Throwback Thursday: 3 reasons to watch the infamous Batman and Robin

In our latest Throwback Thursday, we look at Batman and Robin, which was bad then but better now.

The year was 1997. Five years had passed since Michael Keaton graced the sceen with his final Batman performance (Batman Returns), and it had been two years since Val Kilmer did whatever that was in Batman Forever. Chris O’Donnell was returning to play Robin, and George Clooney was the new Bruce Wayne/Batman. On top of that, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were all going to appear in this new Batman movie. This was a movie full of stars. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot went wrong.

Batman and Robin is viewed as the worst Batman project of all time. Clooney was a terrible Batman (but a good Bruce Wayne). Robin’s interactions with Batgirl were awkward and, at times, uncomfortable to watch. Uma Thurman was good, but her performance gets lost among a bunch of cheesy lines. And as for Bane, the less said about him the better. Then there’s Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. I get that Arnold was one of the hottest action stars at the time, but this was not a role he should have been cast in. These are only the actors. We could spend hours breaking down how confusing the scenery and plot was.

Anybody who’s seen or heard of this movie knows this already. However, fast forward 22 years later. It’s 2019, and we’ve had years to find the real culprit here. The problem with this movie wasn’t the film itself. The issue was the way it was marketed. This wasn’t an action flick. This was a comedy.