Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"My eyes are still sore from watching that..", 26 Sep 2005
I'm not going to lie to you.. I hate this film. I think it's an insult to the complete Batman mythology, nay, cinema itself.
But whats interesting to note is that without it, we probably would never have gotten "Batman Begins", at least not in its
current form. What this film did was show film makers how NOT to do a Batman film.
If this film hadn't have gotten the critical and commercial hammering that it so rightly deserved, then Hollywood would
most likely have hammered out another Bat-Flick, complete with the lunch boxes, socks, bed covers, etc, etc.
Another angle to look at the film from is that it is actually a great film for kids. You have your ott action sequences,
bright colours, menacing villains (for a 5-9 year old..I am not scared of a walking fridge man), and in that sense,
I'm happy this film exists, because as much as I love 'Begins', its not a film for everyone. So to have various incarnations
of a much loved character on the big screen is wonderful, as it can be enjoyed by so many age groups.
Warners really have provided a great package for this film, complete with commentary, documentares, music video's, etc.
So, I will be happy to own this film with the other 3 entry's in the franchise, and close the door on that era in the Batman Film Saga..just as another opens with 'Batman Begins'..
|
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A little TOO camp..., 10 Aug 2008
After 3 insanely entertaining Batman movies - Two from Tim Burton, one produced by Burton and directed by Joel Schumacher, the forth film in this mildly-canonical series throws Tim Burton out of the picture altogether.
Unfortunately, it seems Tim Burton had been an important part of modern-day Batman (before Christopher Nolan came along), putting restraint on that comic book cheese factor we all love in certain doses, because Batman & Robin loses the whole sense of ironic dark humour which kept the first three movies special and unleashes a river of cheese that the Tim Burton dam was once holding back so that we wouldn't drown.
That's not to say Tim Burton's Batman films and Batman Forever were all doom and gloom - but they had a smart way of being camp, a sort of gothic-fairytale irony that only Burton can pull off, and this time around, Schumacher just didn't seem to get it, and he created a childrens' Saturday morning cartoon, a silly goofball adventure, a resurrection 60s Batman minus the satire.
What bugs me about the movie, though, is the spoiled potential. After the clever marriage of camp cartoon villains and dark vigilante storylines in Forever, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Therman as Poison Ivy could have taken this to a whole new level, but the film turns not just the villains, but Batman and his crew as well, into pantomime characters. Freeze doesn't have a line of dialogue without some kind of cringeworthy refrence to ice, Ivy's acting has you waiting for the audience to hiss and yell "It's behind you!" and the Dark Knight and co. have become Inspector Gadget and friends.
Every cliché in the book is here - the sidekick is tired of being the sidekick, the motorbiking blonde girl finds out the truth and joins the crew (Using the suit which Alfred made for her when he predicted that she would find out and want to join.... Yeah...), the old man is terminally ill...
On top of all this, after Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer both providing decent Bruce Waynes and Bat-men, George Clooney has been cast and everything which made Batman, well, Batman, is basically out of the window.
I always have a soft spot for spoiled films with a lot of missed potential, and Batman and Robin oozes it. The visuals are something to behold. Much like the previous film, neon tube lights, UV paint and brightly coloured spotlights turn Tim Burton's previously established gothic-fairytale Gotham city into a spectacular light show. Batman's getup and arsenal take on a suitedly high-tech appearance (Makes sense, right?), and Alicia Silverstone is eye candy enough by herself. Visually, this is as "comic book" as movies are going to get this side of animation or perhaps UltraViolet.
It's just a pity that the visuals are wasted on such an embarassingly over-camp affair. Even fans of the 60s Batman will be embarassed to watch this in front of friends or relatives, and you'll even cringe seeing this movie alone.
Great for kids, but you don't sequel age-restricted movies for adults with a children's movie!
...A Bat Credit Card?
|
|
|
9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
George Clooney is Batman, 11 Sep 2005
With George Clooney's rapidly raising popularity in 1997, following his success in the drama series ER, he may have seemed an obvious choice to take over the Batman role from Val Kilmer. However in retrospect Clooney is somewhat miscast, in this , easily the weakest of the Batman films. Clooney does not have the slight weirdness that made Michael Kaeton so ideal as the haunted Bruce Wayne of the first 2 films. The film also lacks the memorable villains of the earlier films, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, playing his first bad guy role since 1984s The Terminator, making a very poor Mr Freeze. Indeed his one liners such as "my heart is as cold as ice" beocme irriating very quickly. The introduction of Batgirl is also a mistake, and in a case of history repeating itself her arrival saw the cancellation of the 1960's series, just as this was to be the last Batman film for many years. The subplot concerning Alfred is also weak, and the campness introduced to this film is a million miles away from the darkness of the 1989 film.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![Batman And Robin - Special Edition [DVD] [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51E665XY1EL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Batman Returns - Special Edition [DVD] [1992]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SJ8MSQ0ML._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Batman (2 Disc Special Edition) [1989] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5148AQVE7GL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Batman Forever - Special Edition [DVD] [1995]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZA1JGZMML._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Batman Forever - Special Edition [DVD] [1995]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZA1JGZMML._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Val Kilmer
![Batman Returns - Special Edition [DVD] [1992]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SJ8MSQ0ML._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Michael Keaton
![Batman (2 Disc Special Edition) [1989] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5148AQVE7GL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Michael Keaton
![Batman Begins - 2 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FNDCZH83L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Christian Bale
![Batman Returns: Original Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JC3KZ29HL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Danny Elfman
