Batman & Robin Information

Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Akiva Goldsman, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The fourth film in the Batman film series, the film tells the story of Batman and Robin as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Bane from covering Gotham City with ice and vegetation while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.

Development for Batman & Robin began following the box office success of the previous film, Batman Forever. Warner Bros. commissioned the film for a June 1997 release. Schumacher and Goldsman conceived the film's plotline during pre-production on A Time to Kill. Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.

Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997, and received extremely negative reviews. Observers criticized the film for its toyetic and camp approach, as well as possible homosexual innuendo added by Schumacher. Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the 1997 ceremony of the Razzie Awards, including one for Worst Picture. After this, Warner Bros. canceled the unproduced Batman Triumphant, and the film series was eventually rebooted with Batman Begins (2005) by director Christopher Nolan. The song made for the film, "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards. However, it was also nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song.

Plot

In Gotham City, Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) attempt to stop Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from stealing a cache of diamonds. The supervillain freezes Robin and flees, warning Batman he has 11 minutes to thaw Robin. They learn that Freeze was scientist Dr. Victor Fries who became dependent on a diamond-powered subzero suit following an accident in a cryogenics lab he was using to find a cure for his wife, Nora (Vendela Kirsebom), who was suffering from a terminal illness called MacGregor's Syndrome.

Meanwhile, in South America, botanist Dr. Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman) is working under Dr. Jason Woodrue (John Glover), a mad scientist who recently had his funding cut by Wayne Enterprises and is experimenting with the strength serum "Venom". Pamela discovers Dr. Woodrue subjecting a diminutive convict (Michael Reid McKay) to the experiment, transforming him into the muscular "Bane" (Robert Swenson). Dr. Woodrue and Pamela argue over the use of the drug and, when she refuses to join him, Woodrue overturns a shelf of various toxins onto her. She transforms into the seductive Poison Ivy before killing Dr. Woodrue with a kiss from her poisonous lips. She leaves with Bane for Gotham, intending to use the chemicals produced by Wayne Enterprises for her schemes.

Back in Gotham, Barbara Wilson (Alicia Silverstone), the niece of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough), makes a surprise visit and is invited to stay at Wayne Manor until she returns to college. Alfred is revealed to be suffering from MacGregor's Syndrome. Poison Ivy interrupts a Wayne Enterprises press conference unveiling a new observatory, to propose a project that would turn Gotham City into a lush rainforest, but Bruce turns down the offer. Later, a charity event is held by Wayne Enterprises with special guests Batman and Robin in attendance. Ivy seduces them as well as several other men with her pheromone powder she blows at victims, until Freeze crashes the party and steals a diamond from the event. Freeze is captured by Batman and detained at Arkham Asylum, but flees with the help of Ivy and Bane after dealing with the guards who are guarding Freeze.

Ivy shuts off Nora's life support, and tells Freeze that Batman did it to convince Freeze into destroying Gotham. Meanwhile, Robin becomes smitten with Ivy and begins to rebel against Batman at Freeze's hideout. Ivy imprisons Robin when he does not give in to her charms and subdues Batman when he confronts her. Barbara " now a costumed crime-fighter calling herself Batgirl "? arrives and defeats her. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl go after Freeze together. When they arrive at the observatory where Freeze and Bane are, Gotham is completely frozen from Freeze's ice ray. Robin and Batgirl confront Bane and defeat him, while Batman and Freeze fight, with Batman winning. Freeze destroys the observatory with a set of bombs Bane planted, but Batman escapes. Batgirl and Robin unfreeze Gotham by repositioning the observatory's satellites, which use their mirrors to reflect sunlight, in order to thaw Gotham from outer space.

Batman shows Freeze a recording of Ivy during her fight with Batgirl, in which she brags about killing Nora. Batman tells Freeze that his wife is not dead; she was restored and would be moved to Arkham, where he could complete his research. Batman asks Victor for the cure he created for the first stage of MacGregor's Syndrome for Alfred; the ex-scientist atones for his misdeeds by giving him the medicine he had developed.

Ivy is detained at Arkham with a vengeful Freeze as her cellmate. Alfred is eventually healed, and everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at the mansion.

Cast

• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze
  A Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and two-time Olympic decathlete who suffers a terrible accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife. As a result, he is transformed into a criminal forced to live in a special sub-zero suit powered by diamonds. Patrick Stewart was considered for the role, before the script was rewritten to accommodate Schwarzenegger's casting. Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". Schwarzenegger was paid a $25 million salary for the role. His prosthetic makeup and wardrobe took six hours to apply each day.

• George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman
  A billionaire industrialist who witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. At night, Bruce becomes Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector. Eric Lloyd portrays him as a child in a flashback. Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role from Batman Forever. Director Joel Schumacher admitted he had difficulty working with Kilmer on Forever. "He sort of quit," Schumacher said, "and we sort of fired him." Kilmer said he was not aware of the fast track production and was already committed to The Saint (1997). Schumacher cast Clooney in the role because he felt the actor could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Michael Keaton (in Batman and Batman Returns) and Kilmer. The shooting schedule allowed Clooney to simultaneously work on ER without any scheduling conflicts.

• Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson / Robin
  The crime-fighting partner to Batman and ward of Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority.

• Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy
  A botanist who becomes a crazed eco-terrorist after being pushed into vials of chemicals, poisons, and toxins. Demi Moore was previously considered for the role. Thurman took the role because she liked the femme fatale characterization of Poison Ivy.

• Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl
  Her parents had previously died in a car accident. Alfred, her uncle, was very close to her mother, Margaret. Silverstone was the only choice for the role. As she is Alfred's niece, Barbara is not Commissioner Gordon's daughter like in the comics, hence why her surname is Wilson instead of Gordon.

• Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
  The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Alfred is dying of a rare disease from which Mr. Freeze's wife also suffers.

• Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon
  The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes.

• John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue
  A deranged scientist who wants to take over the world with his Venom-powered "supersoldiers". He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a kiss from her toxic lips. (Glover also voiced the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, and played Lex Luthor's father Lionel Luthor in the television series Smallville.)

• Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison
  Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. She proposes to Bruce, but he does not respond, fearing for her safety.

• Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B. Haven
  Mr. Freeze's sexy assistant who flirts with him constantly. He is unresponsive, as he is still in love with his wife.

• Vendela Kirsebom as Nora Fries
  Mr. Freeze's cryogenically-frozen wife.

• Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty
  Gotham's top gossip columnist.

• Robert "Jeep" Swenson as Bane
  Poison Ivy's bodyguard and muscle, who was originally a diminutive criminal named Antonio Diego (portrayed by Michael Reid MacKay). Transformed into a hugely powerful "Super-soldier" by the strength-enhancing drug "Venom", he was seen assisting the main villains in several ways, including getting Mr. Freeze's suit back from Arkham Asylum, and fighting against the main heroes several times, eventually being defeated by Robin and Batgirl after they found a way to stop the venom flow to his brain. This was Swenson's last and most notable role before dying of heart failure less than 2 months after the film's release.

• Michael Paul Chan as Dr. Lee
  The research scientist who Mr. Freeze kidnaps.

Production

With the box office success of Batman Forever in June 1995, Warner Bros. instantly commissioned a sequel. They hired director Joel Schumacher and writer Akiva Goldsman to reprise their duties the following August, and decided it was best to fast track production for a June 1997 target release date. Schumacher wanted to homage both the broad camp style of the 1960s television series and the work of Dick Sprang. The storyline of Batman & Robin was conceived by Schumacher and Goldsman during pre-production on A Time to Kill. Portions of Mr. Freeze's back-story were based on the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice", written by Paul Dini. The original start date was August 1996, but principal photography did not begin until September 12, 1996. Batman & Robin finished filming in late January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule. The film was mostly shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

When comparing work on Batman Forever, Chris O'Donnell, who portrayed Robin, explained, "It just felt like everything got a little soft the second time. On Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. The second time, I felt like I was making a kid's toy commercial." According to John Glover, who played Dr. Jason Woodrue, "Joel [Schumacher] would sit on a crane with a megaphone and yell before each take, 'Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon'. It was hard to act because that kind of set the tone for the film." Production designer Barbara Ling admitted her influences for the Gotham City design came from "neon-ridden Tokyo and the Machine Age. Gotham is like a World's Fair on ecstasy." Rhythm and Hues and Pacific Data Images created the visual effects sequences, with John Dykstra and Andrew Adamson credited as the visual effects supervisors.

Soundtrack

See Batman & Robin (soundtrack) for more information

Like Batman Forever, the original score for the film was written by Elliot Goldenthal. The soundtrack featured a variety of genres by various bands and performers, showcasing alternative rock on the lead single "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, on the Goo Goo Dolls' contribution, "Lazy Eye", and with R.E.M.'s song "Revolution". R&B singer R. Kelly also wrote "Gotham City" for the soundtrack, which became the other song featured in the end credits, and one of the singles, reaching the top 10 in the United States and in the UK. Eric Benét and Meshell Ndegeocello also contributed R&B songs. Also included was the top 5 second single, "Look into My Eyes" by the hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Other songs featured included electronic dance elements, including those by Moloko and Arkana. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 1997, a month before the film.

Marketing

The Batman & Robin film trailer debuted on the February 19, 1997 episode of Entertainment Tonight. Warner Bros. spent $15 million to market and promote the film, in addition to its $125 million production budget. The studio also brought in toy companies to be involved with pre-production, including the design of concept art and character illustrations. Director Joel Schumacher criticized Warner Bros.' strategy for Batman & Robin as being overtly toyetic. Various Six Flags parks (Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags St. Louis) all debuted coasters themed to the film.

Reception

Box office

Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997 in North America, earning $42,872,605 in its opening weekend, making it the third-highest opening weekend of 1997. However, the film rapidly declined with a 63% second week plunge. Many observers based the second week drop on negative word of mouth. In addition, Batman & Robin faced early competition with Face/Off and Hercules. Schumacher blamed it on yellow journalism started by Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and other film websites such as Dark Horizons. The film went on to gross $107.3 million in North America and $130.9 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $238.2 million. Warner Bros. acknowledged Batman & Robins shortcomings in the domestic market but pointed out success overseas.

Critical reaction

Batman & Robin received extremely negative reviews from film critics. As of August 2012, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 12% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 65 reviews, certifying it "Rotten", with an average rating of 3.4/10, and the consensus: "Joel Schumacher's tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin, resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that's too jokey to care much for." By comparison Metacritic collected an average score of 28, based on 21 reviews which is regarded as "generally unfavorable".

Schumacher and producer Peter MacGregor-Scott blamed the negative reception of Batman & Robin on Warner Bros.' decision to fast track production. "There was a lot of pressure from Warner Bros. to make Batman & Robin more family-friendly," Schumacher explained. "We decided to do a less depressing Batman movie and less torture and more heroic. I know I have been criticized a lot for this, but I didn't see the harm in that approach at all." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the toyetic approach and Mr. Freeze's one-liner jokes. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times believed the film "killed" the Batman film series, and felt Batman & Robin depended too much on visual effects. Desson Thomson of The Washington Post largely disapproved of Schumacher's direction and Akiva Goldsman's script. Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said, "George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series." However, Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a positive review. She praised Uma Thurman's acting, as well as the production and costume design.

Batman & Robin was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as categories for Best Make-up and Best Costume. Alicia Silverstone won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Other nominations at the Razzie Awards included Schumacher (Worst Director), George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell (Worst Screen Couple), Akiva Goldsman (Worst Screenplay), both Chris O'Donnell and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Worst Supporting Actor), Uma Thurman (Worst Supporting Actress), and Billy Corgan (Worst Song for "The End Is the Beginning Is the End"). Batman & Robin also received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property. Ultimately, out of 11 nominations, Batman & Robin' garnered only one Razzie Award.

Many observers thought Schumacher added possible homoerotic innuendo in the storyline. James Berardinelli questioned the "random amount of rubber nipples and camera angle close-ups of the Dynamic Duo's butts and Bat-crotches." Similar to Batman Forever, this primarily included the decision to add nipples and enlarged codpieces to Batman and Robin suits. Schumacher stated, "I had no idea that putting nipples on the Batsuit and Robin suit were going to spark international headlines. The bodies of the suits come from ancient Greek statues, which display perfect bodies. They are anatomically correct." Chris O'Donnell, who portrayed Robin, felt "it wasn't so much the nipples that bothered me. It was the codpiece. The press obviously played it up and made it a big deal, especially with Joel directing. I didn't think twice about the controversy, but going back and looking and seeing some of the pictures, it was very unusual." Batgirl was given a similarly designed suit, although for unknown reasons hers lacked nipples (it does feature slight points, however these are not as noticeable as Batman and Robin's suits' nipples). George Clooney joked, "Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay". Clooney himself has spoken critically of the film, saying, "I think we might have killed the franchise", and called it "a waste of money".

Cancelled sequel and legacy

During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to return as director for a sequel. However, writer Akiva Goldsman turned down an offer to write the script. In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced. Titled Batman Triumphant, Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain. Through the use of his fear toxin, he resurrects the Joker as a hallucination in Batman's mind. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter. George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell were set to reprise the roles of Batman and Robin. However, following the failure of Batman & Robin, Clooney vowed never to reprise his role.

Warner Bros. decided to consider a live-action Batman Beyond film and an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Warner would then produce whichever idea suited them the most. Schumacher felt he "owe[d] the Batman culture a real Batman movie. I would go back to the basics and make a dark portrayal of the Dark Knight." He approached Warner Bros. about doing Batman: Year One in mid-1998, but they were more interested in hiring Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky and Frank Miller developed a Year One script with Aronofsky to direct, but it was ultimately canceled. Christopher Nolan was eventually hired to helm the next Batman film in January 2003, resulting in the rebooted Batman Begins (2005).

In "Legends of the Dark Knight", an episode of The New Batman Adventures, three teenagers discuss their ideas about what Batman is really like. They briefly meet an effeminate youth called Joel (in front of a shoemaker's shop), whose idea of Batman consists mainly of a fascination with the tight rubber suits and a Batmobile that can drive up walls. The teens treat Joel's ideas with utter disdain. In Watchmen, director Zack Snyder and comic book artist Dave Gibbons choose to parody the molded muscle and nipple Batsuit design from Batman & Robin for the Ozymandias costume. The film is referenced in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite!", when Bat-Mite briefly uses his powers to transform Batman's costume into the same suit shown in the Joel Schumacher Batman films, before declaring it "Too icky". The Batman from Batman & Robin later appeared as part of an army of Batmen gathered from across the Multiverse in "Night of the Batmen!", complete with the rubber blue Batsuit.