My Review of "Batman & Robin"

Batman & Robin came out back in 1997. It is very much a late 90's blockbuster action movie of it's time. I tortured myself enough with the previous movie Batman Forever so I kind of knew what I was going to get myself into with this movie. This movie is identical in terms of tone and camp but focused more on what it wanted to do.

The movie starts off with the introduction of a new super villain by the name of Mr. Freeze. I'm surprised they kept that name since the guy is actually a doctor. This guy's motivation is to collect diamonds to help his research in curing the MacGregor syndrome. His wife had contracted it and he put her in a cryogenic status until he figured out the cure.

Meanwhile we also get introduced to another main super villain by the name of Poison Ivy. She's a research scientist that wants to help plants around the world. In her research she finds out she's working for a maniacal madman who is using her research to create super soldiers. Upon trying to foil his plans this madman tries to murder her but instead gives her powers of the plants she's been researching. The whole thing kind of reminds me a little of the Cat Woman storyline in Batman Returns.

Batman and Robin are still going through somewhat of a parent and teen child relationship thing going. There's a bit of friction that pulls from the last movie. Adding Poison Ivy to the mix with her sex pheromones makes everything 10 times worse.

To add to the mix, Alfred is dying from a mysterious disease. Although not actually related to the story, Alfred's niece Barbara comes to visit. This part is particularly hilarious because she mentions that she's an orphan as well. Wayne manor is now a center for orphans with Bruce, Dick and now Barbara. Barbara is the newest edition to the bat team as she's obviously going to become Batgirl.

Going back to what I mentioned in my review of Batman Forever this movie is all over the place. You have your wacky campy side and then you have your serious side and the two are so extreme that they don't fit into the same movie. Though this movie has more focus and nuance than its predecessor.

The villains actually have more serious sides and they go full out bad pun dialogue throughout the movie. They aren't always laughing maniacally like we saw in the previous movie. We added some range... well if you call it range.

All the action sequences and special effects didn't age very well. You can say that it does add a bit of charm to the movie though. It's very much a product of its time with the 90s neon colors and the horrible CGI. Some of the sets look like they're doing an onstage Broadway play. It's kind of on brand because the movie is very much a B-movie style.

Children are also obviously the key demographic for this movie. Everything is dumbed down to the negatives so that everyone can understand what's going on. The good guys are clear cut and so are the bad guys. You can tell they did things in the movie on purpose just to sell products as well.

Overall, I would say I surprisingly liked this one better than Batman Forever but only a smidge. They're both pretty horrible movies that I would never put anyone through. I watch these so that you don't have to. That's why I have to give this movie a 4.5 out of 10. There is some fun to have if you're really inebriated while watching this movie but even still I don't know..