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 is
listed as one of the worst movies ever made. It was released on June
20, 1997 to negative reviews. Observers criticized the film for its
toyetic and camp approach, as well as 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.
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, which is a break from the usual 3-year gap
between films. Schumacher wanted to homage both the broad camp style
of the 1960s television series and the work of Dick Sprang. 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 12th, 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." He also
complained of the Robin costume, saying it was more involved and
uncomfortable than the one he wore in Batman Forever, with a glued-on
mask which caused sweat to pool on his face. 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. Stunt coordinator
Alex Field taught Alicia Silverstone to ride a motorcycle so that she
could play Batgirl.
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 27th, 1997, a
month before the film.
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.
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 from fans in addition to poor reviews from
most critics.
Pointing fingers,
Schumacher blamed the negative reception of Batman & Robin on
yellow journalism started by Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and
other film websites such as Dark Horizons. Later, Schumacher and
producer Peter MacGregor-Scott would blamed it 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 in
his two-star review of the film. 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. Even
though we kind of liked her Batgirl, Alicia Silverstone won the
Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Maybe if she wore the red
wig when disguised at Batgirl? 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." 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". Too bad Clooney was never attached to a better Batman
film because a younger George is, on paper, the perfect image of the
classic BruceWayne/Batman character.
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 & Robin's shortcomings
in the domestic market but pointed out success overseas.
During the filming of
Batman & Robin, someone at 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, and Jack Nicholson was in negotiations to return as the Joker.
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 a youth called Joel whose idea of Batman reflects
characterizations and costumes portrayed within Schumacher's
"Batman and Robin". 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. Additionally, whilst there where worries within Warner
Bros., surrounding the negative critical reaction to Batman &
Robin and how that may come to harm the success of their subsequent
direct-to-video animated feature film, Batman & Mr. Freeze:
SubZero, that was originally planned for release at around the same
time as Batman & Robin but was subsequently delayed. SubZero,
nevertheless, still managed to go on to receive a far stronger
positive response from critics, faring much better than Batman &
Robin, with Mr. Freeze's role within it being seen in a much more
positive rather than negative light, returning his status as a Batman
villain to one which was at least a lot closer to the level of
popularity that was reached by him within the two Emmy-winning
episodes that featured him in Batman: The Animated Series.
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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, which is a break from the usual 3-year gap
between films. Schumacher wanted to homage both the broad camp style
of the 1960s television series and the work of Dick Sprang. 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 12th, 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.
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 27th, 1997, a
month before the film.
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 from fans in addition to poor reviews from
most critics.
Batman
& Robin was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy
Film, as well as categories for Best Make-up and Best Costume. Even
though we kind of liked her Batgirl, Alicia Silverstone won the
Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Maybe if she wore the red
wig when disguised at Batgirl? 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.
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 & Robin's shortcomings
in the domestic market but pointed out success overseas.
