Joel Schumacher is rightfully reviled
the world over for what his films Batman Forever (1995) and
Batman & Robin (1997) did to the Batman series of films.
B&R is often regarded not only as one of the worst superhero
films ever made, but one of the worst films ever made – period.
Batman & Robin is undeniably a very bad movie.
But I don't mind it that much.
Now let me explain. B&R is a very
silly film, but that's part of what gives it its zany charm. In the
1990's most comic book movies were trying really hard to be gritty
and “serious”. But along comes Batman & Robin,
a throwback to the campy 1960's television series. How can one not
appreciate Mr. Freeze's themed hideout where his Eskimo henchmen
partake in sing-alongs? It's a bunch of over-the-top fun silliness, a
comedy. It's a film that's pretty funny at times, though not always
intentionally so. One could even argue that this film is a spoof of
comic book movies, one which is perhaps more relevant now than ever
with the abundance of superhero flicks Hollywood is churning out.
This is definitely true with the modern DC comics movies that try way
too hard to be gritty and serious. Their attempt at subversive
comedic action with 2016's Suicide Squad
failed when what they should've done is just rerelease Batman
& Robin! Compared to the
serious Dark Knight trilogy and the joyless version of the Bat we got
in 2016's Batman v Superman
B&R feels like a breath of fresh air. It wasn't made to tell a
deep story, explore philosophical themes, or study a complex
character. It was made simply to give fans a good time.
But as
we all know not all fans did have a good time with Batman &
Robin. I will admit there are
plenty of stupid things to be found in this flick. There's the
embarrassingly dumb Bat-credit card. The police of Gotham City are
wholly useless. Robin is a whiny baby who does little besides
complain. The special effects are shoddy. And the bat costumes all
have nipples on them except for Batgirl's, the only costume that
should've had them!
But the film has
plenty of lovably silly parts too. It's amazing how many ludicrously
specific gadgets the heroes have on hand at exactly the right time.
It's amusing to see actors George Clooney and Alicia Silverstone
sleepwalk through their roles, not giving a f--- about anything.
What's even more fun is seeing Uma Thurman overact her badguy
stereotype. But even Thurman is out, um, “shined” by Arnold
Schwarzenegger hamming it up as much as possible with his goofy
makeup and neverending stream of bad puns. (Speaking of which, it's
nice that a supervillain criminal who's trying to hold the city
hostage so that he can get the funds he needs to cure his wife's
advanced disease can still maintain a sense of humour. There's hope
for everyone, it seems.)
It's
also true that by forcing the project to be more marketable and
child-friendly (i.e. just doing it to sell toys and make money)
Warner Bros. killed the Batman series. But to be fair this was a
series that was already in decline. Ever since 1989's Batman,
each movie got more or less progressively worse. Still, nobody wanted
to see the series end up like this, even if it did go for more of a
spoof tone.
In
short, I have to reiterate, I don't think Batman &
Robin is a good movie. It's
definitely a bad movie, but it's a very watchable movie. If you're in
the right mood, it's downright enjoyable. It's not good, but I've
seen much worse.
As far as I'm
concerned, it's not even the worst Batman film. Stay tuned...
No comments:
Post a Comment