Batman is a rather dark hero who also has a very serious mood in his films. Batman and Robin, on the other hand, is the complete opposite and a hated film for many fans. MeinMMO author Nikolas Hernes loves the film because it is silly and stupid.
Despite its bad reputation, on paper for 1997, Batman and Robin has a respectable cast.
But the big names didn’t work because the film flopped with critics. According to boxofficemojo.com, the film grossed $238 million worldwide on a budget of $125 million, but if you compare that to Batman Forever it doesn’t look so good. On a budget of $100 million, the film grossed $336 million.
The film is mainly criticized for its silly jokes and the design, which is very much aimed at dull comedy. I still watch the film every year and enjoy exactly what is criticized: the silly.
You can find a trailer for the film here:
Batman and Robin – Trailer for the superhero film with Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Bad puns until you can’t anymore
First of all, I have to say that you need a certain kind of humor to enjoy the film. The dialogues consist of a lot of puns. In keeping with the silly mood, they aren’t cleverly written either. An example would be Mr. Freeze saying something like: What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age!
This pretty much goes on throughout the entire film. Uma Thurman makes plant jokes and Arnold Schwarzenegger makes jokes about ice cream. I’m ashamed to say that it makes me laugh every time. It hits exactly my sense of humor when I’m in the mood for the film.
The gadgets and costumes of Batman and Co. are anything but dark. There are the infamous Bat nipples, there are integrated ice skates and if something breaks, George Clooney just pulls out his Bat credit card to pay for everything.
I enjoy that because with all the dark comic book films you shouldn’t forget that there are also silly comics and Batman used to have them too. In addition to Joker, Scarecrow and Bane, who also appears in this film, there were also enemies like the Polka Dot Man and the Calender Man.
Batman and Robin wants to be silly and if you embrace it, many of the silly aspects actually work quite well.
It’s a Schwarzenegger film
The actors all act very far above that, most of them act quite badly in my opinion. George Clooney has a certain charm as Bruce Wayne, but in my opinion he completely fails as Batman.
But the real star of the film is Arnie as Mr. Freeze. His style of acting is reminiscent of his comedies and coupled with his bad jokes, his tall stature and his charm, you enjoy watching him. Even more screen time with Arnie probably would have benefited the film.
His secret base also seems like that of a villain in a cartoon and I think that’s quite good. Everything else about the production design is terrible and can’t keep up with the style of the Burton films. The effects are also a disaster, but are always saved by the humorous tone.
Finally, I have to say that the film is not good, in many parts it is actually very bad. Batman and Robin is one of the worst Batman films and is objectively really difficult in many aspects. But he has a trash charm. If you have to laugh at bad puns and are a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I can only recommend the film. Despite its quality, the film is an unforgettable experience with friends.
If you want to read more about Schwarzenegger, you will like this bizarre story: Legendary wrestler once lifted Arnold Schwarzenegger like a small child to put him on a cupboard