Batman and Robin (1997)
Whilst not the greatest Batman film i've always enjoyed Batman and Robin. Sure it's the polar opposite of Nolan's Batman films, hell it's not even like the two Tim Burton films that preceded it and first film Batman Forever but it's still a hell of a lot of fun and works more on the lines of the sixties tv show than anything else with it's extravagant brighter than bright day-glow sets and wildly over the top menagerie of villains.
Of those villains, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze stands out. Arnie's never one for subtlety but he's clearly having a blast here delivering catch phrases, put downs and parodied cliches with real zest. Uma Thurman is fine as the sexy Poison Ivy but Bane unfortunately simply comes across as her bodyguard muscle rather than a fully rounded character.
Where it falters is with the caped crusader and his pals. George Clooney is in all truth a shit Batman and Chris O'Donnell an even shitter Robin yet together with their codpieces and nipple fetishes to the fore they somehow remain watchable even if at times i was hankering for Michael Keaton's version of the Dark Knight. Then there's Alicia Silverstone's Batgirl. She looks good in her suit and .... well that's about it really.
Yet despite these obvious faults i still like Batman and Robin. It's loud, it's brash, it's colourful and it's fun and i prefer it to 90% of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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