Batman & Robin (1997)

Batman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City. (IMDb)

So, opening scene, Batman & Robin engage the ice skates built into their suits and start playing hockey with a diamond puck against a blue-faced Arnold and his robot army and I’m thinking, “This is almost ridiculous enough to be good.” Alas, it was not to be: cheesiness aside, there’s too much going on in the script (for the second time Schumacher, two villains is too many), the action scenes are awkwardly staged (very stage-y), and the performances are poor (Thurman’s overacting in particular).

5/10 (Poor)

 

Batman Forever (1995)

Batman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin. (IMDb)

The dialogue is bad, and aside from Carrey’s typically enjoyable schtick, everything about the baddies is really bad too: the two-villain dynamic is awkward AF (I read afterwards that TLJ hated Carrey on set and you can totally tell), the brain-sucking thing is dumb, and the “useless henchmen” syndrome here is the worst I’ve ever seen. Kilmer’s brooding Batman is good though and the campy action-based plot is fun enough, featuring some cool cinematography (loved those zooms and skewed shots).

6/10 (Mediocre)