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Batman & Robin is a 1997 film starring George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin and introducing Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), a niece of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred (Michael Gough). Michael Gough and Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) are the only two people to feature in all four of the original Batman films. The villains in this movie are Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman; Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (who received top billing for this film) and Bane, played by Jeep Swenson. This is the final film in the original Batman movie story arc (1989-1997), as it is reset with 2005's Batman Begins. Unlike Batman, Batman Returns and Batman Forever, Tim Burton was not involved in any stage of production.
Plot
The film begins with Batman and Robin preparing to save Gotham City yet again. Batman receives a call from Commissioner Gordon, informing him of a new villain named "Mr. Freeze." The two of them go to the museum, but are forced to battle with his henchmen first. Freeze, whose goal is to steal a diamond of exceptional size, succeeds, and attempts to escape. Batman attempts to follow him by climbing into his rocket, but is trapped by Freeze, who freezes him to a wall. Freeze sets the ship to explode, before fleeing the craft. Robin, who grappled onto the rocket before its takeoff, manages to enter the ship before its detonation, and rescues Batman.
Batman and Robin chase after Freeze, retrieving the diamond in the process. However, Robin is frozen by Freeze, and the diamond is stolen yet again. Batman, faced with the decision to either chase Freeze, or thaw out Robin, stays behind in order to save his young ward. As a result, Freeze escapes with the diamond.
Meanwhile, Pamela Isley, a scientist in South America, is trapped in a lab by her insane boss, Dr. Jason Woodrue, who refuses to tell her about his new experiment. She escapes the lab, and witnesses him use her formula, intended to give plants the ability to defend themselves, to turn a diminutive convict into a hulking monstrosity, dubbed "Bane." Woodrue discovers Isley, and attempts to sway her to his side, but his advances are denied. In a final effort to silence Isley, he throws her to the ground and crushes her under a shelf of poisons and toxins, killing her.
Later, she is revived, and uses her newfound beauty to seduce Woodrue. She calls herself Poison Ivy, and tells him that blood was replaced with toxins, her skin replaced with chlorophyll, and her lips filled with poison, a revelation Woodrue discovers upon kissing her, dying instantly. She devotes her new life to destroying humanity, and recreating the environment, with plants dominating the ecosystem. She destroys the lab, but not before deciding to visit Wayne Laboratories, located in Gotham City.
Mr. Freeze, hiding in an ice cream store, announces his plan to freeze Gotham City, and hold it for ransom, in order to cure his wife's advanced case of McGregor's Syndrome. In order to keep her alive as he searches for a cure, Freeze has cryogenically frozen her.
The next day, at the Wayne mansion, Alfred Pennyworth's beautiful niece, Barbara, makes a surprise visit, and is invited by Bruce to stay until she goes back to school. That night, when she is talking to Alfred, it is explained that her parents died in a car accident, and that Alfred was very close to her mother, Margaret, nicknamed "Peg." After putting him to bed, Barbara sneaks out of the house, and steals one of the Wayne manor motorcycles.
Bruce Wayne, attending the unveiling of a new telescope, demonstrates its ability to reflect light off satellites in the sky, allowing it to see any point on Earth. His girlfriend, Julie, is present, and a reporter asks them when they are getting married. Julie says that their love is enough, for now. The conference is interrupted by Isley, who tells Bruce that his company should be more focused on the environment and how it could be soon destroyed. Bruce declines her offer, as it would result in the deaths of millions of people. Isley, angered by this, tells the gathering that the plants they have so carelessly destroyed will rise up against them. She is told that Batman and Robin are the protectors of Gotham, and that they dynamic duo will be attending a ball, where one of the Wayne Manor diamonds will be available for auction.
Batman and Robin attend the ball, where women are being auctioned to men, in order to raise money for the telescope. Everyone's attention is diverted, however, to a person in a gorilla suit dancing seductively atop some rocks. The gorilla reveals itself to be Poison Ivy, and uses her pheromone mist to entrance everyone in the hall. She attempts to disrupt Batman and Robin's friendship, by having them argue over her. She then puts herself up for auction, which starts a frenzy of bids. Batman is ultimately the victor, but before he can enjoy his spoils, Mr. Freeze bursts in, and steals the diamond. Poison Ivy tries to use her mist on him, but because of his condition, he is immune.
Batman and Robin track down Freeze and his henchmen, and Batman prevents Robin from following him, knowing that his Redbird will be unable to make a perilous jump. Freeze is captured, and Batman and Robin have a falling out. Robin says that until Bruce learns to trust him, their team will never work. Barbara, stealing another of the Wayne motorcycles, is seen by Dick, who grows suspicious.
Freeze is imprisoned in a chamber within a small area of the Arkham Asylum under a cold temperature. He attempts to escape, but is unable to because he cannot survive without a cold climate. Meanwhile, Ivy and Bane acquire a new hideout, which they steal from a petty gang.
Later, Bruce is eating with Julie, and she proposes to him. He, however fantasizes Ivy walking into the room and doesn't pay attention to what Julie is saying. She kisses him, and he has a fantasy that he is kissing Ivy. She then tells him that he called her Ivy, and asks him who Ivy is. He says he doesn't know. Barbara tells Dick that Alfred has McGregor's Syndrome, the same illness plaguing Freeze's wife.
Freeze is rescued by Ivy, posing as his sister. She dispenses of the two guards, and the three of them escape from the prison. Batman and Robin rush to Freeze's hideout, and find that he is no longer there. They enter the room where Freeze's wife is being held, and they smell Ivy's dust. They follow it into the air vent, which leads to a new room.
Batman and Robin fight Bane, and another argument between the two is started. While they fight,Ivy and Bane manage to escape. On the way out, Ivy disconnects the cryogenic chamber keeping Freeze's wife alive. Next, she and Bane steal the BatSignal from the police station.
Alfred, who is bedridden, gives Barbara a disc. She manages to guess the password, and is told by a digital representation of Alfred who Batman and Robin are, where the BatCave is, and that there is a BatSuit in her size.
Later that night, Dick and Bruce see a Robin signal in the sky, and realize that it is from Ivy. Dick goes there alone, and asks Ivy what Freeze's plan is. She tells him, and then kisses him. However, Robin has prepared for this, revealing that he is wearing rubber lips, preventing him from feeling the toxic effects of her kiss. Ivy traps Robin, and Batman, who appears shortly thereafter. However, Batgirl appears to save the two of them.
Ivy and the girl fight each other, and the girl pushes Ivy into her seat, in which she is trapped by the giant leaves. Batman and Robin both escape from their traps. The girl says that her name is Batgirl, and tells them that she is actually Barbara. The three of them decide to go after Freeze together. By the time they get to the lab that Freeze and Bane are at, Gotham is already almost completely frozen. Batgirl and Robin pull the tube on Bane's mask and release the venom, and Bane turns back to the puny man that he was before.
Batman and Freeze fight each other, with Freeze still thinking that Batman was the one who killed his wife. Batman wins the fight, as Batgirl and Robin unfreeze Gotham. Batman shows Freeze a recording of Ivy during her fight with Batgirl. The recording shows her telling Batgirl that she was the one who pulled his wife's plug. He hates himself for trusting her now. Batman tells him that his wife isn't dead, that she is being held at a high profile room at the hospital. Batman asks him for a favor in return of him saving his wife. He asks him for the cure Freeze has created for the first stage of McGregor's Syndrome for a friend that he has who is dying (Alfred). Freeze gives him two tubes of medicine.
At the mansion, Bruce injects Alfred with the medicine, and he, Dick, and Barbara pray that the medicine will work. Ivy is shown in held in Arkham, pulling petals off of a flower saying "he loves me, he loves me not". She picks a petal off the flower and then puts it in her mouth and starts to eat it. Just before she can finish eating it, Freeze walks into her cell and tells her that he is her new cellmate and that he intends to make her life a living hell for almost killing his wife. The next morning, Alfred wakes up and tells Bruce, Dick, and Barbara that he is fine. Everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at the mansion, and the three of them agree to work together in fighting crime. Alfred says that they'll need a bigger cave. The movie ends with Batman, Robin, and Batgirl run in front of the Batsignal to save the day again.
Cast
- George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman[1]: The crime-fighting protagonist of the franchise.
- Chris O'Donnell as Richard "Dick" Grayson / Robin: Batman's sidekick is shown as an apparent amalgamation between the characters of Robin and Nightwing. He is also depicted as being unhappy in his role as somewhat of a second fiddle, and shows a weakness for Poison Ivy's beauty, as he gives in to her sexual advances, even after he knows she is evil.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze: Based on the original story established by Batman: The Animated Series, a mutated scientist intent on blackmailing the funds needed to save his wife. This version was prone to making puns related to cold weather and temperatures.[2]
- Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy: A mutated eco-terrorist determined to cover Gotham City in plants. Has a lethally poison kiss. She seduces both Batman and Robin, but mainly Robin.
- Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl: A new interpretation of the Batwoman character, who in this film is the niece of Alfred Pennyworth, unlike the comics where she was depicted as the daughter of Commissioner Gordon.
- Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne's butler, often a father figure to Wayne.
- Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon: The seemingly incompetent head of police in Gotham City.
- Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison: The love interest of Bruce Wayne.
- Jeep Swenson as Antonio Diego / Bane: Rather than being the devious, intelligent villain of the comics, Bane is a mindless thug who serves as the sidekick and protector of Poison Ivy, and is barely even capable of speech.[2]
- John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue: Woodrue is a mad scientist who created Bane and accidentally transforms Pamela Isley in to Poison Ivy. He is the first victim of Ivy's poison kiss, after he witnesses her transform from the unnatractive nerd she was before to the amazingly sexy seductress. He gives into her advances, and is killed because of it.
Development
Given the success of Batman Forever, a sequel was planned, with Joel Schumacher, Val Kilmer and Chris O’Donnell set to return. Poison Ivy was earmarked as the next villain and Julia Roberts was reported as a suitable candidate.[3]
Akiva Goldsman, who had co-written the screenplay to Batman Forever was hired to write the script. With the perceived success of Batman Forever towards a "kid-friendly" audience, Warner Brothers sought for the sequel to include even more material geared towards that audience.[2]
In February 1996, Val Kilmer decided not to return for a sequel, feeling (much as Michael Keaton had when he vacated the role) that Batman was being marginalized in favor of the villains. [4] Kilmer went on to do The Saint with a salary of $6 million (triple the amount of his contract for Batman Forever). [4] When asked why he didn't return for a fourth installment, Kilmer said he liked the characterization of Simon Templar better than Bruce Wayne. Kilmer commented "Simon is a literary character who uses his wit, and not violence. Batman is a real screwed-up guy who has hustled an entire city, and now he's running around in a cape. What's it all about?" [5]
Days later, George Clooney signed on to take over the part. Clooney was signed for three films, with a contract totaling $28 million.[4] Clooney backed out of the long-in-development Green Hornet motion picture in order to star in Batman & Robin.[6]
Batgirl was finally introduced in the franchise and Gwyneth Paltrow was the first choice for the role. Paltrow declined the role however. Kristin Chenoweth was considered next for the role but she declined as well. Alicia Silverstone was finally cast for the role of Batgirl. For this movie, she was named Barbara Wilson and was the niece of Alfred Pennyworth rather than the daughter of James Gordon as it was in the comics.[7]
Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, and Sharon Stone were all considered for the role of Poison Ivy. Moore turned down the role and it is speculated that Roberts did as well.[7] In March 1996, Uma Thurman was cast in the part.[8] Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley were both considered for the role of Mr. Freeze, though ultimately Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast.[7]
Reception
Published financial figures indicate that the movie was made on a budget of $125 million.[9] Batman & Robin opened at #1 at the box office, and had an opening weekend of $42,872,605 in 2,934 theaters averaging $14,612 per venue, which were two of its very few successes. However, over time, its popularity slipped, (possibly when put in competition with The Lost World: Jurassic Park, another summer film, which became a huge financial success) and the film collected only $107,325,195 domestically — less than any other Batman film — and $130,881,927 abroad, for a total worldwide gross of $238,207,122, but still covering the film's budget.[9]
The film was neither a huge critical nor a financial success. It was mocked for the poor script, and overextending the campy attitude, comprising the smirky one-liners and ludicrous stunts of its predecessor, Batman Forever.[10]
Author Mark S. Reinhart said, "The combination of Batman & Robin's terrible script, ridiculous costuming, garish sets, uninspired direction, etc. made the film into the appalling dump heap that it is".[11]
In his review of the film, critic Leonard Maltin found that "the 'story' often makes no sense" and that the "action and effects are loud, gargantuan, and ultimately numbing".[citation needed]
The film was derisively dubbed Batman on Ice by critics for a scene in which Batman and Robin inexplicably have retractable ice skates in their boots while battling Mr. Freeze's henchmen on an icy floor in the opening sequence.[12][13][14] George Clooney was himself severely embarrassed by the film, saying "I think we might have killed the franchise."[15]
Uma Thurman's performance in the film received mainly negative reviews, and critics made comparisons between her and actress Mae West.[12] The New York Times wrote, "like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen."[citation needed] A similar comparison was made by the Houston Chronicle: "Thurman, to arrive at a ’40s femme fatale, sometimes seems to be doing Mae West by way of Jessica Rabbit."[citation needed]
Director Joel Schumacher has admitted to not being proud of his work[2], despite any earlier statements to the contrary.[citation needed] On October 18 2005, Warner Bros. released a DVD of the movie with a director's commentary. On it, Schmacher said he was compelled to put in gadgets that could be adapted into a toy line, and that he went too far trying to make the movie more kid-friendly than the previous films. He defended script-writer Akiva Goldsman, saying, "If you don't like the film, blame the director."
Executive producer Michael Uslan said, "In my estimation - you're not making movies, you're making two-hour infomercials for toys.[2] And that's sad. Because, if a filmmaker is allowed to just go out and make a great film, I believe you will sell toys anyway".[16]
An MSN Movies article on superhero movies ranked the film as the worst to date.[citation needed] The film-critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes in 2007 listed the film 88th of 94 comic-book movies.[17]
In his book Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, Michael J. Nelson, referring to the film's poor reputation, clarified that it was not the worst film ever, but the worst thing ever, on a scale encompassing everything in existence instead of simply films.
Legacy
Following the film's poor critical and commercial reception, the Batman movie franchise was put on hold for nearly eight years. Warner Bros. launched a new series in 2005, with the successful Batman Begins, an origin story film with no continuity to the Burton and Schumacher movies. George Clooney had no involvement in the new film, and the role of the Dark Knight went to the much younger Christian Bale (who incidentally auditioned for Robin in Batman Forever), who was widely praised for his performance. Joel Schumacher was originally to make a sequel to Batman & Robin named Batman Triumphant. Batman Triumphant was originally scheduled to come out around 1999-2001, but since the film Batman & Robin did so poorly at the box office in 1997, they decided to call off the whole idea before Batman & Robin was even out of theaters. Batman Triumphant was originally supposed to star George Clooney as Batman and Chris O'Donnel as Robin/Nightwing, both actors reprising their lead roles. The villains were going to be the Scarecrow played by either Jeff Goldblum or Howard Stern and Man-Bat. Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson was rumored to come back as the Joker in a dream sequence.
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Home video
Batman & Robin was released on VHS and Laserdisc in October 1997. It was also given a "bare bones" DVD release in 1999, devoid of extra features. The main menu featured background music while the only extra feature was a synopsis of the film. In 2005, Warner Bros. released a two-disc special edition set of all four Burton-Schumacher films in Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology.
Soundtrack
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Despite the overwhelming negative publicity the film received, its soundtrack became very popular and was well received. The soundtrack included songs by R. Kelly, Arkarna, Jewel, Goo Goo Dolls, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and The Smashing Pumpkins, whose song "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" rolled over the movie's closing credits. Three songs from the soundtrack became top-ten hits in the United States; Jewel's contribution, a radio-mix version of "Foolish Games", as well as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's "Look Into My Eyes" and R. Kelly's "Gotham City". There was never an official release of Elliot Goldenthal's score to the film, aside from the brief suite on the song album, but bootleg copies are in fairly wide circulation.
References
- ^ Through archive footage, Clooney provides a few comments that undermine the origins of the character which entirely vindicate my dissatisfaction over his casting.
- ^ a b c d e Swaim, Michael. "The 7 Least-Faithful Comic Book Movies". Cracked.com.
- ^ Erica K. Cardozo and Chris Nashawaty. "Batman Versus The Dinos", Entertainment Weekly, 1995-08-25. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ a b c "A Tights Squeeze", Entertainment Weekly, 1996-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ "Striking Out At Bat", Entertainment Weekly, 1997-04-18. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ "Hornet's Best", Entertainment Weekly, 1996-05-03. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ a b c Jeff Gordinier. "Bat Signal", Entertainment Weekly, 1995-12-15. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ Jessica Shaw. "Gen X Marks The Bat", Entertainment Weekly, 1996-03-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ a b Batman and Robin. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on June 20, 2005.
- ^ "Worst Movie Sequels". Moviefone.
- ^ "The Burton/Schumacher Series," Part 2
- ^ a b Bond, Jeff. Batman on Ice!. Film Score Monthly. June 27, 1997. Retrieved June 20, 2005.
- ^ Rainer, Peter. Batman on ice. Dallas Observer. June 19, 1997. Retrieved June 20, 2005.
- ^ "Batman & Robin", Austin Chronicle, June 20, 1997. Retrieved on June 20, 2005.
- ^ Batman and Robin. Boston Globe. Retrieved on May 17, 2006.
- ^ "The Burton/Schumacher Series," Part 2
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes
External links
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