Mike finally gets around to responding to your Batman and Robin comments: Part One.
“Oh, God, part one?” Yeah, I know, sorry…I got a late start on this post, since I’ve been busy working on a new webpage for the store, and…boy, you folks really did have a lot to say! And apparently I have a lot to say back to you.
Well, let me get cracking on the first half of the comments from that Batman and Robin post:
Aqualad Knox has a couple of comments:
“I liked that Robin’s costume looked like Nightwing’s from the comic.”
And yeah, it wasn’t a terrible costume, all things considered…and by “all things” I mean “rubber molded nipples.” Which reminds me…I seem to remember that, when Robin got a new costume in the comics (finally got rid of the short pants, etc.), it was at the urging of director Tim Burton so that he’d have something a little more usable for film. However, a quick Googling turned up an excerpt from a 1991 comics magazine reprinted at the bottom of this page, where then Bat-editor Denny O’Neil reveals:
“‘I don’t know if it [the costume] was influenced [by the movie’s],’ says O’Neil, “but that probably played some part in the designer’s thinking. We got about 15 different designs, and we, I swear, Scout’s honor, liked this one the best. We sent them out to [Batman director] Tim Burton, and this was the one he liked best.’
Anyway, that’s a bit of a tangent. Let’s get back to Aqualad Knox:
“TNT shows this movie CONSTANTLY, Mike, in case you feel the need for further study”
The broadcast rights to this film must have been cheap, cheap, cheap.
Paperghost (who by the way runs a great computer security blog which you should visit) had this to say:
“I also love the fact that the bat credit card says ‘Thru: FOREVER’ on it.”
That got mentioned a lot when I told friends that I endured this film. It is a cute callback to Batman Forever, that damned “ka-ching!” noise aside, though the very idea of giving a masked vigilante a credit card made out with his code name does raise more questions than is answered (as Rich noted later in the comments).
“is that a recommendation for others to see the film? I still haven’t seen it, so since you didn’t seem to do yourself r=the bodily harm you anticipated…”
Well…if you haven’t seen it yet, and you’ve not nothing else better to do with your time, and you realize going in that what you’re going to see may be considered, at best, a failed experiment…go ahead. It’s interesting to watch keeping in mind that what was attempted here was a live-action cartoon, a garish over-the-top reimagining of the four-color origins of the character, in the context of an updated “camp” parody inspired by the ’60s TV show. It doesn’t come close, of course, but watching it from that angle at least gives you something to contemplate among the “cold” puns.
“I have to disagree with you a bit on how those sets [look]. Everything looked polystyrene and neon to me.”
Fair enough. I liked the bright colors, myself…you know, there’s no real way to say that without making me sound, um, “tetched.” MIKE LIKE BRIGHT COLORS.
Just Some Guy also recommends to Roger
“you’ve got to see it just to be able to complain about it knowledgeably. It’s like reading All-Star Batman and Robin. :P”
Sir…sir. One reads All-Star Batman and Robin to revel in its beauty. One should only complain that it’s not weekly.
“George Clooney, on the other hand, has been justifiably in mortal torment about B&R since it was released. The shaaaammmmeeee!”
I honestly didn’t think Clooney was that bad…some of his line reads seemed a little…underwhelming, but mostly the poor guy was just saddled with uninspiring material. I think he’s as much a victim as the rest of us. Well, not as much…I’m assuming he was paid for the part.
Loren points us in the direction of an article he wrote examining the similarities between Batman and Robin and its predecessor Batman Forever.
The Phantom-Longbox longboxed
“Poison Ivy couldn’t have been LESS sexy in this if she tried.”
Yeah…if you have Uma Thurman, playing Poison Ivy, and you somehow manage to make it not sexy, you’ve done something horribly wrong. Thurman’s waaaaaay over-the-top forced sexiness just made it less sexy. So unappealing.
“I salute you for your bravery just so you could have content for you blog.”
I’m not so sure that’s so much bravery as it is outright foolishness combined with my obsessive need to post every day. But thanks!
Rich lists his problems with the cast, which got me thinking…you know, I don’t really have a problem with any of the casting. You probably could have put together a…well, good may be too strong a word…how ’bout “not so embarrassing” of a film. Yes, even with Arnie as Mr. Freeze. If they got everyone to crank down the performances a notch or twenty, and set fire to that original script, and…well, okay, maybe you’d still have a lousy film.
“i saw in the film in the theater, and as it unspooled i started sinking further and further into my seat. i kept telling myself ‘it’ll get better’ in that desperate Homer Simpson voice.
“but when Bats whipped out the Bat Credit Card, i thought ‘they could bring out the entire Justice League after this and the movie would still suck.'”
I can only imagine what it was like to see this in the theatre. It’s all well and good to look back at the flick now and try to analyze it and give it some context, etc, but paying your six or seven bucks or whatever it was at the time, and sitting there in the theatre actually watching the damned thing on a large screen with a crowd (“a crowd?” — yeah, I know, but go with me here)…that must have been a little bit like hell. As I was watching, as certain scenes went by, I would think “I wonder how people in an audience setting reacted to this?” Poorly, I’m guessing.
I liked Dave W.‘s way of dealing with this film:
“You know, I saw this one in the theaters on opening day and I loved it. Not because it was any good, but because it was so bad it was hilarious. My buddies and I laughed throughout the movie, laughed for a few hours at the waffle house after the movie, and laughed all the way home. So worth every penny.”
Now that’s a good way to deal with this film!
Dave also asks
“Dunno if they fixed it on DVD, but there’s one fight scene in the middle there where Robin gets dragged underwater by a vine. In the middle of the sequence there’s a brief shot of him trying to resurface only to get dragged under – but all they did was run the footage of him finally re-emerging and then reverse it really fast. It was so cheesy and completely obvious that we can’t believe they let that one slip through.”
I caught that, too, so it’s still on the DVD…should have noted it in my “liveblogging,” but as you saw, I had no shortage of things to write about!
“I usually love silly Batman stuff like the 60’s show and Bat-Mite, but this stuff just makes my brain scream in pain.”
Me, too…but there’s a line between “silly and fun” and “stupid and insulting” that this film crossed.
“I remember not too long after this came out reading an interview with Mike Nelson from MST3K and he referred to it as not only the worst movie ever, but the worst thing ever.”
I wonder if he revised his opinion after seeing Eragon.
Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull, stuffs
“…It’s very funny to see how humorously disparaging Clooney is about it. He knows he was in a turkey and he gleefully admits it.”
Like I said, I don’t hold Clooney entirely responsible…but I’m glad he has a sense of humor about it. Good on him!
“What, all that commentary, and not a single mention of when Clooney Batman does the whole ‘Fred Flintstone Sliding Down the Bronto’s Neck, Back and Tail at the Beginning of the Flintstones’ thing?”
I was still trying to get into the film at this point…I think I may have just been overwhelmed. I wasn’t ready for what I was experiencing!
Jon also says
“I mean, when I saw that, I knew the movie was just going to get progressively worse and worse… heck, that was the reason I waited to see ‘Batman Begins’ until long after it had been out on DVD, because I just didn’t trust Warner’s with their DC franchises any longer”
I noted on this site a few years back that when the Batman Begins trailer came onscreen at the theatre, the audience I was with groaned a bit…that Batman and Robin cast a long shadow.
HydrogenGuy admits
“I’m a little embarrassed to admit I laughed uproariously at the Bat Visa, though.”
Oh, HydrogenGuy, it’s like I don’t even know you anymore.
Disdain for the previous Bat-film, Batman Forever, pops up a few times in the comments, such as from Joshua here and from The Mutt. I remember liking it just fine for what it was, but I haven’t seen it since it was in the theatres. Maybe I should give it another go…hey, that’s another blog post! (EVERYONE READING THIS: “Noooooooooooo!”) I do remember being struck by the novelty of the film not spending a whole lot of time on Two-Face’s origin. (“Here’s some footage of Harvey Dent getting acid in his face. Okay, everyone caught up? Good.”)
“…That overacting reporter woman is Bob Kane’s wife, so that’s how that happened.”
And she probably made more money from Batman than Bill Finger ever did.
And Nik sticks it to me but good:
“Sterling, you totally ripped off my post from last week! J’accuse!”
I swear, I didn’t! I’ve been meaning to do this for months, honest!
Here’s the link where Nik discusses his successful avoidance of this fourth Bat-film.
Okay, and that’s enough for now. I’ll continue with Part Two…in the future!
Yeah, I know you can’t wait.
