Schwarzenegger NOT Miscast?

[Slash Man]

So after the release of Batman & Robin, one of the decisions that was heavily criticized was the decision to have Arnold Schwarzenegger play the villainous Mr. Freeze. Originally, I thought the same. Audiences knew him as an exuberant action hero with clever one-liners, and didn't see different onscreen. While the final result wasn't very convincing, I think there's still a case to be made for why Schwarzenegger was a good choice for Mr. Freeze.

The best case is actually Terminator - the first, where he was a stone-cold killer. Just look at the brutality.

One thing that absolutely wasn't present in Batman & Robin is Arnold's ability to actually convincingly act without emotions (as opposed to someone being a corny robot). He even had a distinct robotic quality to his voice in monotone (which sadly didn't carry over in lines like "cool party"). Another quirk of Arnold in this serious role is that he could actually portray humor without breaking character

Some good things we did see in the film were that this guy could fill the Freeze suit. I also found his recollections of his wife even a bit moving (though it usually got broken up by a one-liner).

I like Joel Schumacher, and I defend a lot of his decisions that many don't agree with. Though in this case, I'm afraid I have to say it's the direction and not the actor that made the character fall short of his true potential.

[johnnygobbs]

I voted 'yes' Slashman and I entirely agree with everything you said. 

I'll try to add some more thoughts at a later date, but I'm of the opinion that Schumacher's reasoning for casting Schwarzenegger, that he was a Teutonic type who looked like he was 'built out of a glacier' were entirely sound and it was simply the script and the direction that let Schwarzenegger's performance down (even though there were hints of a decent story with respect to Mr Freeze's mourning for his wife - taken from the 'Heart of Ice' episode of B:TAS.

[The Laughing Fish]

I was going to mention Terminator when I saw the headline, but both of you already beat me to the punch.

Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze might have worked if he played the same stone cold killer like he did in T1. In fact, I could imagine him like this in one of Arkham City's concept artwork. I bet the glowing red eyes in this were inspired by Terminator too.



And besides, Mr. Freeze is a character who completely lost his humanity when he suffered that accident, so I don't think a lack of emotion in Arnie's acting would be a defect.

[riddler]

like Clooney the role is so poorly written that it's nearly impossible to give a serious assessment to the actor.

Mr. Freeze is a character with a clear motive just like the Terminator; both characters have one goal and will do whatever is required and accept any collateral damage (pun intended) to acheive their end means. Neither take their eyes off the prize. In T2 and T3 Schwarzeneger was able to give funny lines without being embarassing or stopping the plot.


Still that being said I'm voting a no on the basis that there were better options; Patrick Stewart and Anthony Hopkins were both considered but vetoed by Schumacher. Both are infinitely better actors than Arnold.

[Catwoman]

Patrick Stewart as a "Heart of Ice" style Freeze. Wow. That could have been perfection.

[OutRiddled]

Nah, Arnold was perfect for the time it was made (considering you need a box office draw in big films like this).  The Austrian accent was like Otto Preminger's German accent in the 60s show.  It was obviously more of a 50s/60s inspired Mr Freeze than 'Heart of Ice'.  Even the ice puns were from that era.

But it was still good of Schumacher to include parts of 'Heart of Ice' in the movie.

[johnnygobbs]

I've always associated the ice-themed Freeze and his wife with Scandinavia, so it made sense to me that he was played by a Nordic-looking actor like Schwarzenegger.  I also like that Freeze was originally an Olympian as well as a genius scientist, making him the guy who had everything, brains, brawn, good-looks, a gorgeous wife, and a happy marriage, before his wife tragically succumbed to illness.

[Wayne49]

Nah, Arnold was perfect for the time it was made (considering you need a box office draw in big films like this).  The Austrian accent was like Otto Preminger's German accent in the 60s show.  It was obviously more of a 50s/60s inspired Mr Freeze than 'Heart of Ice'.  Even the ice puns were from that era.

But it was still good of Schumacher to include parts of 'Heart of Ice' in the movie.

I agree. I think Schumacher always made that association with the character from the '66 series, so there wasn't really another direction to go if the characterization was going to remain filled with freeze puns. And honestly when you watch this film, the whole movie is built around Arnold. I think that's why Schumacher didn't give the replacement for Val anymore thought than what he did. I believe he felt Arnold would be the star and Batman was more or less a visual prop for this particular story. Clooney was all the buzz on television with ER, so Schumacher probably felt he was a safe choice to fill the role.

I think the biggest problem here is that Arnold really had no one to play off of. Clooney was so vanilla, it was difficult to see Freeze as anything other than a ancillary type character with scripted villainy to drive the plot, but otherwise no emotional queues for the audience to pick or chose sides except for who was wearing the hero costumes. So changing the actor who played Freeze really wouldn't have remedied the bigger issues in play here. Besides even the people who seem to hate this movie still love to recite Arnold in the role, so that might be one of the accidental closet pleasures this film will always provide. The critics can only deny Arnold so much before they feel inclined to start imitating his delivery. Even some of the takeouts from Deadpool have Ryan Reynolds imitating Arnold.

[riddler]

With respect to the freeze puns; by most accounts Arnold is a good sport, Clooney speaks very highly about how welcoming Arnold was on set despite Clooney being a newcomer to the big screen. I can't say I've ever seen an actor or director complain about having to work with Arnold. So no matter how you feel about his performance I think we can conclude that unlike Clooney he gave it his all. How many actors would have given up trying or even walked off set about having to say that many freeze puns? Arnold took it all in and had fun with it.

I guess if they were copying Vincent price from the 60's, Arnold was the likely choice.

[The Dark Knight]

Arnold could have been really brilliant in the role. Emotionless and built like a tank, just like the original Terminator movie. He was entertaining in B&R, but I still can't help but feel it was a massive wasted opportunity.