Extreme campiness, stupidity, bad acting and all the other flaws are reasons I don't like
Batman and Robin as well as the others (yes I know it's crazy but I DO like the film, some what).
No. The MAIN reason I don't LOVE it like the others is because of the way it unfairly gets paired up with
Batman Forever, a film that is vastly superior to it.
In my opinion
Batman Forever kicks the crap out of this "reject".
Batman and Robin is like a crappy revamp of
Batman Forever. It mimmicks the opening scene of the first but makes it much more corny and disgusting. The plot is similar. Mr. Freeze equals Two-Face (origins told later on film via screen), Poision Ivy equals Riddler (scientist turned into a wacky obsessed antagonist), Batgirl equals Robin (new team member, hard ass), Sonar Suit equals "Ice Suit" (both at the end of the film) and just the over all plot feels similar to the first (Villian team up, Batman and Robin take them on).
What's the difference?
Batman Forever does it ten times better and is much more enjoyable in my opinion, even with it's faults. With
Batman and Robin it felt like I was watching a ****** remake of
Batman Forever. A dud in almost every way. Like they looked at the great
Batman Forever script they made and made a few tweaks to change into a "new" film.
It's not fair to me that the darker, more complex, summer popcorn flick,
Forever is looked upon as a bad film because of
Batman and Robin. I like
Forever almost as much as
Begins and
TDK and maybe AS much as
Batman.
If we look back at 1995 we see that
Forever actually did alright with it's new look and themes.
Batman and Robin are none of these things. It's a "what if"
Batman Forever was a human being and could ****.
B&R is essentially
Forever's waste.
What do I like about
Batman and Robin? A number of things (not nearly as many to change my view of it being the "BEST MOVIE EVAR!").
1.) Stupid and funny as hell. This is mostly towards Ahnold though. I love Arnold. His serious takes (The Terminator) and his not so serious ones (Freeze and Jingle All the Way). His bad puns on top of the fact that, unlike most actors, he could walk away from the film and not be tainted make
Batman and Robin a bit entertaining.
2.) How RIDICULOUSLY
INFAMOUS this film is. For as bad as it is we have to all admit.
Batman and Robin gets talked about almost as much as, if NOT MORE than
The Dark Knight. Eveyone pans the hell out of this movie and EVERYONE knows and talks about it.
3.) Nostalgia. I have it with all the Batman films.
Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Batman Begins and
The Dark Knight. I was excited a for it before it turned into the **** fest it now infamously is.
And I appreciate it for those three qualities alone. It's still a bad film and an awful Batman film at that. I can still watch it and be entertained.
I don't view any of the Burton/Shumacher films as part of the same continuity.
Batman Returns is NOT the sequel to
Batman just as
Batman and Robin is NOT the sequel to
Batman Forever in my opinion.
I love
The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Batman and
Batman Forever. I dislike
Batman and Robin but, like the others, it has parts that I like, mainly AHNULD!
As for Joel Schumacher, I don't hate him. He made
Forever and admitted that he ****ed up. I just don't agree with the homosexual nods he made in the film. (Those nipples and ass shots are unforgiveable.)
Understand, he's not entirely to blame. Warner Bros, the same people that hand in giving us the fantastic
Batman, Batman Begins, and
The Dark Knight films also had a hand in
Batman and Robin. They wanted it to be lighter and more corny and they even had Schumacher take out the darkest parts of
Forever (toning down Two-Face, downplaying the violence, cutting out Wayne's bat psyche, and ommitting the darker elements of Batman) out of fear of another backlash from fans/parents after
Batman Returns.
Then years later they wanted the Batman series to be more serious and darker just like their first outing with the character and we got the beloved Nolan films.
Batman and Robin happened. It's in the past. We got
Begins and
The Dark Knight because of it. Whatever. It's infamous and popular to hate, that's got to stand for something. WORST superhero movie ever.
Atleast fans of Batman can say they've seen it all. Good, bad, serious, funny etc. It's all good.
So there it is. Take it or leave it. Just don't throw the series of films or
Forever into the argument.
THIS,