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BATMAN FILM REVIEWS: Part 4: Batman & Robin (1997)

With the success of Batman Forever, director Joel Schumacher was asked by Warner Bros to direct a sequel. The sequel was titled Batman & Robin, and the camp dial was turned up considerably, resulting in a film that pays more of an homage to the 1960s TV series. Oh, the irony. A series that was originally supposed to move away from the campiness of the ’60 series has now nearly matched the ‘60s series. Batman & Robin is full of quirkiness and puns in nearly every line spoken. Let’s get this over with.

This time, George Clooney is in the bat-suit. After Schumacher experienced difficulties dealing with Val Kilmer (the previous Batman) while filming Batman Forever, Kilmer was not invited back to reprise the role as the Caped Crusader. Clooney was a good choice, especially considering this film is more reminiscent of the ‘60s TV series, and I think Clooney works well in a campier Batman film. It’s unfortunate that he had to deliver such poorly written dialogue and actually have to present a bat-credit-card. I’m not kidding. Batman has a bat-credit-card. We’re already in Hell, and we might as well keep going.

Chris O’Donnell returns as Robin, and though I’m fine with O’Donnell in the role, I’m not a fan of the character himself in this film. All Robin is whine about how he always lives in Batman’s shadow. Though I think this is fine to have because it is true that in the comics, Robin eventually parts way with Batman and goes solo to become Nightwing, I thought this conflict was taken too far in the film. I can see how Schumacher wanted to have a conflict between the Dynamic Duo for extra story fluff, but this conflict just makes Robin sound childish. For example, Robin prefers to replace the bat-signal with a Robin-signal. It’s as if that Robin isn’t just asking to be treated equally as Batman, but he wants to be ahead of Batman. Robin was just a pest in this film.

The cast of villains begins with Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I feel the same way about Schwarzenegger in this role as I do about Jim Carrey as the Riddler in Batman Forever. I’m a fan of Schwarzenegger, but I can’t separate the actor from the character. In Schwarzenegger’s other action films, he’s known for delivering memorable lines, most notably in the Terminator films. In Batman & Robin, almost every single line for Mr. Freeze is a pun about ice or cold. It never ends.

The next villain is Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman. Poison Ivy is an attractive and seductive damsel whose poisonous kisses literally knocks ‘em dead. (Hey, at least my puns aren’t as bad as the puns in Batman & Robin.) Ivy’s seductive ability has Batman and Robin arguing over her. This is where Robin begins to turn against Batman and where the film goes further south. Thurman’s performance as Ivy is just terrible, and, as I mentioned before, Robin’s bickering at Batman is annoying.

Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze team up when Ivy, with the help of her hulky sidekick Bane, help Freeze escape from prison. Ivy informs Freeze that Batman has killed Freeze’s cryogenically frozen wife. This provokes Freeze to use Bruce Wayne’s giant telescope as a giant freeze gun and freeze Gotham City.

Meanwhile, Robin pays Ivy a visit to find out what Mr. Freeze plans to do so he can be the hero and stop him himself. Ivy tries to seduce Robin but fails. Ivy manages to capture Robin when Batman arrives to save him. However, Batman is captured too. Can our heroes somehow escape from this bat-disaster? Or will Gotham City turn into a giant ice skating rink? Tune in next time, same bat-time, same bat-channel!

Thankfully for the Dynamic Duo, there is one more action figure promotion in this film, and it’s for the good guys! Young Barbara Wilson, who is also living at Bruce Wayne’s mansion visiting her uncle Alfred, discovers the truth about Bruce and Dick and decides to help them. Wilson, played by Alicia Silverstone, becomes Batgirl and breaks into Ivy’s hideout to save the day. Batgirl kicks Ivy into a giant plant that somehow eats her while Ivy shouts a cliché “curses!”

Batman, Robin, and Batgirl set out to stop Freeze, who has already frozen Gotham. They take Freeze out, alter the telescope so that it can thaw out the city, and Gotham is saved from evildoings once again. Batman then finds Mr. Freeze in pain, reveals that it was Ivy who pulled the plug on his wife but, however, did not kill her. Batman informs Freeze that he, too, wants to save a dying loved one, his longtime butler Alfred. Freeze agrees to give Batman an antidote for the disease Alfred has because, I guess, Alfred conveniently happens to have the exact same disease as Freeze’s wife. The trio returns to Bruce’s mansion and are able to cure Alfred, and finally, the film ends.

Batman & Robin is clearly the black sheep of the film series. Its purpose was to simply be a marketing whore by setting up a line of action figures and other toys for children. It goes beyond the camp appeal of the ‘60’s TV series, which is the exact opposite of what most fans wanted with the feature films. The acting was awful, the plot was weak, the puns and clichés were annoying, and the added story elements were poorly executed. Director Schumacher was apologetic about the film. George Clooney said he was “embarrassed” by the film. “I think we might have killed the franchise,” Clooney said.

It very nearly did kill the franchise. It was planned that Schumacher’s crew would film another Batman film called Batman Triumphant, but that project was quickly cancelled due to the poor reception of Batman & Robin. Thankfully, though, the film series would be rebooted eight years later by Christopher Nolan.