https://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/626477/people-softened-on-batman-robin?page=1
Back in the day, it was seen as the absolute worst superhero film ever made. Now, while it still has its haters, talk about the film is less vicious, with Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze being noted as a highlight by many. Is the film now seen as not as bad as its reputation?share
the movie is crappy but in a harmless way. it's just a fun stupid movie. the hatred for it has always been insanely overblown and ridiculous to a cringeworthy degree. compare it to nearly any other "worst movie of all time" and this has much better direction, writing, and production than 90% of its competition. it also makes no sense that people would enjoy BF but not this when they're equally as stupid. the hatred mostly comes from virgin comic book fanboys who think everything batman (and all superheroes) has to be a dark gritty courtroom crime drama and that any comic book movie that's silly (which they are all supposed to be in theory) should be shit on. i have always been indifferent to comic book superhero movies so i'm not offended by dumb stuff like the "bat credit card" and "bat nipples" that are on screen for 0.7 seconds.
shareI think standards for films have dropped ever since the superhero genre became the dominant genre in movies the past 15 or so years .. so where at the time B&R was seen as an abhorrent piece of cinema, now in the age of the Thors, Guardians, Suicide Squads, WonderWomans, Deadpools, AntMans, Shazams, etc its not seen as that bad
shareNO...I'M STILL ROCK HARD FOR IT.
shareAlicia Silverstone got to wear a Batgirl costume so it was not all bad. Nonetheless I think people overreacted to this movie. In those days the only way to sell Batman to a mass audience i.e. turn a profit was to have a light campy tone to it. I am not even sure as to the overall number of dark lovers when compared to moviegoers as a total.
shareAlicia Silverstone in a Batgirl costume was the one redeeming feature of that movie for me!
shareI also think that Joel Schumacher's recent passing forced people to do an about face. I think that for the longest time, people accused him of being a hack filmmaker who ruined Batman's film reputation with Batman & Robin. Over time, even before he died, people were slowly starting to understand that Schumacher was essentially doing his best to appease what his bosses at Warner Bros. wanted. Also, Schumacher was humble and self-reflective enough to apologize to the people that he disappointed or let down if with Batman & Robin, they didn't get what they wanted or desired in a Batman product.
Also, since that time, we have gotten many more Batman movies such as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy with Christian Bale, the DCEU films with Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton's return in The Flash, and Matt Reeves' Batman film with Robert Pattinson. So we can no longer say that Batman & Robin out and out ended the Batman character's time on the silver screen.
I think interviews along with the deleted scenes from Batman Forever show that Schumacher had an interesting vision for Batman. He wanted BF to be darker than it ended up (although not as dark as Burton's movies, obviously, that's why he got the gig); and even after having to remove much of what he'd shot, he still gave us the movie that delved the deepest into Batman's fractured psyche. None of which excuses Batman & Robin, by which time he'd given up completely on any depth of story.
shareI don't think dark and gritty would've necessarily led to a better film but I think it would make a more fan pleasing one.
Not that we give Joel credit for Forever's story but he had Akira Goldsman write Batman & Robin, who wrote 1998 Lost In Space one of the worst movie TV remakes ever and some of the newer Star Trek.
Batman Forever really feels like a compromised product. Joel Schumacher like you said, did want to delve deeper into Batman's fractured psyche, hence the red book subplot that was mostly left on the cutting room floor, regrettable. And it was obvious that Batman Forever, wanted to discuss the consequences of seeking revenge and how it could consume and ultimate ruin somebody's mental well-being.
I really feel like unlike with Batman & Robin, Batman Forever still actually had a point or message that it wanted to say or make. Like at the end when Bruce Wayne comes to realization that he choses to be Batman instead of it being some type of burden that he must keep taking on.
'I really feel like unlike with Batman & Robin, Batman Forever still actually had a point or message that it wanted to say or make. Like at the end when Bruce Wayne comes to realization that he choses to be Batman instead of it being some type of burden that he must keep taking on.'
Definitely.
When I was a kid reading "Batman" comics in the 1960s (sorry, I graduated to big boy books with no pictures once I grew up), and watching the "Batman" tv show, I had no problem with Robin. I liked him. He was great. The problem now is that, ever since Burt Ward, he just hasn't been written or acted right. Bring Robin back with good writing and casting, and he'll be fine.
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