7# Mr. Freeze - Batman & Robin (1997)
The above heading may seem very general, but there is good reason for this - everything about
Arnold Schwarzeneggers portrayal of Mr. Freeze is lacking. After an overenthusiastic slip into a vat of freezing chemicals, the previously hard working and affectionate Dr. Victor Fries transforms into an ice cold killer (pardon the pun) who works tirelessly to cure his terminally ill and cryogenically frozen wife while simultaneously developing a love for furry Polar Bear slippers, Christmas songs, dancing (badly) and spouting terrible catchphrases. These include, but are not limited to, Cool off, Chill out, What killed the dinosaurs? The Ice Age! and Chilled to perfection. Theres more, but... enough. Unfortunately, its obvious that Schwarzenegger was cast only for his name and not for his acting credentials; as much as I enjoy watching him in movies like Commando or Predator he doesnt even change his accent for his appearance in
Batman & Robin (1997), making him a bit of a caricature; a sizeable piece of comic relief in a film which (for me) already has far too much of it. Yes hes funny at first, but after a while the jokes get old and the whole character starts to grate. With different writing and casting, this could have been a chilling portrayal of a vengeful world hating psychopath, but unfortunately it was not to be.