DATE: Friday, June 27, 1997                 TAG: 9706260049

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: CRYSTAL BENJAMIN, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   60 lines

TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS MAKE ``BATMAN'' ONE CONFUSED MOVIE

A CRAZED DOCTOR freezes the city to save his wife from an obscure disease. A botanist turned sexy madwoman uses her poisonous lips to kill. A jealous Robin turns on Batman, and Batgirl steps onto the scene to visit her ailing uncle Alfred.

``Batman & Robin'' goes off in so many directions with so many plot twists that it's hard to keep up.

If you're searching here for a plot, keep searching. If you want a movie with action and first-class special effects, you've struck gold: There's Mr. Freeze putting a chill on Gotham City; there's Robin and Batgirl plummeting from a telescope high above the city; there's Batman and Robin jumping out of a spacebound capsule just before it explodes. The list goes on.

And it's a good thing, because if this movie had to depend on acting alone, it would be the summer's flop.

Director Joel Schumacher, who made the third Batman movie, ``Batman Forever,'' takes a second attempt at bringing the Dynamic Duo to the big screen. This effort is much like the previous one and similar to the 1960s television series. ``Batman & Robin'' inherited much of the ``Batman Forever'' style and not-so-funny one liners. What it lacks is the mystery and enchantment that Tim Burton brought to the screen in directing ``Batman'' and ``Batman Returns.''

Sure, ``ER'' hunk George Clooney hits the mark as millionaire Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter ego. Clooney added a sexy, suave attitude that previous Batmen lacked.

And Uma Thurman is a scene-stealing heart throb as Poison Ivy. Dressed in a tight green body suit and blowing clouds of cherry-colored smoke to entice male admirers, Ivy is a breath of fresh air from previous female villains. Instead of karate kicks and whips, Ivy is armed with a kiss that is literally to die for.

However, Chris O'Donnell is less than impressive as a maturing Robin, ready to step from Batman's shadow. It simply isn't believable. Robin as a lone crime fighter? Get real.

Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) basically has a glorified cameo role. One minute she's a motorcycle-riding college dropout, the next minute she's a crime fighter. Batgirl's character should have been more developed, allowing for more battles alongside the Dynamic Duo. As it is, she seems like an afterthought.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is hardly scary as the icy Mr. Freeze, but his 60-plus pound costume is definitely cool.

The only heartening acting performance is turned in by Michael Gough - a veteran of all four movies - who plays Alfred, Batman's surrogate father. Old and tired, Alfred suffers from the same rare disease as Freeze's wife. He's dying and Batman hopes to save him.

But, alas, this movie isn't about acting. It's about action. MEMO: Crystal Benjamin is a rising junior at I.C. Norcom High School in

Portsmouth and a participant in The Virginian-Pilot's 11th annual

Minority Journalism Workshop. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

WARNER BROS.

THE BAT

George Clooney is latest Batman.

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