There are several Batman films and there a few that can get pretty weird. The classic 1966 film is known for the absurdity of Shark-Repellent Bat Spray and the 1997 film, Batman and Robin, is known for the ice-pun antics of Mr. Freeze. However, Batman has had even weirder adventures.
Quite possibly the weirdest Batman film and one of the weirdest superhero films, in general, came out in 1991 and was made in the Philippines. The film is called Alyas Batman en Robin.
Alyas Batman en Robin isn't necessarily an official Batman film, because it's somewhat of a parody. Also, the film doesn't star Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Instead, the film is about Kuya and his younger brother, Kevin, dressing up as Batman and Robin and attempting to fight crime. Their reason for doing this is because one of Kevin's classmates, Jocson, has started dressing up as the Joker and committing robberies with his uncle, who dresses up like the Penguin. Along the way, Kevin (Robin) gets into a relationship with one of his female classmates and Kuya (Batman) falls in love with a reporter.
Alyas Batman en Robin is intended to be a comedy, like the 60s' Batman live-action show. However, Alyas Batman en Robin is weirder than that show ever was. Despite how absurd the film gets, it almost feels like there was some attempt at being serious, like a scene where Robin gets deeply injured and Batman feels guilty about not being there for him. Scenes like that feel out of place in this parody of Batman.
Also, the film has several musical numbers. Kevin and his love interest sing a version of the song "Until Forever", which is a scene that seems like it could be a genuine scene of romance, a parody, or both. Also, Joker and Penguin scene about stealing, there's a Beach Boys song parody, and then there's the song at the finale. The final song is quite possibly the most eyebrow raising musical number in film history. Batman, Robin, Joker and Penguin sing a song about friendship, while random superheroes, including a midget in a Spider-Man costume, dance around.
After all this strangeness you have just read about, you might be wondering how bad or good the film is. I do have to make it clear I'm not a professional critic, so my review might not sound very mature or logical, but I had so much fun watching this film. Anybody, who knows me, knows that I'm a huge Batman fan, so I tend to be overly-excited and passionate when talking about the caped crusader. One of the big things, that makes Batman stand apart from his fellow superheroes, is how eccentric his franchise can get. Batman's had so many adaptations, that are so different from each other. For example, the 60's show, the Tim Burton duology, and the Christopher Nolan trilogy are vastly different things and Batman feels a different character in all of them. This helps the franchise stay fresh, interesting, and exciting.
In this film, Batman and Robin are brothers, although they were played by a father-son acting duo. The Batman of this film acts similar to Adam West, although he has plenty of differences, including being more sleazy and incompetent. Robin is actually smarter and more responsible than Batman and it's actually his idea to become a crimefighter, rather than the other way around.
In this film, Penguin is Joker's uncle, which is certainly something different. Although Penguin is generally smarter than Joker, this film takes that to a much bigger degree. This film's Penguin serves as the quick-tempered voice of reason to his dimwitted nephew. Catwoman also shows up and she assists the nephew-uncle duo with their crimes.
I believe special mention deserves to go the actor playing the Joker, Rene Requiestas. He sadly died at a young age, but is the most fondly remembered part of this film. Despite the absurd nature of the film, Rene Requiestas gives a committed performance and he's an absolute delight to watch. His Joker laugh is incredibly well-done and ranks among the best Joker laughs of all time. Like Cesar Romero, this Joker has a mustache. I'm not sure if Rene's Joker having a mustache is a tribute to Cesar Romero, but regardless, it reminded me of 60's Joker.
Due to a lack of information of this film being available, I'm not sure what the budget for the film was. Due to being a parody, you'd probably expect the costumes to be cheap, but I did really like the character's costumes. Batman's costume looks similar to Adam West's costume, which was great to see. Robin and Penguin's costumes look very similar to the comics. As for the Joker's costume, it looks great and I'd love to have a costume like that.
Alyas Batman en Robin is one of the weirdest events in the long-running history of superhero films. Due to the passionate commitment to being so absurd, it's an extremely entertaining film. This is one of those films, that I can't recommend to everybody. It's certainly not for people that want Batman to be serious and dark and it's also not for people that find campy films to be jarring and off-putting. I have often considered becoming a film reviewer and this film is one of the biggest examples of why I probably shouldn't become a reviewer, because I enjoyed this film more than several critically-acclaimed films. However, I do genuinely think hardcore Joker fans owe it to themselves to at least watch a few clips of Rene's performance, because I seriously do think he's a fantastic Joker.
Quite possibly the weirdest Batman film and one of the weirdest superhero films, in general, came out in 1991 and was made in the Philippines. The film is called Alyas Batman en Robin.
Alyas Batman en Robin isn't necessarily an official Batman film, because it's somewhat of a parody. Also, the film doesn't star Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Instead, the film is about Kuya and his younger brother, Kevin, dressing up as Batman and Robin and attempting to fight crime. Their reason for doing this is because one of Kevin's classmates, Jocson, has started dressing up as the Joker and committing robberies with his uncle, who dresses up like the Penguin. Along the way, Kevin (Robin) gets into a relationship with one of his female classmates and Kuya (Batman) falls in love with a reporter.
Alyas Batman en Robin is intended to be a comedy, like the 60s' Batman live-action show. However, Alyas Batman en Robin is weirder than that show ever was. Despite how absurd the film gets, it almost feels like there was some attempt at being serious, like a scene where Robin gets deeply injured and Batman feels guilty about not being there for him. Scenes like that feel out of place in this parody of Batman.
Also, the film has several musical numbers. Kevin and his love interest sing a version of the song "Until Forever", which is a scene that seems like it could be a genuine scene of romance, a parody, or both. Also, Joker and Penguin scene about stealing, there's a Beach Boys song parody, and then there's the song at the finale. The final song is quite possibly the most eyebrow raising musical number in film history. Batman, Robin, Joker and Penguin sing a song about friendship, while random superheroes, including a midget in a Spider-Man costume, dance around.
After all this strangeness you have just read about, you might be wondering how bad or good the film is. I do have to make it clear I'm not a professional critic, so my review might not sound very mature or logical, but I had so much fun watching this film. Anybody, who knows me, knows that I'm a huge Batman fan, so I tend to be overly-excited and passionate when talking about the caped crusader. One of the big things, that makes Batman stand apart from his fellow superheroes, is how eccentric his franchise can get. Batman's had so many adaptations, that are so different from each other. For example, the 60's show, the Tim Burton duology, and the Christopher Nolan trilogy are vastly different things and Batman feels a different character in all of them. This helps the franchise stay fresh, interesting, and exciting.
In this film, Batman and Robin are brothers, although they were played by a father-son acting duo. The Batman of this film acts similar to Adam West, although he has plenty of differences, including being more sleazy and incompetent. Robin is actually smarter and more responsible than Batman and it's actually his idea to become a crimefighter, rather than the other way around.
In this film, Penguin is Joker's uncle, which is certainly something different. Although Penguin is generally smarter than Joker, this film takes that to a much bigger degree. This film's Penguin serves as the quick-tempered voice of reason to his dimwitted nephew. Catwoman also shows up and she assists the nephew-uncle duo with their crimes.
I believe special mention deserves to go the actor playing the Joker, Rene Requiestas. He sadly died at a young age, but is the most fondly remembered part of this film. Despite the absurd nature of the film, Rene Requiestas gives a committed performance and he's an absolute delight to watch. His Joker laugh is incredibly well-done and ranks among the best Joker laughs of all time. Like Cesar Romero, this Joker has a mustache. I'm not sure if Rene's Joker having a mustache is a tribute to Cesar Romero, but regardless, it reminded me of 60's Joker.
Due to a lack of information of this film being available, I'm not sure what the budget for the film was. Due to being a parody, you'd probably expect the costumes to be cheap, but I did really like the character's costumes. Batman's costume looks similar to Adam West's costume, which was great to see. Robin and Penguin's costumes look very similar to the comics. As for the Joker's costume, it looks great and I'd love to have a costume like that.
Alyas Batman en Robin is one of the weirdest events in the long-running history of superhero films. Due to the passionate commitment to being so absurd, it's an extremely entertaining film. This is one of those films, that I can't recommend to everybody. It's certainly not for people that want Batman to be serious and dark and it's also not for people that find campy films to be jarring and off-putting. I have often considered becoming a film reviewer and this film is one of the biggest examples of why I probably shouldn't become a reviewer, because I enjoyed this film more than several critically-acclaimed films. However, I do genuinely think hardcore Joker fans owe it to themselves to at least watch a few clips of Rene's performance, because I seriously do think he's a fantastic Joker.
