Rating: Summary: The Skippable Batman Review: The least of the Batman movies, which is a shame due to the caliber of talent in the secondary roles. Fine performances by Uma Thurman and Michael Gough get buried under a ponderous plot and far too many special effects that really aren't that special. That said, this is a pretty good DVD - notthing really special here. Looks pretty damn nice, though.
Rating: Summary: Elements Both Good and Bad Review: It would appear that this fourth Batman movie got a lot of bad reviews. I myself have to admit that I enjoyed the animated series of the early 90s better. Schumacher does not match Tim Burton AT ALL. Tim Burton in the earlier Batman movies saw the need for stronger story telling and effects that were dramatic but also had dignity. (He also displays this in his recent version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.") Instead of the dramatic but yet dignified scenery of the earlier films, Schumacher overdoes it with scenery and effects that are garrish and even annoying at times. Poison Ivy and Robin ham it up too much at times. And unlike in "Batman Returns" (Part 2) the story does drag. But now the good points. Clooney is no Adam West, Michael Keaton, or Kevin Conroy. But he DOES portray an interesting harmonious Bruce Wayne/Batman. (This may be derived from something the Riddler said in Part 3. "Can Batman and Bruce Wayne coexist?") He does have an interesting dispute with Robin: "They're my rules, and if you want to stay on this team and in this house, you will abide by them." He has a memorable fight with Mr. Freeze that ends in a profound manner. He is a different Batman, but different does not mean bad! Although the story drags at times, Alfred's life threatening illness helps compensate, and Alfred does offer interesting insight into his long life of service to Batman, as well as a deep meaning for the term Batman. Silverstone offers an interesting Batgirl who has good intentions, but who is not without faults. It is interesting that in Part 3, Batman has to get the eventual Robin out of a situation, and in this Part 4, Robin has to get the eventual Batgirl out of a situation. Mr. Freeze is really well drawn. He is entertaining and malignant, but we are not allowed to forget that he is human with some notable good points. Even as a hard core Batman fan, I can't say this was my favorite. But it certainly is not bad either. Give it a chance and decide for yourself.
Rating: Summary: Holy Flops of the Cow Variety! Review: Who do you blame for a catastrophe of this nature? Director Joel Schumacher? Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who also penned the atrocious "Lost in Space?" Unfortunately, poor George Clooney gets most of the blame, but why pick on him? After all, so many people worked on this movie; he was just the guy in the Bat-suit. From its grotesquely overblown set-design to its nonsensical plot, from the insipid one-liners to the woefully miscast Arnold Schwarzenegger, this is one titanically bad movie. Titanic in that it's huge! It's bigger than you or me... and it's headed this way! The sets and action sequences dwarf Arnold, Clooney, and Chris "Robin" O'Donnell. So much so, they could've been played by Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz," which, come to think of it, is a movie more in touch with reality than "Batman & Robin." In other Gotham City news, Uma Thurman vamps the Dynamic Duo as Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone plays her "Clueless" character, Cher, in a rubber suit. And under all the sparkly explosions and chrome machinery is a plot about some big, cold guy (our boy, Arnold) in clumsy, shiny armor who wants to freeze Gotham City. I defy you to care, or even understand. You will see every dollar spent on this thrill ride. Almost everything glows like those sticks you snapped as a kid, or else has infinitely detailed vents and edges; it all screams: "We've been designed to the nth degree!" Believe me, it looks like it costs billions. And yet the result is so infantile, so nonsensical, it's thrilling in an unintended way. It's grotesque even, the film equivalent of conspicuous consumption. Holy Event Film, Batman!
Rating: Summary: Not so bad after all Review: The hype about this film was hard to take, but the critics yelping was even worse. Nevertheless, it's not nearly as bad as I thought. Clooney's Batman is more sanitized than necessary, but Schwarzenegger, Silverstone and Thurman chew up the scenery left and right. It runs too long, but I was able to watch it through to the end, and if I had caught the half-price matinee when it came out, I would have been able to say, 'good popcorn movie!' And this movie is at least twice as good as any other Arnold picture I've seen, with the exception of Total Recall.
Rating: Summary: One of the worst sequels ever Review: I am a total fan of the Batman character and George Clooney plays a great Batman, but not Bruce Wayne. Even as a Batman fan, I feel this is one of the worst sequels ever made and there are just too many characters and sub plots to follow, such as Robin wanting out of Batman's shadow, Alfred being ill, the frozen wife of Mr. Freeze and the birth of Bat Girl. As for scenery it is top notch and rather than being gothic, it is more colorful with pallets of red, green and gold. For those of you who know nothing of Batman villains or this movie, there are three major bad guys, Mr. Freeze played by Arnold Schwartzenager, who as his name states has the technology to freeze things. Poison Ivy played by Uma Thurman, is the total opposite, she is basically a plant woman who has the powers and poisons of some of the worlds deadliest plants. Finally Bane, who is a muscle monster / goon of Freeze and Ivy. As for DVD features, there is nothing.
Rating: Summary: Batman & Robin Review: This movie is not bad and not good at the same time, it doesn't deserve 1 star though. It had great special effects and a good story but I blame the movie on the corny one-liners and just the overall lines of the characters. If the writers made the lines a little bit more serious, then, it would've been probably better than Forever. I really didn't like the first Batman and Batman Returns because they were way too dark and the fact is, who was reading the Batman comic books to start with? Kids....Enough said!
Rating: Summary: Thanks a lot, Schumacher Review: I think Mr. Schumacher OD'd on that stupid, campy 60's Batman and never looked at the character again. Tim Burton is spinning in his grave for what Schumacher did, and the guy's not even dead yet. Burton's vision of Batman was a direct extension of the beautiful redesign work of Frank Miller; Batman as a dark, troubled vigilante, a step or two above the criminals he punished. The way it should be. ...Schumacher took it and destroyed it, completely. Take a look at the original Bob Kane Batman, Joel; the stories were dark, plain and simple. But thanks to... Schumacher,... Akiva Goldsman, this is what we are left with until Hollywood gets their stuff together and greenlights another live-action Batman. The list of things wrong with this movie would fill up a hundred reviews (ah, for a zero star rating), but here are the biggies: 1) Bane is a major villian the the Batman world. He even broke Bruce Wayne once, forcing him to turn the mantle over to another Batman who subsequently went nearly insane. Here, Bane is little more than Igor, going around grunting such intriguing dialouge as "Bomb!" Again, thanks Goldsman. Here's some career advice, stick to light stuff, like Lost In Space. Leave the real writing to adults. 2) The Batman credit card thing makes me sick to my stomach. What are you people thinking!!!!! 3) Batman making public appearances???!!! C'mon! 4) Robin is annoying and Batgirl is useless and annoying. She's Alfred's neice and Bruce doesn't know of her? I mean, Alfred has only taken care of Bruce his entire life. 5) What's with the giant statues of naked men all over the city? Does that give a hint of Schumacher's personal preferences? Hmmmmm. That's all I can say for now; I feel lunch coming back up. Unfortunately, being a Batman fan, I am forced into having this in my collection, but it is gathering dust. One final note, Clooney has publically blamed himself for the bust that this movie was. Don't blame him; he's just working with what he has to work with, terrible direction from Schumacher and a story that could have been written by a fourth-grader from Goldsman. Hopefully this movie has finally shown the bull-headed movie execs how to successfully create a comic book movie. It's a simple formula: Be true to the fans. And with the success of the X-men and the positive hype surrounding Spider-Man, it looks like the message may be getting through. P.S. If you want Batman the way it should be, check out the animated series. You can recieve those on VHS from Columbia House.
Rating: Summary: Bat Guano...and lots of it! Review: Was director Joel Schumacher even trying with this movie? Was he thinking that with all of the "really neat" colors, lights and sets of his previous Batman movie, BATMAN FOREVER, that even more of the same to the point of overload would make this one better? Did he think "auto pilot" was a way to do this movie? Does anybody who watch this movie lose count of just about every predictable cliche, or ridiculous catch lines? I'm sorry, I enjoyed all of the Batmans, including FOREVER, but this one is strictly for a kiddie set who can more easily enjoy the groan inducing lines, scene leaping from one to another showcasing the same old stunts, colorful backdrops and doesn't mind the corny maniacal laughter and glowering, particularly from poor Arnie (who looks utterly ridiculous in his Mr. Freeze suit, not to mention being the one spitting out most of the movies stupid lines that catagorized him in the "dumb action star" role in the first place.) BATMAN AND ROBIN is also slated for someone who liked the old TV show's campiness and wants to see it one the big screen with a huge budget. The story, well it goes something like this. Batman and Robin must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from taking over the world.--The End. I'm not wasting anymore time with this movie, I have wasted enough precious seconds.
Rating: Summary: Another franchise that had potential ruined!! Review: The 1989 original was too cool, Jack nicholson & Michael keaton were cast perfectly, it is very difficult to accept that it eventully resulted in this garbage, no wonder Keaton passed up 25,000,000.00 to be lured back. it would have killed his career for sure, those Warner Bros. executives have no shame, they ruined Superman with its ... seqeuls also, i guess it should not come as a surprise to anyone, after all the name is all they think will sell the movie anyway, sad but true!!
Rating: Summary: why was Bane stupid? Review: Why was Bane stupid? I could of swore that Bane was a brillant villan who broke Batman's back in the comics. Two-face, Riddler, Bane, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze those were some of the greatest Batman villans and they were destroyed by good ol' Joel's directing. I only hope that if they make another Batman movie that they don't destroy another good Batman villan
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