Feb 261997
 
two reels

The caped crusaders (George Clooney taking over for Val Kilmer, Chris O’Donnell) face two new threats, Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), while their own relationship is falling apart. And Alfred (Michael Gough) is dying, which brings his niece (Alicia Silverstone) to visit. She gets a costume and becomes Batgirl, because at this point, why not?

Often cited as the worst film of all time (it isn’t even close), Batman & Robin is better than its reputation, but only because its reputation is so bad. So many things are wrong: the cheese that isn’t funny, the over-acting, anything having to do with Chris O’Donnell, George Clooney’s drab take on Batman, the childish message about family and friendship, the excessive number of heroes and villains, the ice hockey fight. It is much like a reworking of the TV show, but without the charm, humor, or understanding of why that worked.

It’s a disaster, but a less painful one than many of DC’s disasters. It is colorful and fast. Uma Thurman is sexy. Alicia Silverstone is adorable. It has the best Alfred (Michael Gough in his 4th appearance in the role). The art design is reminiscent of, if inferior to, Tim Burton’s work, which is a step up from Batman Forever’s. And it even has one or two humorous moments (out of a few hundred attempts), which again, puts it ahead of Batman Forever. While Clooney should be no one’s choice for Batman, his slight but smarmy performance soars over Kilmer’s non-performance.

No one is saying this film is good. I’m certainly not. But in the right mood I can enjoy it.

Batman & Robin follows Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), and Batman Forever (1995). The character was rebooted into Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. And he has been again rebooted into Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman first appeared on the big screen in a pair of 1940s serials. He returned in 1966 in Batman: The Movie.

I have ranked the eight theatrical portrayals of Batman.

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