BATMAN AND ROBIN
A film review by John M. Bozeman
Copyright 1997 John M. Bozeman
Tonight I made it to a sneak preview of _Batman and Robin_, the new Batman movie. Featured is George Clooney as the newest incarnation of Batman, with Chris O'Donnell returning as his side-kick Robin. Joining the caped crusaders is Alicia Silverstone as Bat Girl-- who is not the police commissioner's daughter this time (which is just as well, as most of the police here seem as dumb as a box of rocks), but rather as Alfred's niece, Barbara, who comes to visit and then stays after getting kicked out of a posh school somewhere. And finally, there are the Bad Guys--Uma Therman as Poison Ivy, and "Ah-nold" Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze.
The strongest part of the movie is certainly not the plot, which would have been hard to follow had the film not been so amazingly unsubtle. In fact, several plots vie for attention: on the one hand, there are super villains who must be created and who then begin rampaging through Gothem City. However, there are also problems at home: Robin is chaffing under Batman's overly protective tutelage. Alfred's neice feels that Alfred has been exploited by Bruce Wayne. And, worst of all, Alfred himself is dying. These various threads do manage to remain at least tenuously connected throughout the entire movie, though perhaps at the cost of some depth of characterization.
But if plot is not the film's forte, what is? The answer would probably be spectacle. On many occassions the film goes over the top--and keeps on going, and going, and going... The action is incredible, to the point of being at time preposterous. The art direction and city design isn't just eye-catching, it is eye-popping. The ulimate goal of the villains isn't just wealth, or even world conquest--it is human extinction. And in the Bat Cave, the weighty issues of trust and loyalty are examined.
So what to make of the film? On the one hand, we have a somewhat weak plot. On the other, we have over-the-top action, visuals, and melodrama galore. What makes this combination work as well as it does is the vital element of humor, which somehow keeps the film chugging merrily along. Each of the stars have their share of one-liners that serves both to lighten things up and to humanize the characters. And, for once, the bad guys don't get all the good lines. One example: when Batman and Robin first encounter Barbara in costume after a fight, they ask her who she is. "Bat Girl," she replies. Batman muses, "That's not very politically correct. How about `Bat Woman'? Or `Bat Person'?"
There is also a very funny scene when Batman and Robin meet Poison Ivy at a charity auction, and she enchants them with a pheromone dust. The two heros proceed to bid for her hand. "One million!" says Batman. "Two million!" says Robin. Batman is shocked, as whispers, "You don't have two million!" Robin replies and says, "I'll borrow it form you!"
In conclusion, I would say that the movie rates about 3 stars on a four star scale. While the the film is a bit long (about 2 1/2 hours, including previews), contains some serious flaws in logic, and has special effects that vary from impressive to just silly, its humor and sheer audacity score a number of points. Also, some of the flaws of the prior movies of the series are corrected: the villains are better drawn and have interesting motivations; also, one villian does not overshadow the other in appeal (as the Cat Woman did the Penguin, or as the Riddler did Two-Face). Clooney is less of a block of wood than Val Kilmer was. And gadgets do not overshadow characterization as badly as in the past.
Overall grade: B+, or *** out of ****
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