10 Genuine Lessons Batman V Superman Can Learn From Batman & Robin
Zack Snyder should pay attention to Joel Schumacher's misfire.
It's been very, very, very easy to bash Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice as its production brings dumb decision after inexplicably dumber decision, but at the very least there's no way it can match the unbridled horror of the worst Batman movie ever. Take your victories and all that. Now the superhero genre is Hollywood's biggest money spinner and Christopher Nolan has given the Caped Crusader a ground-up reinventing, Batman & Robin is a painful memory. Eighteen years on, its crimes against cinema are resolutely in the past, a haunting reminder of a time when a single movie could all but halt the entire notion of comic book adaptations. But don't let that distance hide just how abhorrent the film is. Anyone who claims it's a film whose cheese enables it to pass over into "so bad it's good" territory has clearly let time heal wounds; there's plenty to laugh at, sure, but each chortle at its ridiculousness is a soul-destroying one. And likewise, don't let the fact the superhero genre has come back fighting lull you into thinking nothing can be learned from Joel Schumacher's desecration of one of modern culture's greatest icons anymore. Another controversial Batman movie is set to hit in just over a year, and given a lot's riding on it (the entire DC Cinematic Universe soars or plummets based on Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice not only making money, but pleasing fans), maybe it's worth taking a look back to the last time Batman on screen really messed up. WARNING: There will be images from Batman & Robin present throughout. Proceed with caution.