Batman and Robin (1997)- A Bad Movie, Now Calm Down!

It’s no understatement to claim that Batman and Robin is a bad movie! It’s not just considered a bad movie but a terrible, horrible, not good, very bad movie! In other news, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and Ben Affleck is never coming back as Batman (Sorry, too soon?!). That has been acknowledged and accepted ever since the movie came out back in 1997. Not just as a bad movie, but one of the worst atrocities to ever find it’s way on the big screen and is considered as the scapegoat that killed the superhero sub-genre in the late 1990s. It’s one that nearly every single person that watched it and even worked on it wished they could forget for all eternity. It’s the one that is considered the absolute low point for Batman, superhero movies, and blockbuster cinema all at once. It frankly can’t get worse than this. Right, right? Well, as we approach this movie’s 25th birthday, I think it’s time to acknowledge that while Batman and Robin is legit bad, it is not the worst movie ever made or even the worst superhero/comic book movie ever made. That’s right! I said it! Don’t @ me!

Here’s the thing folks, it’s incredibly dumb to still be angry about this movie to this very day. Yes, it’s bad but it’s at least laughably bad and I would even go as far to say is at least, watchable bad. Yeah, it’s no doubt a guilty pleasure but still a pleasure nonetheless. It’s a movie that just has an absolute camp value to it that you can’t help but get sucked into it’s pure awfulness. From it’s brightly colored aesthetics to the corny as hell one-liners to the cartoony, outlandish overacting to the absolute moments of sheer brilliant terribleness that is always stuck inside your head every time you watch it, Batman and Robin is not only “so bad it’s good”, it redefines “so bad, its good”. All of this and more is why I have a hard time still wondering why this movie is still a whipping boy to comic book fans and movie goers whenever discussing bad superhero movies. Especially since there has been way worse superhero movies to come out since then!

If anything, unlike certain other terrible superhero movies that have come out, this one at the very least feels like a complete movie from start to finish. It’s not trying to step up other films, it’s not trying to pretend it’s so smart and deep, it’s not unnecessarily bloated with pretentious imagery and dialogue, and it has an actual story to tell with arcs and development. Sure, it exists to sell toys and target towards a very child friendly demographic without a doubt, but there is still existing material and conflicts the characters themselves have to go through. Bruce Wayne has to learn that he doesn’t have to carry Batman persona on his shoulders and can get help from those he cares about. Dick Grayson has to figure out his place as a superhero sidekick and realize that he doesn’t deserve all the fame and glory. And Barbara Gordon has to prove herself to be an alliance to the Batman family and her uncle Alfred and have herself as being equal to both Batman and Robin. There’s even the villains that get things to do. Poison Ivy getting her vengeance against misogynist culture by using her seductive charms to put men in her place and Mr. Freeze is fighting to do anything he can to save his wife. Granted, was ANY of this done well at all in the context of the film? With a couple of VERY, few exceptions, hell no! The thing is though it did actually HAVE THEM! That’s more than I can say for other superhero/comic book movies out there like say Steel, Elektra, Catwoman, The Spirit, X-Men: Origins Wolverine, Fant4stic, Suicide Squad, and a few others that I won’t mention by name since I know that will rub certain fans of those particular movies the wrong way.

Not to mention, there’s even a solid emotional core (somewhat) throughout the film. If anything, this is probably the Batman movie that gives the most personal arc and emotional depth for Alfred. Alfred has always usually been portrayed near flawlessly throughout the movies with great actors giving great performances. But, he’s usually always been there to be Bruce’s right hand man or friend to talk to and not a whole lot else. However, in this movie, things get more personal for Alfred and the Batman family. He’s suffering from a rare disease and is uncertain how long he has to live. Alfred is someone that has always gave everything for Bruce, not just because he’s his butler but because he’s his father figure, friend, and mentor who is usually there right by his side. Now, the family is looking to do anything they can to return the favor to Alfred to help him, especially Alfred’s niece Barbara who is motivated throughout the course of the movie as she believes she owes him his life. This leads to some incredibly touching scenes with Alfred that even someone with a heart can admit is quite heart warming. I mean how can anyone watch this scene and not get just a tad bit misty eyed?!

This is where we see Bruce do something he rarely does in any one of the movies, show some genuine emotion instead of pure anger and remorse. Heck, we even get to hear Bruce tells Alfred he loves him! When has Bruce EVER said that to Alfred or to anyone? This shows a vulnerability and emotional side to Bruce and is one of the very few scenes in the movie where George Clooney gives a genuine great performance in.

If you are reading this piece, you might think I’m legit trying to defend Batman and Robin as some misunderstood gem or something. That couldn’t be further from the truth. What I’m trying to say is it’s that the movie’s got enough material in it to at least make it a watchable bad movie. There’s a big difference between a bad movie that’s watchable and one that is unwatchable. The Last Airbender is unwatchable. Jack and Jill is unwatchable. Fant4stic is unwatchable. Transformers: The Last Knight is unwatchable. Batman and Robin is not. It’s directed, written, and edited like an actual feature film with an actual story, characters, and scenes that are included in it. That’s more I can say than those movies mentioned above along with many other movies in the world. If there’s one thing that I feel we should all come to the realization of Batman and Robin is that it’s mere existence was an absolute necessary evil for cinema. Not just superhero or comic book movies but cinema!

It’s very clear that Warner Brothers did complete damage control over the two Joel Schumacher Batman movies after the backlash that Batman Returns got for being too dark and not fit for younger audiences. Because of that, that gave them the impression that audience would only ever accept Batman with the exact kind of tone and feel as say, Adam West’s Batman. That’s what led WB to want to move on from Tim Burton and bring in Joel Schumacher, a director that they would have more control over and make the exact kind of movies with the right budget and tone that they wanted. However, after the mediocre response to Batman Forever and the abysmal one to Batman and Robin along with the positive reception from Mask of the Phantasm, (at least from the ones that actually saw it at the time of it’s release), that proved that was not the case and the audience can reject cheesy Batman movies as well if they didn’t like it. This not only to lead to the rise of superhero movies that took itself a bit more seriously despite still having a couple of goofy elements with the likes of 1998’s Blade, 2000’s X-Men, 2002’s Spider-Man, and for DC Comics, 2005’s Batman Begins but it also showcases that audience had an actual standard for superhero movies and would go see any of them regardless of the tone and feel if it was something they would enjoy watching.

Batman and Robin will always been known as a bad movie and one that killed superhero movies for a short period of time but it should also be known as the kind of bad movie that eventually lead to many other good movies to be made with the same genre it is a part off. It’s because of something as bad as this eventually made way for things as good as say Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, Logan, Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Infinity War, Endgame, No Way Home, along with many, many others. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to realize something has gone terribly wrong and change needs to happen. That’s what Warner Bros, Marvel, and many other movie studios realized with the result of this movie. Though there have still been plenty of missteps along the way, there’s enough good buried underneath the surface to forgive this sub-genre of movies and blockbusters in general that it will always find a way to bounce back.

To quote with the next Batflick movie I’m gonna cover, “Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up!”

A couple of side notes

• Funny enough, Steel came out the exact same year as B&R did. So, it wasn’t even the worst superhero movie to come out in 1997.
• I always find it disturbing that this movie came out the same year which I was born.
• This piece gives me an idea of a future post where I name over 20 superhero/comic book movies that are worse than Batman and Robin. That would certainly make me quite infamous.
• Uma Thurman is legit awesome as Poison Ivy!
• “What killed the dinosaurs?! The Ice Age!” kills me EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Next up: Batman Begins