10 Movies That Didn't Understand What The Fans Wanted
5. Batman & Robin
Batman Forever may not have been a totally successful first (and only) outing as Batman for Val Kilmer, but it at least oozed eye-popping style and committed confidently to some of its, uh, zanier choices.
Joel Schumacher returned to direct the follow-up, Batman & Robin, and seemingly believing the previous film to be a little too restrained, he decided to dial up the camp, crank up the neon to bulb-busting levels, and chase the toy merch gravy train all the way to the bank.
George Clooney's Batman was bafflingly charmless, Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy was too camp for her own good, Bane (Jeep Swanson) was reduced to a mute grunt, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze sacrificed genuine menace for groan-worthy silliness.
Schumacher also ramped up the homo-eroticism to parodic levels that invoked the classic Adam West TV series...if someone dosed it with bath salts. But the film's most egregious sin? The scene where Batman bids for Poison Ivy with a...Bat-credit card.
On the plus side, Batman & Robin miscalculated its audience enough that it prompted Warner Bros. to push the needle in the total opposite direction for Christopher Nolan's 2005 reboot Batman Begins. And the rest is history.