After the success of Batman Forever, Warner Brothers desperately wanted another Batman movie out as quickly as possible. Director Joel Schumacher was back along with Akiva Goldsman who wrote the script. Batman & Robin was designed to make action figures and toys. There was no attempt to make a serious Batman film. If you thought Batman Forever was campy, Batman & Robin made all the other films look like art.
The film tells the story of Batman and Robin struggling to keep their partnership together while trying to stop Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane from covering Gotham City with ice and vegetation. George Clooney replaced Val Kilmer as Batman in Batman & Robin. He gives by far the worst performance of his career in this film, however he makes a decent Bruce Wayne. The scenes between Bruce Wayne and a dying Alfred are the only high points of this mess of a film. As for Robin, he is more annoying than he ever was. The relationship between Batman and Robin in this film is very questionable.
Trying to reach out to the young female audience, the character of Batgirl was introduced in Batman & Robin. Instead of being Commissioner Gordon's daughter, she is Alfred's niece from England. Alicia Silverstone doesn't even attempt to have an English accent. One of the film's problems (there are so many I can't list them all in one article) is the addition of more heroes and villains. None of these characters are developed at all and the dialogue is complete garbage.
Arnold's Mr. Freeze is only reduced to saying catch phrases that have the words "ice" "cold" or "freeze" in them. Uma Thurman goes overboard as Poison Ivy and Bane is reduced to grunts and groans. A wrestler named Jeep Swenson played Bane in this movie, but died before its release.
Batman & Robin received highly negative reviews from both critics and fans. Many critics criticized the film for its toyetic and camp approach, as well as possible homosexual innuendo. Another Batman film was in the works at this time called Batman Triumphant but was scraped due to the negative reaction from Batman & Robin. The only thing that came out of the film that was successful was the song performed by The Smashing Pumpkins (The End is the Beginning is the End) which won a Grammy Award.
Batman & Robin receives 0 stars out of 5.
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