Bromance Night Part ll: When A Girl Intervenes

Tonight's marathon is a continuation of last Friday's lineup that dealt with the theme of two guys sharing a bromance. To give a brief recap of last Fridays lineup, the movies played were Free Willy, Toy Story, Batman Forever, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The themes set up in that marathon are two friends who develop a friendship that's thicker than blood and ultimately if it came to it, they would both lay down their lives for each other. Tonight's marathon continues that trend but this time it focuses on the addition of a female character in each film. These female characters either join the bromance or come between the two best friends and create conflict. For tonight's marathon we have on the following menu:

    
     Batman and Robin 1997, Free Willy ll: The Aventure Home 1995, Toy Story 2 1999, and
Transformers 2007

If anything this trio stays pretty consistent with last weeks lineup with Free Willy mirroring Free Willy, Toy Story ll continuing the story arc of Toy Story, and Batman and Robin continuing the bromance arc of Batman Forever for better or worse. Batman and Robin is most definitely not a good film in terms of cinematic value but it is undeniably one of the most enjoyably bad movies ever made. Because of it's strong and powerful themes of friendship and self sacrifice, it works here. The first movie of the trio is the 1997 cinematic disaster Batman and Robin. Picking up right after Batman Forever left off, the story takes place two years later with Batman and Robin being a dynamic duo together in terms of defending the streets of Gotham. This time they battle the evil Mr. Freeze, the dangerous Poison Ivy, and the powerful henchman named Bane, while at the same time fighting to keep their friendship together. The conflict that arises in the film is Robin wanting Batman to trust him more, and the two fighting over the misguided love they share for Poison Ivy. While the two struggle to put aside their differences and keep their bromance going, a mysterious neice of Bruce's butler Alfred shows up to visit and while doing so begins to discover the secret lurking in Wayne Manor. When she does, she makes no hesistation to join the bromance as partners while assuming the PC of Batgirl. She begin to falls for Dick Grayson while battling the evil villains. Batman and Robin within all its cheese has strong themes of courage, truth, brotherhood, friendship, and sacrifice within the film. It will never be classified as a good movie but remains great entertainment within its awfulness and totally fits the bromance theme. The second movie of the lineup is the sequel to the 1993 family classic titled Free Willy. Free Willy ll: The Adventure Home continues the story arc of a boy named Jesse befriending a killer whale named Willy with Willy returning two years later to reunite with Jesse whose now a teenager. This time Jesse has to once again protect Willy and his family from an Oil Tanker explosion that endangers all the animals nearby. The bromance is tested when Jesse meets a niece of his sidekick Randolph named Nadine whom he comes to share mutual feelings with as his first High School crush. Jesse also has to contend with a younger brother named Elvis whose been sent to live with his family, and challenges Jesse's temper. For a family oriented sequel to a classic, Free Willy ll stays pretty close to the first film in terms of having heart and upping the adventure spectacle. The third and final movie of the lineup is the critically acclaimed sequel to the 1995 animated classic Toy Story titled Toy Story ll. Picking up four years after the events of the first film, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reunite as the ultimate pair of brothers who've grown to share the ultimate bromance. In this installment, Woody finds himself being captured by an evil toy collector leaving Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the toys faced with the task of rescuing Woody from the clutches of the evil Toy collector who plans on shipping Woody to a museum in Japan. While Woody is captured, he befriends a young cowgirl named Jesse whose also apart of the toy collection of the evil kidnapper. He comes to feel her pain of being alone and wanting acceptance, making him realize that the idea of being sold off to a museum for millions of people to see isn't such a bad thing. Toy Story ll is one of the few sequels that not only lives up to its predecessor but surpasses it. It's all heart and maintains the bromance established by last fridays marathon. The final scene with Woody and Buzz proclaiming that they'll always be together no matter what is a fitting parallel to their final scene in the first Toy Story movie. The fourth and final movie of the night brings the bromance to all new heights with Michael Bay's 2007 blockbuster Transformers. In this film Shia Labeouf purchases a new Bumblebee car in order to impress a girl in his class played by Megan Fox. Much like Free Willy ll where Jesse uses Willy to impress Randolph's daughter Nadine, Sam Witwicky uses the car Bumblebee to impress a girl named Mikaela who he has the hots for in the mist of an alien robotic invasion. When chosen with the task to save the world, he begins a hot and intense relationship with the damsel in distress while befriending Bumblebee.

So what are these movies ultimately trying to say? Batman and Robin says that you should trust your best friend even if you feel you may know more than they do, and that bromances can't be destroyed so easily. Teamwork conquers all. Free Willy ll says to accept your family roots and even though your siblings may not be who you pictured them to be, you should always love them. Toy Story ll says that friends stick together no matter what and whereas one friend may have stuck his neck out for you in the past, the day may come for you to do the same in reverse. Transformers essentially says that you need a car like Bumblebee to get with the girl of your dreams.

Our heroes and bromances for this evening: