I think his performance is just down right terrible in this one. The character of Robin is depicted as whiney and immature and he is just annoying throughout the movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr. Freeze, and he might be the best thing in this movie. Schwarzenegger knows that the script is so bad causing him to adlib one-liners constantly. However, the worst thing about this movie is Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. Every line she delivers is hilariously horrific making the viewer think he is watching a bad comedy. The entire plot lacks adventure and excitement; just two villains planning opposite attacks: Mr. Freeze wants to freeze Gotham City while Poison Ivy wants Mother-nature to take over the world, and the dynamic duo has to save the day. The action in this movie or, should I say no action, is really just silly, funny cartoon-like fight scenes; too painful to watch. Again, like the last Batman movie, the supporting cast is wasted, especially, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Her character shows up as Alfred’s niece and finds the bat cave, and then joins Batman’s fight against crime, all in about 10 seconds. In my opinion, “Batman and Robin” is the worst comic-comedy-superhero movie ever made. I haven’t figured out what Joel Schumacher and the writers were trying to accomplish with this movie. I am giving “Batman and Robin” a 1 out of 5 stars.

Director: Joel Schumacher

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, and Elle Macpherson

Runtime: 125 minutes