Batman & Robin
“You must be new here. In Gotham city, Batman and Robin protect us ... even from plants and flowers!”
If Batman Forever was a bit lighter than its two predecessors, then Batman & Robin
was practically on helium. Director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter
Akiva Goldsman took this fourth installment into campy overdrive,
looking much more like the 1960’s Batman TV series than the Tim Burton film of eight years past.
Chris O’Donnell made a return appearance as Robin, as did Michael Gough
as butler Alfred and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon (two of the only
constants over the four-film series), but once again the face beneath
the Bat-mask had changed. Alicia Silverstone as the third member of the Bat trinity, Batgirl.
As always, things get off to a flashy start with a
crime-in-progress. This time, Mr. Freeze—formerly scientist Dr. Victor
Fries, he now needs to keep his body at sub-zero temperatures in order
to survive—is after Gotham’s diamonds, which he needs to power his
gigantic freeze ray. As it turns out, Freeze’s wife is stuck in a
frozen limbo, and the only way the loving couple can be reunited is by
freezing the globe. Batman and Robin battle Freeze and his
hockey-playing goons, but the baddie escapes in a giant rocket.
Down in South America, mousy botanist Dr. Pamela Isley has a lab
accident that turns her into the half-human, half-plant Poison Ivy. The
sultry Ivy has a perfume that makes her irresistible to men, but her
lips are deadly poison. When Ivy makes her Gotham debut, Batman and
Robin are both smitten with her, which cranks up the already-thick
rivalry between them. Ivy, meanwhile, teams up with Mr. Freeze, hoping
to use him to wipe out the human race, making the world ripe for a
plant takeover.
Back at Wayne manor, Alfred is starting to get gravely ill, and his
niece Barbara comes to help out. Barbara is a feisty rebel, and her
late-night motorcycle jaunts are a turn-on for Robin/Dick Grayson. When
Barbara learns the Wayne family secret, she demands to join the club as
well, donning a cape and mask as Batgirl. Together, the Bat family take
on the forces of frost and flora, culminating in a cold war at the
Gotham Observatory.
With so many major characters (and we didn’t even mention Bruce’s
fiancée Julie Madison or the pumped-up villain Bane), there was ample
room for confusion in Batman & Robin. Still, the movie
delivered what the kids wanted—lots of colorful action, spiced up with
jokey one-liners (“Chill!,” says Freeze). Batman & Robin may have been the least successful of the four Bat-films, but it was still an international hit.
Warner Bros. put the franchise on hold after this entry, regrouping
before any plans for a fifth installment were finalized. Meanwhile, the
various Batman animated series continued to delight cartoon fans, proving that the Dark Knight himself remains as popular as ever.
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