Batman & Robin

Rating:
Summary: When marketing met special effects.......
Review: This one was putrid, okay? There was no attempt to find good actors, to write a decent plot, or to do anything but squeeze more characters in that could be turned into action figures for sale. Clooney was an unimpressive Batman, Robin came off as a vinidctive li'l brat, and the "villians" were plodding and sophomoric. It is so bad that I seriously wonder why anyone would give it more than a 1. When will Hollywood learn that special effects and potty humor can never replace a good story well told? My cat could have made a better movie.

Rating:
Summary: An adomination
Review: I tried; I really did, to come up with some sort of redeeming factor. A really funny line, a well done custom , a well choreographed fight seen, anything... Unfortunately there is not a single redeeming factor anywhere in this film.

Denis O'Neil in the afterward to his excellent "Knightfall" novalisation talks of how despite the wide variety of incarnations Batman has gone through (even Adam West) his soul has maintained intact throughout all of them. That is not the case here. The people behind this movie has amazingly managed to make a "Batman" movie that is less in tune with who Batman is than Adam West as a self mocking comedian who dances around in tights in the daylight while Robin sprouts out horrible puns.

Often a "die hard" fan will feel the need to see everything related to Batman "just because." Save yourself the trouble here, this film has nothing to do with the Batman.

Rating:
Summary: Joel Schumacher made a masterpiece
Review: this movie is really great... George Clooney made a great batman and Chris O'Donnell made Robin a funny character especially when he said chicks dig the car. Arnold did a great job for Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman did a good Poison Ivy. but all of those can't hold a candle to the great JEEP SWENSON!!. he played Bane and he just said bomb bomb bomb and he did a good job of that..he was definately the best in the film. i also loved the bat credit card and mr. freeze's ice puns. anyways one of the best movies ever made and i recommend it for everyone. i hope Joel Schumacher continues with more Batman movies. may the batman movie franchise move on forever!

Rating:
Summary: hopefully not the last of the Batman series
Review: As a die hard fan of the Batman series, I can overlook some of the faults with this movie. However, here is what I think some of them are. Since the movie is called Batman and Robin, where do they get off throwing Batgirl in the series so soo?. Now don't get me wrong, Alicia Silverstone did a good job but I would have liked it if the movie just had Batman and Robin (like the title says). I'll admit, the plot was not the best but isn't that how it usually is when a third or fourth installment to a series is made? Also, I would have prefered Val Kilmer to have stuck with the role but George Clooney did a somewhat decent job. Last of all, I am tired of Bruce Wayne switching from one girlfriend to the next. I didn't really like Madison in this film and I think Nicole Kidman should have returned as Dr. Chase Meridian.
And now the good stuff: I am glad that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a villainous role in this movie. It was a different approach for him other than The Terminator. Uma Thurman looked the part for Poison Ivy, and even though the movie could have done without Baine I look at it as another villain that Batman and Robin have to fight which is still entertaining.
I give Batman and Robin a fourth star because as I mentioned above I am a die hard fan of the series and I still find this movie entertaining everytime I watch it despite some of the faults.
If a fifth Batman film is made, I hope that it will rank up with the first two Batman films considering that audiences prefered those over the last two sequels. I am willing to bet that if the fifth Batman is well liked then people will probably overlook any flaws in Batman Forever as well as Batman and Robin.

Rating:
Summary: Goodbye, Mr. Batman
Review: This may well have been the worst studio film of 1997.

As of this writing no Batman film has appeared since (5 years). I think this crippled the vitality of the series, but good. I'll be very surprised if Warner ventures down into the Batcave again, but you never know.

Where to start? Start at the top, with Joel Schumacher once again at the helm. His previous outing, Batman Forever, was hardly watchable, though Jim Carrey did seem to be having fun as the Riddler, and I liked Val Kilmer's cool screen presence as Batman. However, the movie collapsed under the weight of its own ridiculously garish sets and over the top special effects in the second half. And when the soundtrack to that movie was better than the movie, you knew there were problems in the Bat camp.

Batman & Robin is over the top everything, and it falls apart. George Clooney isn't bad as Batman, but he has nothing to do as Bruce Wayne. Not only that, but he looks so bad trying to run in that clunky rubber costume--you can actually see him struggling in some scenes. Chris O'Donnell is servicable as Robin, though he's not very interesting. And Alicia Silverstone...well, after Clueless, the less said about her career the better.

The producers of these films made the wonderful choice of killing all of Batman's main villains off in the first few flicks. Now we're so far down the line we get Mr. Freeze (who had fallen so far below the totem pole in the comics that I somehow remember him being not-too-memorably killed off). Dealing his career a near-death blow, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr. Freeze. He is saddled with a ridiculous costume and some of the worst lines in the series. But Arnold makes them so bad that they're almost good. Hey, he did get his $20 million for this, what'd's he care? "Leave the bat to ME!" he says with a Shakespearian gesture of the fist.

Then there's Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, which is another excuse to get a hot young actress in some spandex. Uma looks fine, but her lines are awful, everything is so overdone it's not even good as a comic book anymore.

This is an appalling film. Joel Schumacher single-handedly put this series in the ... Batman has basically become an excuse for effects, effects, effects, style, style, style, and absolutely nothing interesting concerning the character of Batman or Bruce Wayne. It's too overdone to be taken seriously as anything. Michael Gough is back as the venerable Alfred, though judging by the looks of him I would say they better hurry up if they wanna make another film!

Universally panned and the worst box office performer of the series, this movie may have really hurt the DC universe of comic-movies for some time. Maybe Warner should just sell the franchise to New Line or someone and we can get a Jason vs. Batman vs. Freddy-type flick going. Corey Feldman as Batman.

NOT recommended.

Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY MORDEN DAY BATMAN MOVIE I LIKE
Review: This is the only BATMAN movie I like because George Cloney reminds me a lot of Adam West the he played the dark knight
and Chris O'Donels perfermace as Robin is witty and telanted
the way Burt Ward potrayed the boy wonder.It seems like WB
learned there lesson on this batman film.

Rating:
Summary: A textbook example of a franchise killer
Review: Spider-Man has been released. In 2003, Hulk, Daredevil, and X-Men 2 will follow, along with another Spider-Man movie in 2004 and other Marvel Comics franchises. But where is DC? What happened to Batman, Superman, and our other icons? The answer lies in this textbook example of a franchise killer.

Many have compared this movie to the camp-fest of the Adam West era. To me, saying that feels like a horrible insult to Adam West. He, Burt Ward, and the gang elevated camp to a stylish art form. Here, Batman and Robin is a serious movie that took a giant step in the wrong direction. The script is horrible, with stupid one-liners (since when does Batman crash through a skylight and go "Hi Freeze, I'm Batman!") and feels like an empty shell of Batman Forever. Indeed, if you compare this movie with Batman Forever, events move along in the same sequence: action sequence, origin of villain via video, origin of 2nd villain, big fight scene, scene w/street gang, etc. The whole essense of Batman as a dark, brooding defender is lost. Arnold is miscast as Mr. Freeze. While he did study up on Mr. Freeze, he chose the wrong source to study: fans wanted the Mr. Freeze of the animated series, not the campy killer from the 60's. And Alicia Silverstone needs to lose a few pounds before donning the Batgirl suit. On top of all that, there is a bat credit-card, needless crotch and rear-end shots of our actors, and a batmobile with no hood. Joel Schumacher lost almost all credibility with this movie, and Akiva Goldsman, after viewing A Beautiful Mind, feels more lack a hack than a gifted screenplay writer.

The movie did get a few things right. The subplot with Alfred is very touching, and Michael Gough gives a good performance. It manages to develop on the father-son dynamic between Bruce and Alfred. Uma Thurman makes a great Poison Ivy. Her pre-transformation nerdy scientist is a bit much, but once she dons the skintight green suit, she steals the show and is very fun to watch. Finally, George Clooney made a good Bruce Wayne. The only problem was, he gave the same performance when he donned the batsuit as well. Had Clooney lowered his voice and made Batman different from Wayne, he had the chance to be the best Batman yet.

Because of this movie, Warner Bros. has almost completely dropped the Batman franchise. I can barely recommend a rental, if only to see the Alfred scenes, Poison Ivy, and laugh at everything else, but not even completists should add this bare-bones DVD to their collection.

Rating:
Summary: So Bad It's Good
Review: Over the years, after what seems like weekly airings on TBS, this movie has earned quite a reputation for ruining the Batman series. Yes, the acting is awful, the script is horrendous, the jokes/puns are so bad you'd think a first grader wrote them. But over time and with multiple viewings, I have put this movie into the "so bad it's good" category (Lara Croft Tomb Raider is another that comes to mind). Even though it's the worst in the series, I just can't help watching this movie whenever it's on (hence the extra star). It's almost like watching a car crash, or a two headed dog. You know it's awful and you SHOULDN'T watch, but there's something compelling you. Over the years, I have come to be able to laugh at the jokes in this movie (not because they're funny, because they're so bad) I'm obviously not the only person to feel this way. Yes, this movie is pure trash, but it's fun, campy trash.

Rating:
Summary: a tale of two batmen
Review: This just could be the worst batman movie to date, or the best depending all on the audience member who you are. On the bad side, it does not follow the dark near sadist comic version at all, if you are like me who like the first two films, and like the dark evil inner conflicton of love or hate between batman. the movie is not for you. On the other hand, if you were a somewhat fan of the television serious from the sixties, and loved the campiness, and adult oriented humour and like your batman playful and bright. the movie IS for you. George clooney handles a horrible script ok, an adam west of the times, actually the script was written by AKIVA GOLDSMAN yes that akiva goldsman, luckily he shaped up on writing. The film follows the exact same script as batman forever, and that doesn't make any sense. All the actors are horrible, the chemisrty between the villains is horrible, and the batmobile shockingly doesn't even remind me of batman, and Since when is batgirl related to alfred? This is just my review.

bottom line, if you like the tv series see it.
if your like me and like a dark hardened batman avoid it at all costs.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST of the (4) BATMAN Legacy episodes...BATMAN & ROBIN!
Review: I see that others are leaving this 'Batman & Robin'(episode 4) very low reviews. I can't figure out why. It's the most exciting(car chases, sky diving, huge sets, big fights, the sexy 'Poison Ivy', brilliant colors...), has the best special effects and has the most interesting story line of the 4. I have to admit, I don't care for George Clooney as Batman, I like Val Kilmer the best, and I really hate 'Robin's' cry baby, pushing his way around the mansion as though Batman owe's him something attitude(Robin's even worse of a cry baby and a punk in the 3rd episode 'Batman Forever' sneaking into the Batcave, stealing the Batmobile and forcing Batman to accept him as his partner), 'Batman & Robin' is still the better of the 4. "Batman Forever" a very close 3rd. 'Batman Returns' a very close 2nd. They all got a little better. Which I'm sure is what the director tried to do. They're all kinda silly, yes even the first one, which Jack Nicholson saves, but only barely. So to criticize this one because it is silly makes no sense. Anyhow, my kids watch these all the time and after watching them countless times it's obvious this is the best of the 4 and that's my two cents.