Batman & Robin (1997)

Batman & Robin is the final nail in the coffin for the 1990s Batman franchise. Is Batman & Robin watchable? Barely. Is it good? Certainly not. The film is an embarrassing mess, with overacting and obvious attempts at camp plastered all over the screen to the point of making you cringe yourself inside out. Instead of a Batman film, it's more like a menagerie of Batman characters (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane) strung together into a two hour commercial. Speaking of which, two hours was way too long to sit through this train wreck. At 80 minutes, I thought the film was about over until I realized with horror that 45 minutes remained. The script is absolute shit, with pun after miserable pun fouling the air. This is particularly bad with the villains--Schwarzenegger's Mr Freeze and Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy must crack a joke every other line. Thurman puts on a Hepburn-esque accent in an attempt to be sexier, I guess, Clooney phones it in, and Chris O'Donnell was always annoying. Alicia Silverstone contributes nothing but awkward padding. Really, the only bearable performance was Michael Gough's Alfred, but on the whole the film was difficult to watch. Posh production values and great special effects failed to soothe the pain. Do I regret watching it? Not really, but I'm not proud either.

3/10

Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers is the third film in what I call Paul Verhoeven's unofficial sci-fi trilogy (the first two are Robocop and Total Recall), and it's a blast. While it has a great supporting cast (Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, Neil Patrick Harris), it also holds the notable distinction of making both Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards look like they can act. Van Dien and Richards star as young high school graduates who enter the military to combat an on-going conflict with enormous bug aliens across the galaxy. The film is part high school drama, part satire, and almost all action. Much of the film's humor comes from the jingoistic, propaganda-laden, and brainwashed universe that the characters live in. But even with the satirical elements, the film still has a generous supply of stupidity. Regardless, it's good, stylish fun. The music is by the excellent Basil Poledouris, and it's got some funny "future" 90s pop songs. Of special note is the special effects which still hold up well today despite a good amount of it being late-90s CG. My only complaint is that the film is a hair on the long side, clocking in at 129 minutes.

8/10

Event Horizon (1997)

With Event Horizon, Paul WS Anderson proved he was able to direct a great film. Starring Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne, Event Horizon is a violent, gory, and absolutely frightening film about a crew sent to investigate the reappearance of the ship that went missing mysteriously seven years before. The film reminded me of many sci-fi flicks that have gone before it, but somehow it managed to combine these elements quite well for a very rewarding experience. While marred by a few poor CG moments, the special effects are ultimately pretty good, with many of the elements looking like they were models (I'm not sure if they were, but I sure hope so). I was very impressed. Despite his poor reputation, my respect for Paul WS Anderson just keeps on growing.

8/10

Con Air (1997)

Con Air has the honor of being one of the silliest action movies of all time. From the letter-writing scene between Cage (with full blown Southern accent) and daughter to that godawful song played over the sappy reunion at the end, Con Air is an all-out cheesefest. A silly premise aided by an ensemble cast of good/decent actors (John Malkovich, John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames) playing silly characters along with a goofy (sometimes clever) script adds up to an enjoyable yet generally substance-less viewing experience. The action scenes are convoluted, but everything about the film is convoluted. Con Air is loads of fun.

8/10