What Don't You Like About "Batman and Robin"

[Trekker4747]

I think Clooney could have done a good job had the story not been so campy. I mean, he basically is Bruce Wayne in real life and I think he can pull off serious and brooding when acting as Batman.

I agree, I really think Clooney could've been the definitive, perfect Batman -at the very least the perfect Bruce- if given far better material to work with. When he's spouting off lines like, "Hey Freeze. I'm Batman," it's hard to see it working, but I really think it could've. Him doing Bruce/Bats in the Nolan films (when Clooney was younger) would've been very interesting.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It didn't help Clooney's performance that he was still doing that head-bobbing thing when he made this movie. I remember reading that it was David O. Russell on the set of Three Kings who got him to stop doing that, for which I'm very grateful.

 

[Harvey]

It's easier to describe the parts of the movie I like, which are very few.

The score is decent, carrying on musical ideas of interest from the previous film.

George Clooney is the perfect Bruce Wayne, although I find it hard to evaluate his Batman, given how much silly nonsense he's required to be a part of in this film.

Michael Gough is great as Alfred, and is given a little more to do in this film than the previous three.

Beyond that...there's not much worthy of praise. The villains are pure camp, and that doesn't work for me. "This is why Superman works alone" gives me a bit of a chuckle, but I'm sure hardcore comic fans (which I am not) are annoyed by it. That's about it.

 

[Bluesteel]

I liked the fact that the city had some weird monuments like the statue with the outstretched hand. Seems a bit weird to me. Oh and it was set at night mostly. I like that. Batman is good only when most of the scenes are at night.

 

[ClayinCA]

I think Clooney could have done a good job had the story not been so campy. I mean, he basically is Bruce Wayne in real life and I think he can pull off serious and brooding when acting as Batman.

I agree, I really think Clooney could've been the definitive, perfect Batman -at the very least the perfect Bruce- if given far better material to work with. When he's spouting off lines like, "Hey Freeze. I'm Batman," it's hard to see it working, but I really think it could've. Him doing Bruce/Bats in the Nolan films (when Clooney was younger) would've been very interesting.

Totally. I remember seeing him in From Dusk Till Dawn and thinking what a great Batman he'd make. One of the great missed opportunities, I think.

It didn't help Clooney's performance that he was still doing that head-bobbing thing when he made this movie. I remember reading that it was David O. Russell on the set of Three Kings who got him to stop doing that, for which I'm very grateful.

Oh man, me too. That habit of his used to drive me nuts. Didn't know it was David O. Russell who got him to stop doing it--interesting.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It was either Russell making Three Kings, or Soderbergh on the set of Out of Sight. Either way, I'm grateful. It was such an annoying habit.

 

[coolghoul]

^ Frankly I don't see Clooney as Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne to me is the guy from the 70s Batman comics. As drawn by Adams and Aparo and those guys. Clooney isn't that guy. Too tanned. And was neither as intense as Bruce Wayne sometimes needs to be and I don't see him as the society gadfly - he's a different kind of society gadfly than what Bruce Wayne is.

Btw, I am reading Showcase presents The Brave and Bold: Batman teamups and that is actually leading to this wave of nostalgia for the 70s Batman. Gorgeous artwork - even in Black & White ( Showcase comics is about 500 pages of collected comics but in Black and White kinda like Marvel's Essentials line). That to me was how I want to see Batman. The stories are of course much different from what we currently read. There is a delicious scene where Batman who is informed that he's going to die in the future is totally shocked by his own mortality and is shown almost getting run down by a truck in broad daylight as he is completely lost in thoughts of his own approaching doom. Completely different from the current Bruce-is-Bat-God and Dark-and-always-prepared. But the artwork!!!!! That's Bruce and Batman.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

George Clooney could totally play a serious Batman if he had enough prep time.

 

[Trekker4747]

George Clooney could totally play a serious Batman if he had enough prep time.

Go to your corner.

 

[Spiderpope]

Batman and Robin felt like a pale imitation of the 60's tv show. It tried to be as whimsical in style, but failed miserably to recreate the wit that made the old show palatable despite it's rather daft take on Batman.

After the relatively serious, if pointlessly odd, Burton films (and to a lesser extent Batman Forever) such a shift in style was jarring.
It also didnt help that the script writers evidently had no idea how to write comedy or drama, and instead gave us terrible pun after terrible pun.

That and the gratuitous Bat-arse shot.

 

[Broccoli]

George Clooney could totally play a serious Batman if he had enough prep time.

Win.

Batman and Robin felt like a pale imitation of the 60's tv show. It tried to be as whimsical in style, but failed miserably to recreate the wit that made the old show palatable despite it's rather daft take on Batman.

It might have been daft, but it was accurate at the time.

 

[coolghoul]

^ Fantastic icon!! I guess Dick could be a dick at times too. DickDickery??!!

LOL at MeanJoePhaser !

 

[DEWLine]

George Clooney could totally play a serious Batman if he had enough prep time.

Agreed. Fervently.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I love R. Kelly's song during the end credits.

"Gotham City... City of love... City of justice..."

City of love? Okkkaaaaay.

 

[Spiderpope]

I love R. Kelly's song during the end credits.

"Gotham City... City of love... City of justice..."

City of love? Okkkaaaaay.

They chose that lyric because they couldnt get City of Homicidal Maniacs Running Around in Leotards to fit the beat.

 

[Praetor]

Even if Arnold had played Freeze as the Terminator, it would've been better than "funny freeze." His and Ivy's agendas really felt forced together, I disliked the reimagining of Barbara and "cyber Alfred." And I really, really dislike George Clooney and Alicia Silverstone.

Overall, too much going on and no direction whatsoever. Had they stripped it down to Alfred dying and the Freeze story, there might have been potential there, throw in Batgirl if you must. I think Arnold could have done a good Freeze if his ego had been kept in check, but I'd have preferred casting Patrick Stewart. If you want to drive a wedge between Batman and Robin, let Barbara/Batgirl be the cause incarnate rather than Ivy. Batman and Robin are already at loggerheads, and the Alfred thing makes it worse. Perhaps Batgirl is a copycat who Bruce and Dick are divided over - Bruce dislikes her because he can't control her and thinks she may get hurt, Dick is, well, Dick. And, let Dina Meyer play her as Barbara Gordon. She can be Dick's college pal who eventually learns of their secret identities.

 

[The Badger]

And, let Dina Meyer play her as Barbara Gordon. She can be Dick's college pal who eventually learns of their secret identities.

You've been watching Birds Of Prey! Yeah, Dina was the best thing in that, and in the flashback sequences she filled out the costume nicely.

You're right though, that would have been a more interesting take on the Batgirl character. A wannabe super heroine, who Batman tries to dissuade from crime fighting.

 

[Caligula]

- Mr. Freeze's endless supply of one-liners that might as well have been written by a kid in grade school. Maybe it was one of the kids from "Kindergarten Cop"?
- The unlikely teaming of Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy, two people with vastly different diabolical plans.
- Nipples on the Batsuit.
- Batgirl.
- Time-wasting squabbling between Batman & Robin over Poison Ivy while under her spell.
- Bane just for the sake of having yet another established character in the mix. Come to think of it, Bane's presence in the film for any reason would have been pretty lame.

There's undoubtedly more, but it's been so long since I saw it last.

 

[Trekker4747]

- The unlikely teaming of Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy, two people with vastly different diabolical plans.

Their plans actually oppose one another! Freezing over the planet would be very bad for plants!

 

[God Magnus]

I think the scene that absolutely sent the whole thing spiraling into the depths of Hades for me was the "Bat credit card" scene. I audibly groaned and wanted the time I had spent at the movie up until then back. It was also at that moment I realized "Oh god, I have to sit through the rest of this now..."