“Hi, Freeze. I’m Batman.”
A film starring my favorite superhero (Batman) and one of my favorite supervillains (Mr. Freeze) should be one of my most beloved films of all time. Unfortunately for myself and a ton of other Batman fans, 1997’s Batman & Robin was a terrible, brightly colored mess. Leading the charge in this caped crusader caper is none other than People Magazine’s sexiest man alive (1997 and again, for some weird reason, in 2006), George Clooney. Clooney was on fire at the time, appearing in the successful series ER and the Quentin Tarentino flick, From Dusk Til Dawn. His career would continue to grow……but no thanks to Batman & Robin. Clooney has openly admitted that he was terrible in the film, and he consistently ranks at the bottom of most “Favorite Batman” lists.
Despite the fact that Clooney is my least favorite live action Batman, I plopped down some cold, hard cash in order to purchase McFarlane Toys’ version of Clooney’s Batman in his black suit from the 1997 Batflop. I mainly bought it in order to complete the Mr. Freeze Build-A-Figure, but I have to admit that this is a pretty cool action figure. Clooney’s Batman is the fourth and final figure in this particular Build-A-Figure line that also includes Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and Robin.
Clooney’s Batman looks awesome in action figure form. The black suit is covered in some type of fine powder (possibly a byproduct of the plastic production). Batgirl and Robin also suffered from this, but to a greatly smaller degree. The powder wipes off easily enough, so it’s not necessarily a big deal. Batman’s cape is soft plastic and looks wonderful. His gauntlets, like Robin’s, feature some pretty sharp “bat fins” that might hurt little kids, so be careful if a child is playing with this figure. The suit features a ton of detail including the bat insignia on the chest and boots. It includes the infamous “bat nipples” like the Robin figure as well. The likeness to George Clooney (or at least his chin), is pretty much perfect. Batman’s articulation is great as well. Like the Robin figure, Batman’s arms can easily move up and down and aren’t bothered by the cape at all due to the fact that the cape is placed out of the way on the figure.
Batman comes with two “freeze” accessories that attach to his hands. They are somewhat awkward looking and I don’t particularly care for them. The figure also comes with the standard collector card and figure base. When it comes to the Mr. Freeze Build-A-Figure, Batman comes with Freeze’s massive legs.
As much as I dislike Clooney’s performance in Batman & Robin, I absolutely love this figure. The accessories are lame and the powder is annoying, but neither of these things stop me from recommending this figure to any fan of Batman. He’s definitely worthy of shelf display.
Thanks for checking out my post! The final post, which will feature another look at all four of the Batman & Robin figures and, most important of all, the fully assembled Mr. Freeze Build-A-Figure, is coming tomorrow. See you then!
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