Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Batman and Robin

Thumper (or was it Thumper's mom) used to say, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all). I am going to take that advice and am not going to say nothing about Batman and Robin. Batman Forever lightened things up and did pretty well, so I guess the gang thought, "Hey lets add more neon, more nipples, more sidekicks, more villains, more jokes. That should be good, right?" Wrong. In 1997, Batman and Robin made just $107 million on a budget of $127 million. Not only that, but it put the Batman franchise "on ice" (haha) for nearly 10 years and almost killed the comic book genre before it began. I think it is safe to say, this was Batman's lowest point in his on screen career. It could only go up from here.

Its really hard to pinpoint the worst element of Batman and Robin. There are just so many candidates, but most of the negatives lead to the conclusion that the movie was intended to introduce and sell action figures and toys rather than entertain. Batman Forever had Robin, so of course Batman and Robin needed Batgirl (whose costume was surprisingly nippleless). And each of the heroes had not only their normal ugly costumes, but some silver embossed "special edition" variation.

Then there was Mr. Freeze. Oh my, the one-liners never stopped. Sadly, the movie writers took the reinvented and beloved origin given to Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series, and made it suck.

And since you can only sell so many Freeze toys, we were given Poison Ivy and Bane as well. Poison Ivy on her own wasn't that bad, but watching Batman and Robin fight over her was. And it sure was convenient that Batman had his own Bat-credit card on hand to impress her. He "never leaves the cave without it." Yikes.

Freeze and Ivy were bad, but Bane was ridiculous. The villain was reduced to a moronic Hulk-like stooge that doubled as a driver. This may very well be the worst use of any major super villain in any super hero film.

Its safe to say, fans were disappointed and plans for Batman 5 AKA Batman triumphant were canceled. That film actually sounds interesting, introducing Scarecrow and Harley Quinn (possibly played by Madonna) making Batman think the Joker has returned. But I am pretty sure what we ended up with in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight is worth not ever getting that sequel.




There is actually a fan edit of the film called Batman and Robin De-Assified, which literally "deassified" the movie by cutting all the close-up butt and crotch shots., lame jokes, and zany sound effects. The streamlined 66 minute film is reportedly not that bad but some of the bad parts had to stay in to keep the film's continuity. Basically, most of this stuff was cut:

Up Next: The New Batman Adventures

Batman Serial * Batman and Robin Serial * Batman '66 TV * Batman '66 Movie * Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder * Batman on Scooby Doo * Batman the Super Friend * The New Adventures of Batman * Batman '89 * Batman Returns * Batman: The Animated Series * Batman: Mask of the Phantasm * Batman Forever * Batman and Robin

* Special Musical Edition *

There's a Firestorm a Comin'

When Batman: The Brave and the Bold returns in January, there will be a whole slew of new heroes teaming up with Bats. Among them, Firestorm. TV Guide has provided the first glimpse of the hero. I don't know too much about the guy outside of what I learned from Super Friends: He can change any inorganic matter into any other inorganic matter (basically an alchemist who can turn lead- but not plants- to gold) and he has the body of one guy with a Jiminy Cricket like conscience of a second dude. As a kid, I just thought he was pretty cool and always hoped he would reappear somewhere. Well his day has finally come.

Wonder Woman (2009) - Film Capsule

Heroine: Wonder Woman

Villains: Ares and Hades

Diabolical Schemes: Ares, God of War, draws power from warring humans and hopes to become all powerful by influencing humans to start a nuclear war.

Coolest Moment(s): There are a couple of nice beheadings and some nice mythological monsters that get sliced and diced.

Worst Moment(s): Both Ares and Hades designs were pretty weak and unintimidating.

Comic Book Logic: It really didn't make sense to me why everyone just decided that it would be a good idea to show up in Washington D.C. for a big battle. And I may be wrong, but D.C. isn't on the ocean is it? Because I don't know if an Amazonian Navy could just come right up the Potomac. Then again, I'm no geographer.

Review in 50 Words or Less: Great way to reintroduce and modernize what sometimes seems like an outdated character. There was plenty of action and comedy and Wonder Woman was a lot more likable here than in Justice League. Steve Trevor was also well done in this solid entry in the DC line. Bring on Cheetah!

Whats So Civil About War Machine Anyways?

Its official. War Machine will be helping to sell Iron Man 2 as if the movie needs selling.

Smallville's Stargirl Reveals Her Stars

Because you demanded it, here are more pics of Smallville's Justice Society. Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate are the main three Society members who will appear and the looks of all three of them are pretty true to their comic book designs.

It interesting to see the creators coming around with these designs. Could we be seeing some tights and or flights soon? Or maybe at least some more traditional costumes for the Leaguers? Hope so.

Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Batman Forever

After the odd and dark nature of Batman Returns, The Brothers Warner pushed the pendulum back toward light and campy. Enter Jim Carrey, Robin, and lots of neon. The tone of this film was just a hint of what was yet to come.

In 1995, Jim Carrey was all the rage and his addition to the film as the Riddler helped pave the way toward a profitable $184 million box office take. Overall, the film was fairly well received. I don't know, I think people were just happy to get the taste of Batman Returns out of their mouths, they didn't realize how sour this new entry was, nor did they realize that an even sourer course was in the works.

In the movie, The Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder made acquaintance forming the Dynamic Duo. Although Robin's costume consisted of body armor, his comic book outfit was teased with his circus garb. Batman Forever also recast Batman with Val Kilmer. So, not only was the film given a lighter tone, but Batman himself got a new face. In fact, if it weren't for Alfred the Butler's consistent casting, this movie could easily be seen as a different continuity from the Tim Burton Batmen.

While some people complain about "too many villains" in Batman Returns, I think Penguin and Catwoman were balanced a bit better than were Two-Face and Riddler. I guess Riddler has a bit of a character arc, but Two-Face just seems like a stupid Riddler imitator. In fact, Two-Face in Batman Forever was one of the biggest wastes of a super villain in any movie (aside from Bane in Batman and Robin). And to think this was Two-Face's big screen debut. Still, I guess there are some things to like about this movie. First of all, Riddler's Edward Nigma persona is a very interesting mirrored take on Bruce Wayne. In fact, there is a lot about Riddler to like. His performance was over the top, but at least he made riddles, keeping fairly true to his comic book character (as opposed to Two-Face).

Unfortunately, the film also suffered from some last minute edits- scenes that among other thins would explain the movie's title. In the end, I would say this entry was an improvement on Batman Returns, but as over correction often leads to tragic traffic accidents, Batman Forever set the franchise into a frightful free fall.

Up Next: Batman and Robin

Batman Serial * Batman and Robin Serial * Batman '66 TV * Batman '66 Movie * Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder * Batman on Scooby Doo * Batman the Super Friend * The New Adventures of Batman * Batman '89 * Batman Returns * Batman: The Animated Series * Batman: Mask of the Phantasm * Batman Forever

* Special Musical Edition *

DC DVD Announcements and Reveals

Behold the cover art for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths highlighting the parallel reality plot. Looks good. And sure enough, there is the Spectre hocking his animated short as previously announced.

Perhaps the biggest news of all to coincide with these new images was the announcement of the movie to be released after this one with the working title Batman: Under the Red Hood. First off, its about time Batman gets his own movie. Batman: Gotham Knight AKA Batmanime was technically a Batman movie, but it was such an odd project being both a midquel for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and an experimental anthology, that it didn't really satiate my "Bappetite." Having said that, it was the lines best seller thus far, so more Batman was always on the menu.

So what is Batman: Under the Red Hood about? Who knows. Red Hood is a Batman foe, but he has sometimes been the identity of pre-Jokered Joker (as in the acclaimed graphic novel The Killing Joke), and sometimes a disguise for returned from the dead second Robin Jason Todd. My hunch, the word Killing was to explicit for an animated feature, but this is a rough adaptation of the popular Killing Joke Joker origin tale.


On an aside, its odd how these DVDs and the Batman: The Brave and the Bold series are hitting so many common themes. Within a few months both will have given the only appearances in super hero shows to both Owl Man and Red Hood (as seen above) who incidentally was an alternate Earth good version of Joker that teamed up with Bats on Brave and the Bold to take down Owl Mans gang. In any case, keep em coming.