Batman & Robin

*This page is about the 1997 film. For the 1949 serial, see Batman and Robin.*

***Batman & Robin*** is a 1997 action superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman, directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman. The film stars George Clooney as Batman, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. In this film, Batman and his sidekick Robin go after a villain dubbed Mr. Freeze who uses cryogenic weapons to commit diamond robberies. When Mr. Freeze is joined in his crime spree by Poison Ivy and Bane, Batman and Robin must join forces with a new ally, Batgirl, to stop them.

*Batman & Robin* was produced by Peter MacGregor-Scott, and is the fourth entry in Warner Bros.'s *Batman* film franchise and the first produced without the involvement of Tim Burton. It premiered in Los Angeles on June 12, 1997, and was released to American theaters on June 20.

The film is a direct sequel to 1995's *Batman Forever*, with Joel Schumacher returning as director and Chris O'Donnell reprising his role as Robin. However, Val Kilmer is replaced in the role of Batman by George Clooney. Warner Bros. fast-tracked the sequel for development following the financial success of *Batman Forever*. Principal photography began in September of 1996, and wrapped in January 1997. The film was primarily shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

*Batman & Robin* was a critical and financial failure, and is to date the lowest-grossing live action *Batman* film and widely considered one of the worst films ever made. Despite this, Warner Bros. planned a sequel titled *Batman Unchained*, with Scarecrow and Harley Quinn scheduled to appear as the film's villains. Most of the cast was intended to return, but George Clooney vowed not to return to the role after the negative response to *Batman & Robin*, feeling he had helped "kill the franchise." Warner Bros. eventually cancelled the project, and rebooted the franchise in 2005 with Christopher Nolan's *Batman Begins*, starting the highly successful *The Dark Knight Trilogy*.

## Plot

Batman and Robin suit up in the Batcave and prepare to spring into action. As Batman and Robin stare at the Batmobile, Robin remarks that he wants a car because "chicks dig the car," prompting Batman to respond that "This is why Superman works alone." Batman departs in the Batmobile as Robin leaves on his motorcycle, the Redbird. Commissioner Gordon contacts Batman and informs him that a new supervillain calling himself "Mr. Freeze" has attacked the Gotham City Museum with his freezing gun. At the museum, Mr. Freeze uses his freezing gun on the guards before going after a large diamond. Batman drops through the skylight and introduces himself to Mr. Freeze, and is soon joined by Robin. Freeze orders his thugs to kill the heroes, who activate ice skates in their boots in order to move across the frozen ground. Batman tells Robin to secure the diamond while he goes after Freeze. Freeze's thugs pass the diamond around with hockey sticks like a puck, eventually passing it to Freeze, who escapes. Batman pursues him into a rocket, where Freeze secures him to the wall with his freezing gun. Freeze explains that the rocket will reach the upper atmosphere and freeze, then plummet back into Gotham. Batman says that this will kill thousands of people, but Freeze is unmoved and ejects from the rocket, with wings extending from his armor. Robin reaches the rocket and frees Batman, who plants an explosive and rigs the rocket to explode before it can crash and destroy Gotham. The two break off the doors of the rocket and use them as surfboards as they descend to the ground in pursuit of Mr. Freeze. The three crash through a chimney into a refinery. Freeze uses his freezing gun to seal the door behind him as he flees, but Robin squeezes through in pursuit, only to be frozen solid by the freezing gun. Freeze taunts Batman, saying he can either chase him or save his sidekick before he freezes to death. Freeze's vehicle smashes through the wall, after which he freezes the hole shut and escapes. Batman drops the frozen Robin into a pool of water which he heats with a laser, thawing him.

Back at the Batcave, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson learn that Mr. Freeze was originally Dr. Victor Fries, a scientist researching a cure for the disease MacGregor's Syndrome in order to save his terminally ill wife Nora. Fries had to cryogenically freeze his wife in order to keep her alive while researching the cure, but in the process accidentally fell into a vat of cryogenic fluid, rendering himself unable to live at temperatures above zero degrees and forcing himself to wear a cryogenic suit powered by diamonds in order to survive.

In a laboratory in Brazil, botanist Dr. Pamela Isley experiments with a drug called Venom to create animal-plant hybrids. She notes in her research journal that she is concerned about her superior, the deranged Dr. Jason Woodrue, who will not let her into the secretive Gilgamesh Wing of the laboratory. She decides to sneak into the wing and witnesses Woodrue giving a presentation before a host of international criminals. He injects Venom into serial murderer Antonio Diego, transforming him into a hulking brute he dubs "Bane." He instructs his guests to begin bidding on his new creation, but sees Dr. Isley watching. She is horrified by the true nature of Woodrue's experiments and rejects his offer to join him. Enraged, Woodrue pushes Isley into a shelf of chemicals, which burns a hole into the ground into which she presumably sinks to her death. However, Isley soon rises from the ground, transformed into the seductive Poison Ivy by the chemicals. She kills Woodrue with a poisonous kiss then sets fire to the lab, but not before discovering the lab was funded by Wayne Enterprises. She decides to travel to Gotham to use Wayne's money to fund her research, and brings Bane with her.

Alfred Pennyworth's niece Barbara Wilson visits her uncle at Wayne Manor and is invited by Bruce to stay. Meanwhile, Bruce unveils a new advanced telescope at the Gotham Observatory, where he is approached by Poison Ivy. She proposes an initiative that Wayne Enterprises can take to help the environment, but Bruce turns it down on the basis that it would kill millions of people, which she deems "acceptable losses." He tells her that Wayne Enterprises is holding a charity event that night to raise money for the environment, and Ivy decides to use this to her advantage. At the event, Poison Ivy reveals herself and uses her pheromone dust to seduce Batman and Robin, who are there as special guests. Mr. Freeze crashes the party to steal the diamonds being auctioned off there, which was part of Batman and Robin's plan in the first place. Ivy tries to seduce Freeze, but he states that her pheromones don't work on the "cold-hearted" and takes the diamonds from her. Infatuated with Freeze, Ivy decides to alter her plan to include him before leaving with Bane. Batman and Robin pursue Freeze and his thugs in the Batmobile and Redbird. After Freeze's vehicle makes a huge jump to a rooftop, Batman warns Robin not to try and make it himself. When Robin insists he can make it, Batman deactivates the Redbird's engine, leaving an enraged Robin behind as the Batmobile jumps after Freeze's vehicle. Freeze uses his vehicle's freezing gun to incapacitate the Batmobile, but Batman ejects and smashes through the window of Freeze's vehicle and captures him.

Freeze is taken to Arkham Asylum and forced to stay underneath a vent releasing cold air in order to survive. Poison Ivy and Bane visit him there and break him out after Ivy kills two guards with her kiss. The three jump into the water below then head to Freeze's lair. Batman and Robin head there as well and find Nora in cryogenic stasis. They learn that Freeze has already found the cure for MacGregor's Syndrome in early stages, though he has not yet found a cure for the advanced stage his wife has. Batman finds Poison Ivy, who tries to seduce him unsuccessfully and then has Bane try to kill him. She pulls Robin aside and seduces him, then escapes with Bane. Before the two leave the lair, Ivy jealously pulls the plug to the cryogenic chamber keeping Nora alive.

Dick follows Barbara and learns she has been participating in motorcycle races in order to earn money to take Alfred away from Wayne Manor. He tries to convince her that Alfred is happy there, but she responds that he is very sick. Bruce informs Dick that Alfred isn't just sick, he is dying of MacGregor's Syndrome. Ivy meets Freeze at her lair and lies to him, saying Batman deactivated Nora's chamber and killed her. Consumed by vengeance, Freeze decides to hijack the new telescope at the Gotham Observatory and turn it into a giant freeze ray so he can freeze Gotham and then the world. Ivy says that once humanity is extinct, her new plant-animal hybrids will overrun the world. Ivy attends the dedication ceremony for the new telescope, where she seduces Commissioner Gordon in order to get the key to the rooftop of GCPD headquarters so that she can steal the Bat-Signal. She has Bane remove the signal and bring it to her lair, where she converts it into a Robin signal. Later that night, Freeze and Bane assault the Observatory and freeze the scientists there. Freeze attaches his freezing engine to the telescope while Bane places bombs throughout the observatory.

Robin suits up after seeing the Robin signal, but Bruce warns him that Ivy is luring him into a trap. He asks Robin to trust him before he leaves, and Robin agrees. Meanwhile, Barbara finds the Batcave and tells an artificial intelligence version of Alfred that she wants to help Batman and Robin. The A.I. responds that Alfred had anticipated this and already prepared a Batsuit in her size. Robin meets Ivy at her lair and demands to know Freeze's plan before kissing Ivy. She reveals that Freeze intends to freeze Gotham using the telescope at the observatory, then kisses Robin. However, Robin reveals that he was wearing rubber lips, prompting Ivy's plants to attack him and drag him underwater. Batman arrives, but Ivy's plants restrain him. However, Barbara shows up as Batgirl and defeats Ivy, rescuing Batman and Robin. The three set out to stop Freeze, but are too late to prevent the telescope from freezing Gotham. The trio fight their way to the Observatory and decide to reflect sunlight from elsewhere in the world using sattelites and then project it through the telescope. However, Freeze reveals himself and attacks Batman while Bane deals with Robin and Batgirl. Before Bane can kill the two, they sever the tubes feeding Venom into his body, rendering him helpless. Batman defeats Freeze in hand-to-hand combat, but he defiantly sets off the bombs Bane had planted earlier, destroying the telescope and sending himself falling to the ground below. Robin and Batgirl then use the Observatory's computer to make the sattelites thaw the city manually in the absence of the telescope.

Batman approaches the defeated Freeze, who begs Batman to kill him just as he killed his wife. Batman explains that he didn't kill Nora, and shows him a recording of Ivy revealing that she was the one who pulled the plug. However, Batman explains that he and Robin found Nora and were able to save her before she died. He says that he will have her moved to the lab at Arkham Asylum so that Freeze can continue his research into curing her. Batman then asks Freeze to help save another life and provide him with the cure for stage one of MacGregor's Syndrome so that he can save Alfred. A grateful Freeze decides to atone for his crimes by giving Batman the cure. Freeze is then sent back to Arkham, where he reveals that he is Poison Ivy's new cellmate and says he is going to make her life "a living hell."

Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred reveals that he is cured the next morning. Bruce and Dick decide to let Barbara continue fighting crime by their side as Batgirl, prompting Alfred to remark "We're going to need a bigger cave."

## Cast

* George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman, the billionaire CEO of Wayne Enterprises who fights crime as a masked vigilante.
	+ Eric Lloyd as Young Bruce Wayne
* Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze, a brilliant molecular biologist trying to cure his terminally ill wife Nora. Fries was transformed into the villainous Mr. Freeze after a lab accident caused him to fall into a vat of cryogenic fluid, rendering him unable to live outside of sub-zero temperatures and requiring a cryogenic suit powered by diamonds to survive.
* Chris O'Donnel as Dick Grayson / Robin, Bruce Wayne's legal ward and Batman's crime-fighting partner.
* Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy, a botanist transformed into a crazed ecoterrorist supervillain after being pushed into an assortment of deadly chemicals. Ivy intends to wipe out the human race and replace it with her own genetically engineered plant-animal hybrids.
* Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl, the niece of Alfred Pennyworth who becomes Batman and Robin's ally in crime-fighting after uncovering the Batcave.
* Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's trusted butler who raised him after his parents' murder. Alfred is dying of MacGregor's Syndrome, the same disease Freeze's wife has.
	+ Jon Simmons as Young Alfred Pennyworth
* Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon, Gotham's commissioner of police and a longtime ally to Batman.
* John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue, a deranged scientist formerly employed by Wayne Enterprises who intends to create and sell Venom-enhanced supersoldiers on the black market. He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a poisonous kiss.
* Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison, Bruce Wayne's current girlfriend who wants to marry him. Bruce, however, does not reciprocate her desire out of a fear for her safety.
* Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B Haven, Mr. Freeze's assistant who is in love with him, though he does not reciprocate her advances as he still loves his wife.
* Vendela Kirsebom as Nora Fries, Mr. Freeze's beloved wife, who is dying of an advanced stage of the disease MacGregor's Syndrome. She is kept in cryogenic stasis by Freeze until he can find a cure.
* Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty, Gotham's top gossip columnist.
* Jeep Swenson as Bane, a serial murderer transformed into a nearly invincible supersoldier by the drug known as Venom. He serves as Poison Ivy's loyal bodyguard and enforcer, and assists her and Mr. Freeze in their scheme.
* Michael Paul Chan as Dr. Lee, a researcher at the Gotham Observatory who is kidnapped by Mr. Freeze.
* Kimberly Scott as Observatory Associate
* Christian Boeving as Snowy Cones Thug
* Coolio as Banker, a man who arranges betting on illegal motorcycle street races. Coolio was promised the role of Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow in the unmade sequel to this film, *Batman Unchained*.