Batman (Clooney) and Robin (O'Donnell) must face two new villains. Mr. Freeze (Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Thurman) team up in order to defeat the dynamic duo and kill every other human being on the planet, no mean feat. Batman and Robin are aided by a new addition to the team Batgirl (Silverstone).

Batman and Robin is the fourth edition in the series and while they still haven't gotten the formula quite right, it still delivers about as much pure fun as you'll find in any Hollywood movie with a budget in excess of $100mil (is that enough qualifiers?). Your enjoyment of Batman and Robin will come completely down to taste, you'll either like this film or you won't, and you should know within the first five minutes which way it will be. Personally, I quite enjoy its unpretentious extravagance, it's the perfect thing to just blob out in front of and soak in, but don't for heavens sake think about it too much! It's the cinematic equivalent of junk food.

Out of the whole franchise, they spent the most money on this one, and it shows. There are several huge sets, in which, several huge set pieces occur. It's a visual assault on the eyes. Lavish colors and brash sounds dominate proceedings and I really enjoyed the exuberance of the whole thing. Rarely does the Gotham City in this film resemble reality, it is now completely in a fantasy world, a place where cars can drive down the arms of giant statues and freezing guns actually, like, work. It is undoubtedly the most action packed of the series and it IS spectacular. But the nagging question is always, is this Batman?

Well yes, only it's Joel Schumacher's Batman now. A lot of people complain that Batman should be set with a "dark" tone, like Tim Burton's films, and - so they tell me - the way the comic books are. Well I say bollocks to that, there are plenty of subjects out there to take a dark approach to, the quite ludicrous world of Batman and his evil foes cries out for the outrageous approach that Schumacher adopts. If you find yourself seriously upset with Hollywood's revamp of a comic book character, then I think you need to take a close look at your life. It's not like they went and set Dangerous Liaisons in a modern day highschool or something (oh christ, they DID do that!)

The Batman in this story is certainly no 'Dark Knight', and the casting of wisecracking movie hunk George Clooney in the role serves to accentuate that. Clooney struggles a bit with the role, the usual relaxed, happy-go-lucky persona that he brings to his best performances is somewhat stifled by what looks like a perceived need on his part to brood and mope. His dramatic approach to the role involves little more than nodding his head around a lot, but his performance is ultimately passable. He's not playing Hamlet here after all.

Chris O'Donnell reprises his role from Batman Forever as Robin. Robin was much better used in that previous installment, here the script paints him as little more than a whiny little brat, and O'Donnell doesn't have the charisma to overcome that, although he has a few good moments. We're also treated to yet another addition to the hero's ranks in the very appealing form of Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. While there really isn't much of a good reason for her to be in the movie at all, she adds a bit of spunk and natural charm to the proceedings, and is the most enjoyable "good guy".

The best characters though (as usual) are the over-the-top villains. Uma Thurman steals the show with a funny and sexy turn, much like Michelle Pfeiffer did in Batman Returns. Arnold only talks in bad puns, but his natural screen charisma and the knowing glint in his eye make his performance enjoyable. The two are probably the best pairing of villains in the whole series, because instead of one overshadowing the other, they both compliment each other. Watch out for John Glover hamming it up beautifully as the mad scientist who inadvertently creates Poison Ivy.

It's undoubtedly the kinkiest version of the Batman franchise to date, and in fact crosses the line into self-parody on several occasions. The opening close up shots of Batman's (occupied) codpiece for instance. Mr. Freezes phallic shaped vehicle also raises eyebrows. The campy tone conflicts sharply with attempts in several scenes for genuine drama though, leaving the whole thing a little difficult to take in. There's simply too much going on.

The script is fairly perfunctory, basically just providing a platform for the actors to launch deliciously cheesy puns at one another and for Schumacher to go nuts with the visuals. The plot actually makes sense here though (in terms of flow if not realism) which is something that previous installments inexplicably struggled with. A lot of time is spent trying to push the family aspect of our heroes, which does little more than drag the film out to over 2 hours, although it does give Michael Gough some much deserved screen time as Alfred.

This Batman sequel wasn't as successful with many punters as the previous versions, and I see a couple of main reasons for this. Firstly, it was the fourth in the series and familiarity breeds contempt. Secondly, it was significantly different enough from the earlier versions to seriously alienate previous "fanboys", who treated the film with ridiculous harshness.

Batman and Robin has a lot of stuff I've never seen in any film before, particularly in the visual department, and as pure entertainment the film's a winner with me. Once the noise has died down however, you're left with a very hollow cinematic experience.

Uma really goes to town with this role and seems to be having a ball, whether as nerdy scientist Pamela Isley or the super vamp Poison Ivy. As Poison Ivy Uma gives a totally over-the-top parody of femme-fatales while still managing to retain her cool cred. Behaving like a cross between Mae West and a drag queen, she struts about chewing scenery with abandon.

While maintaining this outrageous persona, she's forced to wrap her mouth around some rather patchy dialogue though. At times the dialogue is delectable, with catchphrases like "I'm Poison", "I really am to die for" and "So many people to kill, so little time" melting off her tongue, Uma is irresistible.

The character is so one dimensional however, that on the several occasions she is left to seemingly lecture herself, (well Bane's there), things become a little labored. Uma (and her director) should have perhaps been a little more careful to keep things fresh. Most of the time she's handled nicely though, and her regular appearances never fail to liven up the film.

She does of course look phenomenal in various exorbitantly designed (and revealingly skin-tight) outfits. It really is amazing how she can turn up the sex appeal at will, no other actress can match her. The unashamedly sexy nature of her performance was also a signifier that Uma had finally gotten over her hang-ups at being touted a "sex-symbol" that had bothered her earlier in her career.

Director Joel Schumacher described the necessary attributes for an actress to play Poison Ivy as "She has to be a great actress, twenty five, six feet tall, have a great sense of humor and wit, and be the most beautiful woman in the world". That was obviously his way of saying he wanted Uma.

Uma's in-your-face performance is of course a love it or a hate it job, and being probably her most high profile role to date it seems to have left a large part of the general public with a very strange impression of her. It's perhaps ironic that a role that Uma took as a step outside the norm has become the one to most represent her in the public eye. Which is probably the only thing I have against her taking the role. That is far overridden however by how cool it is to see Uma playing a Batman villain.