Are you ready for the last “Monday Bat-inee” for
this month? I hope you are, because we’re
concluding this look back on Batman month by featuring the last edition of the
original Batman film franchise which began twenty-four years ago.
Unfortunately, many also believe that the film in
today’s spotlight was easily the worst installment in the entire Batman
franchise. I can’t say that I disagree
with that statement, as it’s easily my least favourite of all the Batman films
as well. But, the reason why I feel this
way? It may surprise you.
When you talk about why a movie fails, there are a
lot of reasons why. Sometimes, the
casting might be a little bit off, and actors either deliver their lines
flatly, or they share no chemistry with anybody else. And, sometimes the actor just doesn’t suit
the part, no matter how hard they try to make it work. A lot of people seem to feel that this is
what happened in this film, and again, I don’t disagree with them. For me, it’s just not the main reason.
Then there’s the whole idea that the director and
crew of a film can make or break it.
Certainly, Joel Schumacher was no stranger to the Batman franchise, as
he directed 1995’s “Batman Forever”, which was a huge summer blockbuster that
year. Yet, for whatever reason, his
second stint as director of a Batman film flopped. I didn’t have any issue with the direction of
the film, aside from the fact that there were obvious goofs with synchronizing
the dialogue with the moving lips of the actors...but that’s more of a goof-up
with the sound/editing crew, not necessarily the director.
If you honestly want my opinion as to why the 1997
film “Batman & Robin” flopped at the box office, it’s that I felt that at
that time, the Batman franchise was getting a bit stale. I’m not saying that the movie shouldn’t have
been made at all...I think it could have worked, had the franchise taken a bit
of a break, and the movie was released about five years after “Batman Forever”.
When I was growing up, all the successful movies
that I knew of had three installments.
There was the original, as well as two sequels. And, that to me was perfectly fine. Any more than that and you run the risk of
getting bored with the series. At least,
I thought so, until the Harry Potter series proved me wrong somewhat.
But the theory makes sense, doesn’t it? The “Lethal Weapon” franchise was perfect
when it was a trilogy. There was no need
to make a fourth, as far as I was concerned, and the fourth film is my least
favourite of the bunch. The same deal
goes with the “Naked Gun” series. The
first two films were genius, and while “Naked Gun 33 1/3” was fairly
entertaining, the formula felt a bit bland by then.
As far as I’m concerned, the original Batman
series should have ended with “Batman Forever”.
At least that way, it could have ended on a somewhat high note. Instead, “Batman & Robin” sort of left a
bad taste in my mouth because it didn’t seem like it was as good as the
previous three films. It may just be my
opinion, but the whole film seemed to be slapped together in an editing suite
in just twelve hours.
But when director Christopher Nolan rebooted the
Batman series (with Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne) in 2005 with “Batman
Begins”, it offered a fresh new look at a classic superhero movie, and the
Batman love affair was renewed. I think
part of the reason for the success can be credited to the cast, crew, and the
huge marketing blitz that surrounded the film during the summer of 2005...but I
also believe that in the eight years that passed between “Batman & Robin”
and “Batman Begins” gave everyone the chance to start all over, and refresh the
series once more.
Anyway, enough about my opinion. We have a movie to discuss even though it was
critically lauded.
“Batman & Robin” was released on June 20,
1997, and as mentioned before was directed by Joel Schumacher. Once again, Michael Gough and Pat Hingle
reprised their roles as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon. Chris O’Donnell also returned to portray Dick
Grayson/Robin. The rest of the cast was
completely different, and all I have to say is that some of the casting
decisions made me sort of scratch my head a bit.
I didn’t really have anything bad to say about Uma
Thurman’s performance as Dr. Pamely Isley/Poison Ivy, but I don’t have anything
good to say either. As someone who
thought that Uma did a great job in “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill”, her
performance in this film didn’t do much for me.
I’d also like to say that I also had no issue with Alicia Silverstone
who played Barbara Wilson (a.k.a. Batgirl), but she was more of a supporting
character than a lead role, and I couldn’t really get a feel on her.
(Turns out that there was a reason why Alicia
Silverstone didn’t have a whole lot of scenes...and you’ll learn the reason a
little bit later.)
However, I fail to understand why Joel Schumacher
was so insistent on getting Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the role of Mr.
Freeze in the movie. Not to make any
puns here, but Schwarzenegger’s performance left me a bit...cold. I mean, Terminator, yes. Commando, yes. Heck, I’d even admit to liking him in “Kindergarten
Cop”! As a Batman villain though? Well, let’s just say that I would have been
more accepting of other actors on the shortlist.
And, I’m sorry for those of you who love him, but
George Clooney was the weakest Batman of the whole franchise. I thought he was fantastic in "ER", and the “Ocean’s
Eleven” series, but honestly, I was kind of hoping that Val Kilmer would have
returned for this installment. It might
have made this film easier to watch, though I do give Clooney some credit for
stepping into a difficult role and trying to make it his own.
(And, that’s despite the fact that I saw the
Batman films out of order...just in case you were curious, the order for me was
Forever, Returns, Batman, B&R...)
Anyway, I won’t bore you with details of the plot
too much. The plot was a bit hard to
follow (which was another reason why I was sort of bored by the film), but the
gist of it is that a doctor by the name of Victor Fries was desperately trying
to save his wife’s life after she contracted a rare disease known as MacGregor’s
Syndrome. Unfortunately, an accident in
a cryogenics lab caused Fries to become Mr. Freeze, a Batman foe who becomes
dependent on a diamond-powered subzero suit.
Meanwhile, botanist Pamela Isley witnesses her mad
scientist boss Jason Woodrue (John Glover) administer a strength serum into a
convict, transforming him into “Bane” (Robert “Jeep” Swenson), and during an
argument with him, she ends up getting pushed into a shelf loaded with deadly
toxins. The toxins do not kill her, but
the chemical reaction transforms her into “Poison Ivy”, and after killing Dr.
Woodrue, flees from South America with Bane to cause mischief in Gotham City.
Needless to say, when Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze
come together, they have their own separate agendas as they attempt to destroy
Gotham City with their powers. It’s up
to Batman to save the day. But what
happens when Robin suddenly begins to rebel against Batman? And, how does Barbara (Alfred’s college-aged
niece) fit into the scene?
Again, I won’t reveal the ending...such as it
was. I never reveal endings in Monday
Matinees, regardless of how good or bad the film is.
But, what I will reveal is some behind the scenes
trivia in regards to this movie, and maybe it will give you some indication as
to why the film wasn’t as successful as it could have been. I know that I certainly learned a lot.
01 – According to Joel Schumacher, he and Val Kilmer
had difficulty working together on the set of “Batman Forever”, and he remarked
that he let him go from the project. But
in reality, Kilmer had signed on to work on the 1997 film, “The Saint”.
02 – The film was nominated for eleven Golden
Raspberry Awards. Alicia Silverstone
actually “beat” Uma Thurman for the Award for Worst Supporting Actress!
03 – Although the Smashing Pumpkins also earned a
Razzie nomination for their original song “The End is the Beginning is the End”
which appeared in the film, it simultaneously won the Grammy Award for Best
Hard Rock Performance! I guess if you
had to win one of the two, a Grammy is better than a Razzie!
04 – I’m beginning to understand why I felt that
the film was rushed. The production
wrapped up two weeks ahead of schedule.
05 – This film was Warner Brothers’ attempt to
make the Batman franchise family-friendly.
Considering that it currently holds an approval rating of less than 15%
on Rotten Tomatoes, I’m guessing that gamble failed.
06 – Interestingly enough, “Star Trek: The Next
Generation” actor Patrick Stewart was considered for the role of Mr.
Freeze. In all honesty, I think I might
have preferred him over Schwarzenegger.
07 – Schwarzenegger reportedly spent six hours
getting his Mr. Freeze makeup and wardrobe.
But, when you consider that his take home pay was twenty-five million
dollars, I suppose it was worth the money!
08 – Despite the negative reaction of the movie,
it still managed to make almost $240 million at the box office during the
summer of 1997.
09 – There was supposed to have been a planned
fifth installment of the original franchise entitled “Batman Triumphant”, which
would have been released in 1999 with Clooney and O’Donnell reprising their
roles. But after the dismal response to “Batman
& Robin”, the “Triumphant” project was scrapped for good.
10 – Although George Clooney was happy to play
Batman in “Batman & Robin” (mainly because his cousin, Miguel Ferrer was a huge
Batman fan), he later admitted that the film might have “killed the franchise”.
11 – Clooney filmed episodes of “ER” while working
on “Batman & Robin”, and sometimes visited the set of “ER” in full Batman
costume. I wonder how Julianna Margulies,
Noah Wyle, and Anthony Edwards responded to that...
12 – Sadly, Robert “Jeep” Swenson died of a heart
attack just two months after the film was released, on August 18, 1997. He was just 40 years old.
13 – This film had the heaviest Batman costume of
the four within the original Batman series, weighing in at a whopping ninety
pounds!
14 – Ever wonder where the production crew came up
with the name for “MacGregor Syndrome”?
It was named after one of the film’s producers, Peter Macgregor-Scott.
15 – Bruce Wayne/Batman’s credit card has an
expiry date of “Forever”, which is a nice throwback to the previous film.
16 – Another reference to “Batman Forever” can be
found in the scene where Mr. Freeze is held in the prison evidence room...the
costumes that Two-Face and The Riddler wore in the previous film!
17 – Other actresses considered for the role of Poison
Ivy included Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts, and Demi Moore. I’ll admit that Demi Moore would have made an
interesting choice, but not so much the other two.
18 – Jesse Ventura makes an appearance in the
film, meaning that “Batman & Robin” was a film that contained two future U.S.
Governors. Ventura became Governor of
Minnesota in 1998, and Schwarzenegger became the Governor of California in
2003.
19 – A lot of Alicia Silverstone’s scenes were
edited out of the film because Alicia had gained a few pounds while shooting
the film and her costume had to be refit.
When the media turned the story into a scandal at Silverstone’s expense,
Schumacher vehemently stood up for the actress at every opportunity. While I’ll admit that Schumacher’s vision for
this film wasn’t executed as well as it could have, I’ll also admit to having a
ton of respect for him based on his defense of Silverstone.
20 – Before Clooney was given the role of Batman,
David Duchovny was considered for the role.
21 – Believe it or not, two extras on set were
arrested and fired after they tried to sell bootlegged footage of the film
taken from security cameras! Whoops!
22 – In the ‘TOO MUCH INFORMATION’ files, Clooney
admitted to peeing inside the Batman suit on at least one occasion! Though, to be fair, it took a long time for
Clooney to get out of the heavy costume.
23 – If the picture of Barbara’s mother in the
film looks vaguely familiar, it’s because the image is that of Gloria Stuart,
who played the elderly Rose in 1997’s “Titanic”.
24 – Nicole Kidman was supposed to play Poison Ivy
in “Batman Forever”, but when Schumacher realized that there would be too many
Batman villains in one movie, Poison Ivy was added to “Batman & Robin”
instead
25 – Mr. Freeze makes about 27 puns related to
ice, snow, and freezing during the film...which in my opinion, was 24 puns too
many.
26 – Before Alicia Silverstone was cast as
Batgirl, Christina Ricci was considered for the role, but she was busy filming “The
Ice Storm” at the time.
27 – When asked what prop he would like to take
home from the movie set, Clooney responded with Elle Macpherson (who played
Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Julie Madison).
And, that wraps up our final Monday Bat-inee. Did all of you enjoy this series this
month? If so, let me know! If I get enough feedback, I’ll consider doing
the rebooted film series at a future date!
J
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