Batman & Robin. Batman & Robin: SterlingThe Batman legend continues. And each time he finds new adversaries and villains to tackle. But after The Joker played by Jack Nicholson, the bad guys have become more and more ridiculous.In the latest film Batman & Robin they have come up with a one-man army, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze. And even when he's in disguise, the voice is unwelcomely recognisable, muttering incoherently as usual.Batman (George Clooney) of course has Robin (Chris O'Donnel) in tow but there are also additional characters, like Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and though Ivy has some good lines, the advantage is essentially numerical."Poison, Poison Ivy," she introduces herself like Bond and adds, "I have some wild oats to sow," taking over what was once a male preserve. "I'm a lover, not a fighter," she goes on seductively. Similarly, Mr Freeze also has a few good parries and thrusts. Beginning with "The Iceman cometh," and ending with "Freeze in hell, Batman," the inherent contradiction works.What doesn't is the wafer-thin story. It is unable to sustain. What begins as a galactic encounter later comes down to earth, not figuratively though, and our fly-by-night heroes do their thing but most unconvincingly. The visuals are good and the sets colossal, but it hardly makes up for the action which at no time rises above the mediocre. What's worse is it drags on for two whole hours. Talk about flogging a dead bat, relentlessly.
