BATMAN AND ROBIN
A film review by Chris Casino
* out of **** (Don't say I didn't warn you)
Cast: George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Alicia Silverstone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle Macpherson, Vivica Fox, Vendella. Directed by Joel Schumaccer, Written by Akiva Goldsmith.
I want to be involved in show business one day. And I refuse to do any sequels to any movie I may make because I believe they only get worse. This movie proves it for me.
I was a little worried about the last BATMAN film, as I thought Joel Schumaccer, taking over from Tim Burton, would screw it up. I also assumed Val Kilmer would screw up as Bruce Wayne. They didn't. Kilmer did a good job, and the cast was left to carry the movie, which they did (even Jim Carrey as the Riddler and I can't stand Jim Carrey), because Schumaccer messed up the direction with his glitzy Gotham and his awkward camera angles. This film is different. The cast is still impressive, but here, not only does Schumaccer mess up with the direction (he's one of those directors who's good with actors, terrible with camera angles), but writer Akiva Goldsmith doesn't really give an impressive cast anything to do.
The cast is impressive: Clooney is a surprisingly good Wayne/Batman, O'Donnell is a crafty Robin as usual, They could've casted somebody better as Batgirl (my friend likes Neve Campbell), but Silverstone is not bad, and Thurman is a good Poison Ivy.
The major problem is Schwarzenegger, who is a terrible Freeze. His accent is so heavy, you can't understand what he says, and the trouble with action stars like him is they cannot act, and they know it, but they figure that if they flex their muscles, say a limited amount of stuff, and kill a bunch of guys, then they figure nobody'll notice. That's the trouble with me, *I* notice. Schwarzenegger does not deserve billing over Clooney, or as much money as he got for this, but Hollywood thinks he does.
Patrick Stewart was the person I'd heard that was considered to play Freeze, and he would've been so much better. Or Sean Connery, but not Arnold "I'm not an actor, but I play one in real life" Schwarzenegger. I realize that you must be a star to play a major role in a BATMAN film, but it would've been nice if they'd casted a star that had talent for the role.
Akiva Goldsmith's screenplay avoids some stuff that happens in a normal Batman film. In a regular Batman film, they'd concentrate on the relationship with the girlfriend a little more, but Elle Macpherson's Julie Madison is so limited here that we never get a real sense of who she is.
There is talk of a fifth Batman movie. My interest to see it is low, but I hope it's better than this. If you don't want to waste your time, rent any of the other BATMAN movies from Blockbuster. Any other.
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