"This is why Superman works alone..."      

BATMAN AND ROBIN (PG-13) 

It's hard to believe the Batman movie series is now on its fourth installment, this time with George Clooney as "The Bat", and Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin.  This time around, the dynamic duo face off against Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), two emotionally scarred and dangerously psychotic villains who're out to destroy Gotham City.  Along for the ride is a third bat-partner, namely Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), who also happens to be Alfred the butler's young niece.

Those of you who've seen any or all of the prior Batman films won't find anything new with this fourth batfilm.  The batsuits have changed slightly, and so has the batmobile, but it's still the same old same old...Clooney plays a looser (and more likeable) Batman, and O'Donnell continues as an entertaining Robin, but as usual the villains are the real stars of the show.  Unfortunately, in this case the villains aren't much to talk about.  Schwarzenegger, who already stuffers from a bit of stiffness anyway, is completely straightjacketed in his Mr. Freeze character.  Caked in gobs of silver paint and dressed in a hefty aluminum suit, Schwarzenegger looks awkward throughout the film, and with such 'classic' lines as "tonight, hell freezes ovah," Mr. Freeze is more of a joke than a menace.  Poison Ivy doesn't fare much better, even given Thurman's absolutely rich portrayal of the character.  C'mon, this girl wants plantlife to take over the world...kind of a weak premise for global domination, don't you think?  Finally, we get to Batgirl, a character that's treated almost like an afterthought in this film.  Alicia Silverstone (of Clueless fame) does well enough as the latest addition to the bat team, though her contribution to the story is minimal and her presence ultimately questionable. 

Overall, Batman IV comes in as a disappointing and surprisingly flat addition to this film series.  Naturally there were lots of special effects and plenty of action sequences, but for some reason they all seemed either pointless, recycled, or tired executions of worn out premises.  Director Joel Schumacher, who directed the previous Batman effort (Batman Forever), turns in a weak film with Batman and Robin.  Hopefully the next one will be better, though if there isn't a next one that'd probably be fine too.  Watching Batman and Robin gives you the feeling that this series has just about run its course...

Till next time...!!!

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

Eoakwell@BTInternet.com gives this movie  stars: "Batman Returns-**** Batman Forever-**** Big stars wasted in a silly film with poor action Scenes Very Disappointing" (12/12/00)

Sam gives this movie  stars: "O donnel is as georgeous as ever a really good film for a family to enjoy." (9/20/00)

abbitkat@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "I, personaly, think that the 4th Batman movie was THE BEST!!!! Chris O'Donnel was the best ever, and I think that this Bruce/Batman was a great change from the nerd in the first Batman. (Not that I didn't like him, a very great actor.) Batgirl was awsome!!! Finally we see a little Girl Power!!!! I think that Uma was EXCELENT!!! Even though Poison Ivy was a little cheesy, Uma pulled it off great!!!! I liked the whole Bruce/Alfred relationship, it was very touching. Arnold was WONDERFULL!!!! Okay, so Mr. Freeze was a little cheezy, but hey, so is every single other Batman villin through-out the entire seires. But all in all, Chris O'Donell was THE COOLIST!!! I really hope that they make a 5th Batman, and if they do, they need to know, that they should most definatly bring Chris O'Donell back with TONS of screen time as Robin, because no one else could be a better Robin, I mean, they mine-as-well cut Robin from the show if Chris doesn't get the part." (7/23/00)

rfksecond2@cs.com gives this movie  stars: "Not nearly as good as Batman Forever. The acting overall is bad. Mr. Freeze looks cool, but really isn't played well by Arnold. I'm not sure he fit the role. Clooney sucked as Batman and Chris O'Donnel did better in Batman Forever. He has way too much of an attitude, and looked a lot better in his old suit." (6/17/00)

David Rogers gives this movie  stars: "George Clooney was a crappy Batman. Chris O'Donell (once again) ruled as Robin (although I liked his suit in Batman Forever Better). Batgirl was an ok entrey. Uma was a brilliant Piosin Ivy! Arnold could have been better. Bane was unnecessary. The Alfred sub-plot was dumb. But over all one of the best of the 4." (4/27/00)

shotgunshells@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Not really a good action movie, but hey, neither are any of the other batman movies. I've figured out that any Batman title with one or more names in it always adds another member to the Bat crew. George Cloony? Come on. And Batgirl? I dunno. Ask someone who likes Batman" (7/27/99)

mariusd@bol.co.za gives this movie  stars: "I would like to make it clear that there will always be only one Batman and that is Michael Keaton. Val Kilmer and George Clooney cannot do it. The first two movies which was directed by Tim Burton which gave the gothic effect was brilliant.This comicbook version is a bad attempt. Very dissapointing. Long live Michael Keaton." (2/8/99)

Eric gives this movie  stars: "Arnold embarasses himself, and the dialogue is terrible." (8/19/98)

cus55@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "On the big screen with digital sound, this film is a lot of fun. While it does not compare to the original Batman, or Batman Forever, it is as good if not better than Batman Returns, which had so much potential but did not fulfil it. The action was good, and the cast great, yet it was Uma Thurman who stole the show, with her sweet, sensual, Poison Ivy. However *every single line* seemed cliche or out of a comic book. This is one of the only movies that I have felt embarrassed watching. I even blushed at how bad some of the lines were. It was an appalling script, yet Schwarzenegger, Thurman, and Clooney (who is as good if not better than Michael Keaton) worked well with little material. I preferred the dark, gothic feel to the first two films much more than I did the comic humour-style." (7/3/98)

matt_downing@hotmail.com gives this movie  star: "In the end, it wasn't the Joker, or Two-Face, or any of the villains who killed Batman, it was Joel Shumacher. He might as well have added the POW or BIFF to this movie, because the only difference between this movie and the 60's show is the costumes and sets. This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen, and the endless stream of awful puns doesn't help in the slightest. On a lighter note, it is kind of pathetically funny to see Joel attempt at sex appeal (butt shots in the opening seconds, Poison Ivy), but ultimately, I shudder to think about another Batman film on the way. The one star would have to be for the soundtrack. (but if you don't like The Smashing Pumpkins, then the movie was a total loss)" (6/28/98)

sgm123@mindspring.com gives this movie  stars: "Even avid Batman fans must admit, the Batman franchise is getting old. Now they're so desperate, they're putting Batgirl, an idea that started out a rumor and turned into an implaudible, hair tonic spraying piece of crap! The stellar cast worked hard (all except for George Clooney... what happened there?) to make the script add up to something, but even Ah-nold couldn't support the screenplay. We're praying that this is the last we'll see of Batman." (6/23/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "Okay, okay. So it wasn't as good as the others, but it wasn't as bad as all the critics say it was. I thought it had a great cast ( George Clooney was good). Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy was by far put the best performance on and she made it more special. There was some good comedy but only a few things let this movie down. 1. Alicia Silverstone as "Batgirl". I loved her in Clueless but in this she was absolutely pathetic. The character was not needed and we don't need ANOTHER superhero! 2. The action wasn't as good. In other Batman's, the fight scenes were much better. 3. Arnie was not as good as I thought he would be. Other villains like the Penguin, the Riddler and Poison Ivy clearly were much better. And since when did the villain have a good side. In this we didn't want Batman to kill him. This did not live up to the Batman tradition. Nevertheless, the movie was pretty enjoyable. (1/24/98)

stryka@aol.com gives this movie  star: "I wish there was a negative rating of stars for this film. The word "sucks" doesn't even begin to describe the quality of this film. Here are a few reasons.

1.Villains There are just too many villains. One villain is enough to keep an audience occupied, ergo it's much easier to go into the psychological nature of the character. Basically, too many big names=too much upstaging.

2.Batman Batman has always been meant to be dark and only dark. This movie wants to show a non-campy version of the caped crusader, while giving him a dorky nature as the Batman. Bruce Wayne, in fact, is supposed to be the dorky alter ego. Actually, according to the present psych DC comics has given the character, Bruce Wayne feels more comfortable as the bat as opposed to himself. I remember Joel Schumacher saying that Batman should have gotten over the death of his parents already, thus Schumacher felt he could put a smile on Batman's face sometimes. WRONG! Batman is almost a psycho, b/c he has and never will get over the death of his parents. This is what makes the character so abnormally dark, frustrated, and just plain angry. Schumacher is right, a normal person would have gotten over the death of his/her parents, but the character of Batman is NOT normal, which sets him aside from everybody else in this world.

3.Robin He is just a plain ungrateful brat. Robin is a side-kick, and was never meant to challenge Batman's authority so dis-respetcfully. Bruce Wayne raised the boy like his own son. Robin expects equal status from this "father". That's like commanding your dad to do what you want. What a stupid situation. Robin is pissed at Batman, because Robin feels betrayed by Batman. Wwhen Poison Ivy hits on Batman intead of him, Robin has the nerve to almost beat up this man, who is supposed to be so intimidating even to Robin I don't care if poison Ivy had this stuff, which makes men infatuted with her. Her "poison" was just a stupid aspect to draw a stupid controversy between the two heroes. Robin uses the arguement of family and respect. Once again, would a normal father-son realationship be so one sided toward the son?

4.Batgirl Oh boy. They really screwed this one up. "Uncle Alfred"? I understand that movies based on books or some kind of other mediums change the situations of characters. But if a change is to occur, it should not be so damn drastic. Even the TV show got it right. Batgirl is commisioner Gordon's Daughter, Barbara Gordon. It's an interesting twist. Being the neice of Bruce Wayne's butler, though, made it too easy for her to slip into a bat suit. I mean really, he already predicted his upcoming demise while creating a bat suit and all of this other fun stuff for her. Oh yeah, she was already skilled in the martial arts as well as motorcycle riding. This would be fine if the reasoning behind it all wasn't so damn shallow. How ridiculous. In fact she should be older than Robin but younger than Batman. The level of respect between her and the boy wonder is moot. In essence, she should be way more mature than Robin, yet still have the respect Batman should give her.

Whew! hope I didn't bore anyone. In general, I enjoyed the 1960's Batman film as opposed to the past 4. The original movie meant to be corny, thus creating a comic nature. It accomplished it's goal and was much more defined given its campiness. Unfortunately, with all of the drama,special effects, marketing, and big names, the most recent installments of the Batman movies were not defined at all." (1/12/98)

Dora gives this movie  stars: "Well, what else can you expect from a Batman movie? I agree that Mr. Freeze sucked, especially since there was a reason for his madness (his nearly dead wife), so he was really a good guy after all. And I also thought that Batgirl- who was practically the same character as Cher (Clueless) was useless. What I did enjoy from this movie was George Clooney and, of course, Chris O'Donnell. And I guess that after all, I liked it more than Batman Returns and Batman Forever.