MovieChat Forums > Batman & Robin (1997) Discussion > What was the point in Elle Macpherson's ...

What was the point in Elle Macpherson's character?


Well, besides trying to dispel the notion that Bruce Wayne was you know...:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_the_Batman_franchise#Joel_Schumacher's_films

https://whatculture.com/film/10-weirdest-ever-cameos-in-batman-movies?page=2

Though it's not uncommon for Bruce Wayne to have a glamorous, beautiful woman on his arm, Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin took this to parodic levels by casting legendary model Elle Macpherson as Wayne's (George Clooney) well-to-do girlfriend Julie Madison.

Macpherson's role in the movie ultimately extends to little more than proposing to Bruce and being awkwardly rebuffed, before basically disappearing out of the movie entirely.

Most of Macpherson's scenes as Julie were actually cut from the final film, including being stabbed to death by Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman).

The part was ultimately whittled down to a totally bizarre, perfunctory cameo that couldn't hold a candle to Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) or even Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) in the prior Batman movies.


Given that Julie was a relatively prominent love interest in the earlier Batman comics, it's a pretty disappointing treatment.

That's not to ignore the fact that the little of Macpherson's performance that remained was as stiff as a board. Of the many baffling decisions Schumacher made on this movie, this is right at the top of the pile.

reply

Not sure how killing Julie Madison fits into the overall tone of the film.

The question on why she is in it, this is true of many of the characters they could've been half the number really but the filmmakers wanted to include as many characters as they could.

reply

Had they exercised Batgirl from the plot entirely and beefed up Julie's role in the movie, then maybe I could've seen more justification for her character being in the movie. As it is, Julie's inclusion just feels like fan service for die hard fans, given that she was actually Bruce Wayne's first significant love interest in the comics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Madison

reply

I would have like to see Poison Ivy kidnap Julie and use her as bait to capture Batman and maybe have the two fight over who gets to sleep with Batman.

reply

If it were up to me, I would've replaced Julie with Chase Meridian. I mean, why else would they cast another tall Australian woman to play Batman's girlfriend? But I guess with Val Kilmer gone and George Clooney in as Bruce Wayne, that wouldn't have been the best option. Plus, I'm not sure that it would've been worth the trouble to bother Nicole Kidman if the role was going to be so miniscule.

reply

Maybe Elle could have just played Chase to replace Nicole Kidman in the same role. It would provide some continuity and not make it seem like Bruce would just dump Chase quickly for a new girl since they gave reasons in the other films why his relationships ended with Vicki Vale and Selina Kyle.

reply

Clooney and Kidman did do The Peacemaker together.

reply

I good reason to use Julie Madison.

reply

They were probably saving her for a sequel that never happened.

reply

She was one of the few things worth looking at in the movie.

reply