Okay, so I was going to do Ice Pirates this week as we embark on this grand experiment to be kind, even in the face of overwhelming adversity, but I started poking around the almighty Interwebs, and realized that that movie doesn't even scratch the bottom of worst films of all time lists. Also, I watched it, and aside from a few gags that didn't age particularly well, found it to be pretty enjoyable, with an imaginative premise and fun action sequences. Armed with all of this knowledge, I took to browsing several 'Worst movies of all time' lists. Did you know that Wikipedia has an entire article where such things are broken down by year? It was extremely informative and barring suggestions from you, my beloved readers, I've cross referenced several of these lists and lifted some of the recurring entries to provide appropriate subjects for this exercise over the next few weeks.
This week we start with the grande burrito of bad movies. It's the one that set comic book films back by nearly half a decade, the one that gets named regularly in discussions about bad films, Batman & Robin. There are probably quite a few mean things that I could say in reviewing this film, but that would defeat the purpose of my Mr. Rogers inspired experiment. No, today, I'm going to give a glowingly positive review of a film that has gone down in the annals of film history in infamy. Brace yourselves because this is Batman & Robin. MAN! It's been forever since we've done a series, and I'm super excited!
Okay, brief synopsis since I'd be surprised if many of my audience hadn't seen this movie at least one time. Batman & Robin is a story about family, and loss, and maybe a bit about environmental friendliness. In the film, our titular characters have to battle it out with Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy, two reasonably good characters from the Batman mythology. Mr. Freeze is trying to build a giant freeze ray so that he can make Gotham as cold as his heart, which is broken because he hasn't yet found a cure for his wife's terminal disease, but it's okay because she's been cryogenically frozen. Actually, what he intends to do is demonstrate his power with his giant freeze gun, and use that power to parlay for money to continue doing research to cure the disease. Poison Ivy loves plants and she's really angry about how plants are being treated so she's going on a crusade to avenge the wrongs committed towards her botanical buddies, and she's decided to strike at the source of most of her personal woes, Wayne Enterprises.
Meanwhile, Bruce and Dick are locked in a testosterone driven frenemy feud over the whole hero and sidekick arrangement. Poor Dick has been getting dumped on, and he feels like Bruce doesn't have any faith in him, or trust in him. But in reality, Bruce is just being over-protective because he doesn't want to have to experience anymore loss like he did with his parents. Also meanwhile, Alfred has a niece who drops in unexpectedly because she's failed out of college, and wants to 'visit'. That's cool though because also secretly, Alfred has the onset symptoms of the disease that's killing Mr. Freeze's wife. Bruce is carrying baggage of his own, and actually trying to work through some of it as he learns to let people get closer to him emotionally, namely Dick, and even Alfred. This is poignantly demonstrated by Bruce's lack of knowledge pertaining to the help meet that has watched over him obsessively since his parents' deaths.
Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy eventually realize that their goals are kind of the same, at least in terms of defeating Batman, and they team up. However, each is just trying to play the other for a sap and use that other person to further their own agenda. They concoct a plan where in Ivy will create some chaos, and Freeze will do his thing, but I get the impression that at the end of the day, each was planning to double cross the other. They don't get a chance though because Batman, Robin and Batgirl all swoop in to save the day! YAY!
Brief enough for you? Good. Now for the fun part. I thought this exercise was going to be pretty tough, and I had had no intentions of actually watching this movie that I've seen an embarrassing number of times over again for this article. However, I ran out of things to do last night and popped it in for kicks and giggles. Then the whole world turned on its ear. I went it knowing that I would have to find good things about this film, and guys, Mr. Rogers was totally right! When you look for the good in a person, or in this case a thing, from the get go, you tend to find it! This movie has been around for over twenty years, and I saw it in the theaters when it came out, and I've seen it several times since, but do you know what I never noticed? When Alicia Silverstone's credit appears on screen, there's a subtle sound of a motorcycle engine being revved. Get it? Because she races motorcycles you guys! It's a little thing that ultimately foreshadows a thing that's not that important to the plot, but the little bit of character foreshadowing is at least a little creative.
I also noticed that everything is really colorful. I have harped on this in the past, but I'm going to take a different approach this time. See, every character has their own color palette to better define them in each scene that they're in. Robin gets a lot of red, Poison Ivy pinks and greens, Mr. Freeze blues, Batman also blues but a slightly different shade, and Batgirl kind of a pinkish purple color. The existence of the colors on screen is far from subtle, but the pattern of usage kind of is. I know that we all kind of agree that Batman should be dark and brooding and gritty, but I've gotten about 15 years of nothing but dark, broody Batman, and after that much time, the colors are actually a little refreshing. It's like we over corrected after this movie, and then Nolan's movies did incredibly well, and we all just kind of decided that that's what a Batman film should look like, but DC just decided that that's what every DC film should look like. And some other studios followed suit because gritty, and washed out, and bland just looked cool. But guys, we live in a world where state-of-the-art TVs can produce around 68 BILLION colors, and movies are digitally color corrected anyway. It might be time that we start putting that technology to good use.
Another thing I noticed is that everyone was cast reasonably well. Schwarzenegger made for a physically imposing Mr. Freeze, which I think is what was being attempted. For Poison Ivy, the actress needed to be able to go from dorky looking scientist to smoking hot botanical bombshell in no time flat, and Uma Thurman pulled that off extremely well. Batman needed to come across as kind of a jerk, but with a softer edge, and I think George Clooney did that pretty well. Robin needed to be a macho whiny brat and Chris O'Donnell did that. And Batgirl needed to be the seemingly plucky enigma that ends up being pretty useful, and Alicia Silverstone did a good job there. What I'm saying is that each character had something to accomplish and the actors did pretty well accomplishing it. It was downright delightful to see John Glover play the mad scientist that invented the Venom serum to create Bane because it appeared that John Glover was having so much fun with the role. And I noticed for the most part that the actors at least appeared to be having fun. That may not actually be the case, but at least they tried to make it appear to be so.
Since we're on the characters, I noticed that between one liner jokes and puns, Mr. Freeze actually had a few darker, more sinister lines. I think had they wanted to go a darker route with this film, the ground work was there. Of course, they did not, but at least the frame work was there. I also noticed that the tension between Bruce and Dick is actually really well portrayed. They set it up from the very beginning when Batman gets this huge triumphant entrance, and then Robin gets pushed to the side like an after thought. It's played off with banter at first, but the whole situation does evolve into something more serious later on in the film, and the two ultimately have to find balance in that aspect of their relationship. As far as Barbara/Batgirl is concerned, I understand that there were a ton of liberties taken with this character. She also got sidelined quite a bit, but when she wasn't being sidelined, I felt like she might have actually served as a pretty good role model for females interested in pursuing STEM professions. She mentions that she's been studying computer sciences, and at the climax, those skills are used to help save the day. Heck, she hacks the Batcave! How many of Batman's enemies do you think would pay top dollar for that skill?
I want to focus a bit on Bruce separately as a character. The title says it all. This is, at the end of the day, a Batman film, and because of that, Bruce Wayne is going to steal a lot of the spotlight. I kind of thought that focusing more on Bruce's struggle to let himself grow attached to people was a pretty cool take on character development. Seeing through pretty well presented flashback how Alfred had been such a huge influence in his life, and then pointing out how Bruce knew nothing of Alfred's personal life really sets the stage for just how deep Bruce's attachment issues really run. These issues bleed over into his superhero relationship with Dick as Bruce finds it nearly impossible to loosen his grip on the reigns for fear of losing Dick, and because he's either unwilling or unable to let Dick prove that Dick can be leaned upon to share the burden of the superhero life. Bruce definitely makes some strides in overcoming these issues, and by the end, he's not only gotten closer to Alfred and Dick, but has also let Barbara in as well. That's character development. It may have been a bit clumsy, but it's there.
It's also interesting that Bruce's emotional issues are reflected in Mr. Freeze somewhat. Freeze could have saved everyone a ton of trouble simply by asking for some help. Shoot, the fact that he managed to invent viable cryogenics makes his work incredibly valuable! He could have gotten all of the funding he could ever need just off of that alone, but his, shall we say, change of heart caused him to see the world in a much more cynical light, and that outlook precluded him from seeking the help that he desperately needed. He goes on a rampage of terror with a plan to hold Gotham for ransom, and in the end, because Wayne needed his help, Wayne gives him the funding that he needed in the first place. It's a different approach to similar states of being and it's a little cool. Likewise, Poison Ivy as fuel for the feud between Bruce and Dick is not exactly a bad touch. Ivy is typically portrayed as the villain with looks and brains, but her motivations were respected here, and she used what she had, which was stunning good looks. She's not exactly a bimbo either. She's got a pretty solid bit of grey matter between those ears. But Barbara/Batgirl being her foil was pretty fun.
I want to briefly mention the music. I'm that guy who gets all hot and bothered over movie scores, and there are a few things pertaining to the music of Schumacher Batman films that I would like to get off of my chest. First, I don't not like them. They're zany, and at times, a little over the top. But they match the tone of their films really well, and the set that tone well. They do a lot to define the films, and at least as far as scores are concerned, that's actually important. Also, there are thematic beats that are a bit darker and more brooding and mysterious. Those cues are actually kind of cool, and I enjoy listening to them even outside of the context of the films. Goldenthal leans on a very specific style for his Batman films, and that shows. He loves his higher pitched violins and trumpets to lend a heroic feel to his scores, but isn't afraid to blend that with some off-the-wall synth. It can be pretty fun to listen to, is all I'm saying. And there are some heavier, more serious pieces that lend weight to their scenes.
This is normally where I would jump into the negative aspects of the film, but that's not what we're doing this month. Instead, I'll just say that the Joel Schumacher Batman films deserve at least one viewing if only to help us to better appreciate the finer films that we get to enjoy in life. But also because they are pieces of cinematic history, and there are always things to be learned from history. They're colorful, family friendly, and quite a bit of over-the-top fun if you're looking for something during which you can turn your brain off. However, hopefully, I've pointed out some things that will help you to find a little bit of depth in this movie should you pick it up for a watch in the near future. Batman & Robin, I like you well enough just the way you are. Enjoy your week, and stay tuned to see what I've dug up to review next week!
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