A 30 year old Robin doesn't work - Batman Forever (1995) Discussion

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] the_departed94 10 years ago

Still doesn't work, YOu can't but that he's 17 in this movie..

It would have been a 100x better if it was a 10 year old boy and he saves batman with trapeze skills and stuff..Kids would have loved it

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[–] novastar_6 10 years ago

In the whole history of Batman cinema there had NEVER been a 10 year old Robin used, and they all worked fine without one.

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[–] Tresix 10 years ago

I was thinking they should gone with someone at least 15.

"There will be blood. Oh, yes, there WILL be blood."-Jigsaw; "Saw II"

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[–] Tresix 10 years ago

Then again, wasn't Dick around 8 when his parents were killed?

"There will be blood. Oh, yes, there WILL be blood."-Jigsaw; "Saw II"

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[–] the_departed94 10 years ago

I don't know, There's not many fans of Chris o'donnell.

They should do a kid robin like comic books because it works. Batman doesn't need a grown sidekick. He's pretty much invincible AND he has Alfred to spout exposition too and add comedy.

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[–] MydnightRose 10 years ago

Sorry but a child Superhero is ridiculous to me if it's not in animation aka a comic book or cartoon. I feel every movie has done Robin well except Batman & Robin.

Brian Kinney & Justin Taylor

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[–] IanDSmith 10 years ago

All I can say is that I was a fan of O'Donnell for a time after this movie. He did a credible turn and looked movie idol handsome doing it. I'd say he came out of this one better than some. After the next film though...

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[–] PreachCaleb 10 years ago

I've been saying that for years.

Does IMDB hate apostrophes?

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] EndlessUniverse 9 years ago

I always thought Edward Furlong ca. 1994-95 would've made a great Robin for the film. I don't hate Chris O' Donnell in the role, but I agree with the criticism that he was way to old to play him. An underage ward should look a lot younger.

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[–] AndrewGS 9 years ago

Robin is a tricky character to portray and I think this film did pretty well in doing so, better that he's old enough to be plausible as a crime fighter partner/in action scenes. The problem was that Batman & Robin portrayed him as overly immature especially for his higher age.

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[–] EndlessUniverse 9 years ago

The problem was that Batman & Robin portrayed him as overly immature especially for his higher age.

One of the many things wrong with the sequel.

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[–] Thenewnexus 9 years ago

Well Dick was 30 in this movie like the op said,he was about 18 and the reason being is they did not think it would look believable having Dick be 10-12 like he is in the comics, Chris was fine as an 18 year old Dick Grayson proabbly won't ever see a kid Robin in any movie unless the DCCU decides to bring in Damien since Dick will likely be late 20s,Jason mid 20s and Tim Early 20s since Batman is gonna be older

I'm gonna show you something beautiful everyone screaming for mercy

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[–] EndlessUniverse 9 years ago

18 was still stretching it. I like Chris O Donnell, and I feel that his performance was fine for the material, but I would've much preferred an actual teenager in the part, or someone that looks like one.

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[–] HellboundHero 9 years ago

That's just the way things were back then, and even now, 20-somethings still get cast as teens.

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[–] AmeriGirl26 (15135) 6 years ago

It's actually a common practice in Hollywood to cast actors that look younger than they actually are. Chris O'Donnel got away with playing this part as a man in his late teens because he had a young-looking face and could pull off the teen behavior. Most of the actors you see in films are typically older than their character, but they are "baby-faced," as it's called.

It's not unusual to have actors in their 20s and 30s play teens because a.) no child-labor law restrictions on working, and b.) the actor looks young enough and can imitate a teenager well enough. It's only really experienced adults who really notice this too. Kids or teens watching are gonna believe the person they're looking at (most of the time) is a teenage character.

It's also not unusual for actual teenagers (usually after 16) to already resemble their adult self, it's just their age and maturity levels doesn't match. More than once, in real life, I saw fellow students in high school already dressing like adults and looking like adults, save for participating in classes other school activities. Maturity-wise? That's up for debate.

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[–] TMC-4 (20495) 6 years ago

I wonder how Brad Renfro would've fared as Dick Grayson? I mean he did work with Joel Schumacher on The Client, which also starred Tommy Lee Jones.

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+client+brad+renfro&hl=en&authuser=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwi2s7uU0s7gAhW7GLkGHauWAqEQ_AUIDigB&biw=1600&bih=789

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[–] Joel_S 9 years ago

Chris O'Donnell was 24 during shooting of the film and playing an 18 year old Dick Grayson/Robin.

But nice try having his age rounded up to 30 to exaggerate everything.

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[–] McFly_2015 9 years ago

I did watch the commentary on blu ray and they explained why they didn’t go this route; it would be too irresponsible for Batman to allow a 12 year old to become a vigilante in gotham. They realize that he is older than traditional robins, the initial plan right from the getgo was to set up O’Donnell as nightwing; notice in the next film he has the nightwing design with Robin colours before switching to silver. Pretty much all accounts indicate he would have become Nighwing in the 5th film.

Remember the objective is to light things up, having a 12 year old Robin would have been too terrifying.

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[–] Joel_S 9 years ago

Robin is just an unrealistic character to do in live action. He works in the comics and cartoons, where having some 10 year old boy or 16 year old boy with no superpowers fight crime all the while wearing a cape and flimsy mask, but it's ridiculous in real life.

Ofcoure Batman is ridiculous too, but him being a grown adult and wearing a cowl to cover most of his face at least offers some more ability to suspend disbelief in live action.

Robin just doesn't work in live action unless you are doing it intentionally cartoony/campy.

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[–] kuddenchristo 9 years ago

Robin is just an unrealistic character to do in live action. He works in the comics and cartoons, where having some 10 year old boy or 16 year old boy with no superpowers fight crime all the while wearing a cape and flimsy mask, but it's ridiculous in real life.

Isn't that exactly why Nolan's version of Robin is a young adult working as a police officer?

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[–] The_Ultimate_Hippo 9 years ago

John Blake isn't robin dumbass, his character is a reference to robin.

No wonder so many people bitch about TDKR, they don't understand it.
"I really wish Gia and Claire had became Tanner" - Honeybeefine

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[–] TMC-4 (20495) 6 years ago

It isn't that far fetched to give the hero a genuine kid sidekick in action-adventure movies. Off the top of my head, Short-Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Newt from Aliens, John Connor in Terminator 2, or Kid from Dick Tracy. You can argue that Peter Parker is sort of like this to Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War. Tony also had a kid sidekick in the form of Harley in Iron Man 3.

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[–] TMC-4 (20495) 6 years ago

Having Dick Grayson lose his parents at an older, less innocent age kind of dampens the impact. What made Bruce so connected with Dick was that they were roughly the same ages when they lost their parents to murder in front of them.

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[–] FreewheelinVertigo 9 years ago

I didn't notice him looking 30, I'd buy 18-22. Come on, he looks pretty youthful. On the other hand, in the next movie silver fox Clooney looks way too old to play Batman too.

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[–] fiero-49251 9 years ago

It worked, but no way could they suspend disbelief of Robin being some very young kid allowed to go out and fight crime with Batman! That only worked in comics and the animated series! ;-/

- - http://scifiblogs3.blogspot.com/2012/12/batman-forever.html - -

- http://www.childrenofrassilon.com/batman-forever.html - Batman Homage

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[–] TMC-4 8 years ago

http://www.looper.com/32140/dc-wont-make-robin-movie/

Age in comic books is something of a moving target. Some characters are perpetually a certain age (Comics Batman has been about 34 or 35 for most comics fans' lives), while others age at a weird pace (some of the once-young X-men are in their 30s now; it only took about five decades for them to age 18ish years). The age of our movie superheroes is much more set in stone, but that actually presents a bit of a problem when it comes to a Robin movie.

For example, if the movie does end up being a prequel, it would likely feature the most iconic Robin that comics fans know: the plucky teenage sidekick. This means a major multimillion-dollar tentpole would be headlined by a teenage boy. It would basically be Spy Kids but with a cape, which is a tough sell for any audience, and even tougher for the more mature audience Warner Bros. and DC have tried to cultivate with movies like Suicide Squad. The movie could feature an older Robin, such as a pre-death Jason Todd, but then you run into the other age problem of Batman and Robin being too close in age (just look at the forgettable Batman Forever, in which Val Kilmer and Chris O'Donnell come off more as bickering brothers than a father-figure and his adopted son).

Why not just have Bruce Wayne adopt a new sidekick in the present day? Well, Batman is established as being in his mid-40s, and it may come off as odd for him to adopt someone a quarter of his age, knowing that his last sidekick died a violent death at the hands of criminals who are still at large.

Read More: http://www.looper.com/32140/dc-wont-make-robin-movie/?utm_campaign=clip

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[–] cmtmj2006 8 years ago

O'Donnell was 25 when he played the part of Robin and he got it right.

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