Batman & Robin: Why George Clooney Hated His Performance

George Clooney isn’t shy about criticizing Batman & Robin, but he has also cited a legitimate filmmaking problem that contributed to his terrible performance. Joel Schumacher’s much-maligned comic book movie is regarded as one of the worst of all time, managing to surpass the high level of camp already depicted in Batman Forever. Released in 1997, Batman & Robin was widely panned, with Clooney often joking that he ruined the franchise. However, despite the movie’s many, oft-cited flaws, there was one reason in particular why Clooney disliked his performance.

The superhero blockbuster stars Clooney as Batman/Bruce Wayne, with Chris O’Donnell reprising his role as sidekick Robin/Dick Grayson from Batman Forever. As they struggle to maintain an effective partnership, the heroes must battle the allied Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). Batman & Robin is also the first live-action Batman film to include Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), albeit with the strangely revised identity of Barbara Wilson, the niece of Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough).

Clooney has repeatedly mocked Batman & Robin’s many ice puns and rubber nipples on the Batsuit but has also taken time to reveal precisely why he hated his performance. In a 2000 interview with Movieline (via Lebeauleblog.com), Clooney revealed why he thinks Batman & Robin is “a pretty horrendous film”. Although he acknowledged several problems with the movie, one of his biggest criticisms of Batman & Robin was that “the entire film was completely looped”. He discussed his hatred of ADR (automated dialogue replacement) and how it negatively impacted the blockbuster.

It’s common in moviemaking for some dialogue to be looped, particularly during action scenes or outdoor filmmaking where the sound quality is compromised. However, Clooney insisted “the looping in Batman & Robin sucked the life out of the film”. Looping most of the movie’s dialogue sounds drastic, especially for quieter scenes with Alfred where this shouldn’t be necessary. Given this, it’s understandable why George Clooney hated his performance. It would be hard to recreate whatever enthusiasm was felt on set in a recording booth, especially when footage from the worst Batman movie was played for the actors. This could completely change the film’s atmosphere. Clooney emphasized his disdain for ADR, stating, “I am the most hated man on the looping stage… I’m the devil.” He explained that he finds looped dialogue painfully obvious, noticing “dead air” that ruins actors’ work. He claims to avoid looping as much as possible: “I’d rather hear scratching noises in the background and get the real performance.”

In theory, Batman/Bruce Wayne could have been a perfect role for Clooney. Unfortunately, the movie’s version of the billionaire crimefighter was devoid of the actor’s usual charm, and George Clooney hated his Batman & Robin performance for a few reasons. One particular concern revolved around the lack of emphasis on Batman as a character. As Clooney told Movieline, “There wasn’t much for me to do and I didn’t do it very well.” He believed the films were all more concerned with Batman’s rogues’ gallery, but Batman & Robin had particularly little interest in the Caped Crusader himself. This disappointment was echoed by Val Kilmer, who didn’t like playing Batman and felt pointless in Schumacher’s previous series entry, Batman Forever. However, these reservations paled into comparison with the audio looping decision. As Clooney later explained, most of the dialogue was looped in postproduction, “even when Bruce Wayne is sitting there talking to Alfred,” highlighting the scale of the problem.

Claiming Batman & Robin wasn’t his “real performance” is probably an exaggeration, but it poses an interesting query as to how much his original work might have differed from the final film. Perhaps his on-set performance failed to convincingly promote the Bat credit card or adequately tolerate Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze and his barrage of puns, necessitating new recordings but settling for his disengaged delivery. Either way, George Clooney hated his performance – but at least the experience encouraged him to seek out far better scripts.

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