Everybody Chill.
A look at “Batman & Robin”
By Jason Pluscec (a.k.a. J-Man)
Introduction.
With the news of The Dark Knight Rises coming out and my recent Blu-ray purchase of the 4 Batman films along with recent news of Arkham City coming out (the sequel to the best superhero game of all time, Arkham Asylum) I thought I would look at what is considered to be one of the worst superhero movies (and certainly the worst Batman film) of all time, Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin.
What are you?
Before I get to this study of Batman & Robin, I wanted to quickly mention (to those who don’t know me) that I own almost every Batman cartoon, or movie ever made. My DVD collection is a vast array of superhero movies and cartoons and I pride myself on getting the complete collection of any given hero that I like. See the picture below for my Batman stuff.
So basically I am not talking out of my ass here. I have been reading Batman comics since before I could read and I collect the toys and play the video games too. I have seen every Batman movie in the theatre on opening night since Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989. My friend and I even wore Batman shirts and hats to opening of the first Batman. I have tons of merchandise ranging from comics to games to pins and jewelry. I have seen the Tim Burton Batman movie 25 times and I have seen Batman Returns probably the same amount or more. This is not an exaggeration. People always say “I’ve seen it hundreds of times” but that is always an exaggeration. When I was a kid I actually kept track of how many times I watched the first Batman film, and it was at 22 when I was 13 years old. So I am a fan of Batman, and no movie, good or bad, is going to change that fact.
I’m tellin’ ya man it was a giant bat.
The first Batman movie was a serial that was pretty cheap. The second one was a bit better, but there was no Batmobile and no famous villain. Robin was in it however, and he was a bit tougher than the comics and not really a kid. The movies were fun and I liked the level of action. Serials were always done in chapter format, which were usually about 15 minutes long and contained action. Which means that when you watch the entire serial in one go, you get an action scene every 15 minutes! You don’t even get that now in movies! So that was definitely a cool thing. Compared to the comics at the time, the serials did justice to it. They were accurate for the time – serious and action packed. We wouldn’t see another Batman live action series till Adam West.
He’s at home…washing his tights!
Adam West and Burt Ward played the caped crusaders in what was probably the most campy version of a superhero ever! Although Super-Pup and the Superman Musical are contenders! But unlike those others, this show was a super-hit causing the first “Bat-Mania.” You saw Batman stuff everywhere you went and this was the first time we got to see Batman and all (or most) of his villains in color! Something we never got to see before. The colors in this show were just amazing. I recently got the theatrical film of Batman (based on the TV show) on Blu-ray and it looks pretty darn good for an old movie! Even the regular DVD of the film looked great! I cant wait for the series to finally come out on DVD. But again like the Serials, this reflected the current state of the comics. Very fun and colorful.
Wait’ll they get a load of me!
Batman, as a live-action property, was forever known as the cheesy campy Adam West show and when director Tim Burton got his hands the material he wanted to make it dark. Thus was born the best Batman film (and sequel) that we have to-date. Tim’s vision was reflecting the current Batman comics which were darker and the term “Dark Knight” was being used to describe Batman. The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller (which I really enjoyed) came out a few years earlier in 1986 and Tim wanted to bring Batman back to his roots. This film was one of the highest grossing films of all time and Bat-Mania was born again in the early 90’s. The addition of a big budget, name actors (the great Jack Nicholson) and a serious take on a superhero film was the right formula to make this the best superhero movie since the original Superman film! A sequel was sure to come and this time around Tim Burton had full control to run wild. For the second film Tim added my favorite villain, The Penguin, played by Danny Devito in his best role and I actually believe he should’ve won an Oscar for it. But most were either baffled by the film – they didn’t get the poetic tone, or they simply thought Penguin was too scary. That’s right, Joker – a crazed clown that electrocutes people and then laughs at their burned corpses WASN’T SCARY, but Penguin was! Oh well, whatever the case, this film did well, but Warner Brothers took a lot of slack for old Pengy and they forced the next director, Joel Schumacher to lighten it up.
Holy rusted metal Batman!
Holy rusted metal Batman is a line that Robin says towards the end of the third Batman film, Batman Forever. The line is a nod to the Adam West show, which frequently had Robin say “Holy ___ Batman”, insert pun and laugh. In this film Robin was referring to some rusted metal that had holes in it.
This film’s budget was 100 million and it grossed 336.5 million, making it a success. Val Kilmer had played Batman this time – Michael Keaton and Tim Burton had moved on – although, Timmy stayed on as producer. As in each film the Bat-suit had changed and in Forever, there were 2 Bat-suits and one Robin suit. The Robin suit had nipples on it.
In the final “suit up” scene – you could see Val Kilmer’s butt (aka the Bat-Butt) in the scene. There was also a deleted scene where Batman runs into a gay hair salon, and a lady asks if he wanted his ears trimmed. The film was also very colorful and the tone had been changed to be lighter – even though Two-Face has half his face burned off by acid and Dick Grayson’s parents die.
The success and love of this film led to a very rushed production of Batman & Robin – which is considered to be one of the worst films ever made and certainly the worst Batman film. The people who say this though don’t count the Adam West Batman – They just assume that everyone knows the Adam West Batman is obviously the worst (isn’t it?).
Hello Freeze, I’m Batman!
Batman & Robin cost 140 million dollars and grossed 238.2 million. That is a success to us, but not really so much to the studios. Forever was 100 million and tripled it’s budget, but this one didn’t even double. That is a failure to a studio. Why did it fail? Cause it sucked ass right. RIGHT! What’s with those cheesy one liners, the nipples on suit and the Bat-butts! The villains where not threatening, they were way too jokey, and the tone was all off.
These are the usual responses from people. But those same people love Batman Forever. I already pointed out the Bat-Butts and Nipples were in Batman Forever, so I didn’t much get what people were talking about. And the villains being jokey – HELLO in Forever they were laughing all the time. Two-face was completely wrong – he is supposed to be a duel personality, but he was just a bad guy and Riddler was basically Frank Gorshin (who was Riddler in the Adam West Batman – which was the worst Batman ever right?). Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is doing an interpretation of Mr. Freeze from the Adam West series. Freeze in that series was played by 2 or 3 different actors, but all of them had “Freeze” style lines like Chill-out. Basically this is the same as the Riddler, but everyone loved Jim Carrey and hates Arnold
The tone of a movie is the overall feel of the film and what the audience should be feeling when watching. Well Riddler and Two-face are silly villains – at one point they dress up in kids Halloween costumes and break into Wayne Manor! How bloody campy is that! Also they continuously laugh to amuse themselves in that very cheesy Adam West way. Batman, on the other hand is very serious. After Robin’s parents die Robin is given a lecture about the nature of revenge. And how it never solves anything and that Batman should know, since he is always looking for revenge, but he is never satisfied. So the tone of that film is all over the map. Am I a supposed to be having fun with the villains, or contemplating revenge and feeling bad for Batman and Robin?
After Robin steals the Batmobile for a joy-ride, he is caught by Batman and pours out his emotions about how Batman didn’t save his parents. So every few minutes we are dragged into this needless drama when the rest of the cast is having fun. Or do psychiatrists look like Nicole Kidman a wear a miniskirt?
My point here is that this film did really well, even though it had all the campy elements of B&R. And since it did well of course the studio would give the next one more of the same.
If people laughed at the one-liners, lets give em more. They liked the lights, give em more. They liked the overblown production, give em more. They wanted more Bat-suits, give em more. More villains. More of everything.
Even Batman Returns was more of a Tim Burton film that the first and B&R is more of Forever.
The Tone of B&R is actually consistent. Everyone is having fun. The heroes and villains. The audience is supposed to be having fun at all times in this film. That’s why the dramatic elements of Alfred dying were very brief and really only in place so that Alfred had something to do!
Kill the heroes!
The Batman villains had always been a big part of Batman. This film has Jason Woodrue (The Floronic Man – he fought Swamp Thing – here he plays Ivy’s boss), Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Bane. We also get a new hero – Batgirl (who I have to admit is just awful in this picture) . So this film is just loaded with comic characters. They even mention Superman – “This is why Superman works alone”, so I mean right there this film is more embedded in the DC universe! They acknowledge other heroes!
The bad thing is that we don’t get enough “character” out of the villains. It’s true, Woodrue is a complete waste here and Bane is just Ivy’s thug. But they all look like the comics! Remember film is a visual medium. I want the characters to look like the comic. Otherwise what’s the point. Remember the show “Matlock” with Andy Griffith, well that was really a Daredevil TV series. Andy was really playing Matt Murdoch, but they just changed the name and his look. But see, he was still lawyer who only defended innocent people! So that means it was Daredevil. Or is Daredevil really about a guy in a red suit fighting villains? You tell me.
Read a book sister.
You want complex storylines with developing characters? Go read a book! A movie is a visual experience. A superhero movie is more so. I love all types of films and there are some great dramas. If you read my movie blog then you know that I love black and white films which rely on story and acting. I am not against a good story. What I want from a Batman film is a good story with good action and have it look like the comic. Superheroes are FANTASY people – they are not REAL. There isn’t a Batman flying around saving people from crazy clowns. I don’t get why they keep insisting on making Batman more realistic. Let’s explain how he made his Bat-suit. Okay – why. Does that make me enjoy the film more? It’s just a waste of time. Why don’t we explain why Indiana Jones has a hat. Or why he uses a whip. Who cares! He just does. I prefer Batman & Robin for the visual experience of watching it.
Whether you love it or hate it you have to admit that B&R is one of the best films visually. The shots and production are amazing. Every shot in that film is just filled with color and excitement. I love the way Gotham looks. The Greek-style statues, the strobe lights. Also, B&R are in it a lot. They are in the costumes for the most part and I like the way Robin’s costume looks. You can see the slow transformation to Nightwing (actually, his costume is Nightwings, only it’s red and has a cape).
Where does he get those wonderful toys?
Joel Schumacher, who directed Forever and B&R said that he was forced to make B&R “toyetic” which is to say, more vehicles, more suits etc. Everything will be a toy. In fact the toy company was involved in the production of the vehicles and they had to have approval on them. Schumacher himself says that he knew this going in and that he takes full responsibility for it. The fact that this film was largely a toy commercial is part of the reason that this movie sucks. And I agree. Anything that is made to sell toys cannot be good. I mean Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, and Thundercats, are all great examples of things that suck total ass and have become nothing due to the fact that they were solely created to sell toys. Thank god those things died a quick death and no one cares about them. However shows and movies made to sell clothes and makeup, like Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives are great! Or movies to sell cars like Fast and the Furious and the live action Transformers are also much much better.
I think people need to realize here that everything in films is done for money. The studios want to make a profit. But the profit is decided by us, the audience. If we see something bad in a film, then report it. Blog it, do something. Don’t just keep giving money to these guys. If you truly feel strongly about it.
I don’t mind Batman and Robin and I like it better than Forever. Does that mean it’s a good representation of Batman, well not the current one, no, but it’s a good representation of how Batman was in the 60s, but that’s not what we want now in our realistic stage of film making. We want Batman working out and showing us how the gadgets work and how he builds his cowl and how he builds the Batmobile, I mean Bat-tank. As a child I never ever questioned how Batman could glide with his cape, but in Batman Begins we get the explanation. Why not use that time in the film to show more of the Scarecrow, who was seriously shafted in that film, or more action in general? I mean if you look at Scarecrow in the comics, he is pretty scary and if you’ve played Arkham Asylum, then you know Scarecrow can be a great villain, if used properly. Cillian Murphy, who plays Scarecrow in Batman Begins, is a great actor, and is actually really good as the Scarecrow. Had Christopher Nolan (the director) made him look like the comics and maybe given him some more screen time, he could’ve been in the top 4 villains in the franchise (Penguin, Joker and Catwoman are the best – in that order). But no, we lose time with him to focus on a poorly conceived Ra’s A Ghul and Batman building up his arsenal. I don’t know about you guys, but I kind of liked NOT knowing the gadgets that Batman had at his disposal.
Like he would be trapped somewhere, or caught in a situation form which there was no escape, and suddenly he would pull out something and bang, he was out! Like in Returns when he is surrounded by the Circus Gang and he pulls out his remote tracker bat-a-rang. Or when the Batmobile comes apart in order to make it through a thin alleyway. Or even simple stuff like in the first film where Batman leaves the Batmobile and you’re like “what, is he just gonna leave it there” and then the shields come up and you’re like “I knew Batman wouldn’t just leave the Batmobile unattended!”. In the Nolan-verse he would have shown Batman building the shields, thus making the scene not as exciting or simply not include them in the film cause they don’t feel real enough.
Simple stuff that the good people of Gotham take for granted.
Everything I have mentioned is very simple and easy to see if you watch the movies multiple times and if you pay attention. My point is that you should view these films with an open mind. Batman, as a character, has withstood several interpretations and will continue to endure. He is diverse enough to be seen as campy, serious, cartoony and dark. Every incarnations has its merits and I don’t want people to think I don’t like Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. I saw Begins twice in the theatre, and I took the day off of work to stand in line for 3 hours to see Dark Knight on the first showing in imax. So yeah, I love those movies too, but I always use this one test that works for all movies. Ask yourself this question – “If my DVD player could talk, what would it say is my favorite movie.” In simple terms, which of the movies have you watched the most. For me the order is this: Batman Returns, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batman (Adam West), Batman Forever, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins.
Take that for what it’s worth.
J-Man.
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