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). 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.
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.
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.
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. Kilmer went on to do The Saint with a salary of $6 million (triple the amount of his contract for Batman Forever). 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?"
Days later, George Clooney signed on to take over the part. Clooney was signed for three films, with a contract totaling $28 million. Clooney backed out of the long-in-development Green Hornet motion picture in order to star in Batman & Robin.
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.
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. In March 1996, Uma Thurman was cast in the part. Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley were both considered for the role of Mr. Freeze, though ultimately Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast.
Reception
Published financial figures indicate that the movie was made on a budget of $125 million. 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.
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.
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".
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".
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. George Clooney was himself severely embarrassed by the film, saying "I think we might have killed the franchise."
Uma Thurman's performance in the film received mainly negative reviews, and critics made comparisons between her and actress Mae West. The New York Times wrote, "like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen." 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."
Director Joel Schumacher has admitted to not being proud of his work, despite any earlier statements to the contrary. 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. 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".
An MSN Movies article on superhero movies ranked the film as the worst to date. The film-critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes in 2007 listed the film 88th of 94 comic-book movies.
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 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.
