Batman & Robin

Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comicscharacter Batman. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.' initialBatman film series. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and written byAkiva Goldsman. It stars George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone.

Batman & Robin tells the story of the Dynamic Duo as they attempt to preventMr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing all mankind to death and repopulating the earth with mutant plants, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together. This is also the only film appearance of Batgirl, who helps the title characters win in the end.

Warner Bros. fast tracked development for Batman & Robin following the box office success of the previous film, Batman Forever. Schumacher and Goldsman conceived the storyline during pre-production on A Time to Kill, while Val Kilmerdecided not to reprise the role over scheduling conflicts with The Saint. Schumacher had a strong interest in casting William Baldwin in Kilmer's place before George Clooney won the role. Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.

Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997 and has been called one of theworst films ever made. Subsequently, Warner Bros. cancelled the unproducedBatman Triumphant and the film series was eventually rebooted with Batman Begins in 2005. One of the songs recorded 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.

Plot
Batman and Robin fail to stop Mr. Freeze from stealing a cache of diamonds. They learn that Freeze was once a scientist named Victor Fries, who became dependent on a diamond-powered subzero suit following an accident in a cryogenics lab while working to save his wife, Nora, from a terminal illness called MacGregor's Syndrome.

Meanwhile, botanist Dr. Pamela Isley is experimenting with the strength serum "Venom" to create mutant plants capable of fighting back against mankind. She is angry that her senior colleague Dr. Jason Woodrue used her Venom to transform a diminutive prisoner into the "super soldier" Bane. She refuses to partner with Woodrue so he tries to kill her with animal-plant toxins and chemicals, causing her to transform into the beautiful Poison Ivy. She kills Woodrue with a venomous kiss and vows to establish botanical supremacy over the world.

Alfred Pennyworth's niece Barbara Wilson makes a surprise visit from England and is invited to stay at Wayne Manor. Later, Barbara finds the Batcave and creates her own crime-fighting persona with the help of a computer simulation of Alfred. The real Alfred is suffering from MacGregor's Syndrome. He is, however, in stage 1, for which Mr. Freeze has developed a cure despite being unable to cure his wife's condition because it is too advanced.

Ivy arrives in Gotham City with Bane as her henchman. She interrupts a Wayne Enterprises press conference at the Gotham Observatory where a giant telescope is being unveiled. Ivy demands Bruce Wayne use his fortune to safeguard the natural environment at the expense of millions of human lives, and Bruce refuses.

Ivy appears at the Gotham Botanical Gardens fundraiser, seducing everyone present with her pheromone dust, including the Dynamic Duo, who are there to protect a diamond from Mr. Freeze. When Freeze crashes the event Ivy is instantly captivated by his "ruthless charm". Freeze is captured by Batman and detained at the Arkham Asylum but is released by Ivy.

Ivy turns off Nora Fries' life support and makes Freeze believe Batman did it, persuading him that they should destroy Batman along with the society that created him. They plan to turn the observatory's new telescope into a giant freeze ray to kill all humanity to allow Ivy's mutant plants to take over the world.

Meanwhile, Robin is under Ivy's seductive spell and is rebelling against Batman. Robin goes to meet Ivy at her garden hideout, where her venomous kiss fails to kill Robin because Batman had prevailed on him to coat his lips with rubber. Ivy tries to drown Robin in her lily pond and entangles Batman in her crushing vines, but they are able to free themselves when Batgirl arrives and traps Ivy in her own floral throne.

Batgirl reveals herself as Barbara. The three crime-fighters arrive at the Observatory to stop Freeze who has already frozen all of Gotham. Bane attacks Robin and Batgirl, but they incapacitate him and restore him to his original human state. Robin and Batgirl save Gotham by using the observatory's satellites to reflect sunlight from outer space to thaw the city.

Batman shows Freeze video proof that Ivy pulled the plug on Nora and reveals that he, Batman was the one who saved her. He vows that Freeze will be allowed to continue his research at Arkham Asylum to cure Nora. Batman asks Freeze for his cure for the first stage of MacGregor's Syndrome for Alfred and Freeze atones for his misdeeds by giving him two vials of the medicine.

At Arkham, Ivy is joined in her cell by Freeze, who vows to exact revenge on her. Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred is cured and Bruce invites Barbara to live with them, joining Batman and Robin to fight crime as Batgirl.

Cast

 * George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman A billionaire industrialist who witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. At night, Bruce becomes Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector.
 * Eric Lloyd portrays him as a child in a flashback.


 * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze A Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and two-time Olympic decathlete who suffers a terrible accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife. As a result, he is transformed into a criminal forced to live in a special sub-zero suit powered by diamonds.


 * Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson / Robin The crime-fighting partner to Batman and ward of Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority.


 * Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy A botanist who becomes a crazed eco-terrorist after being pushed into vials of chemicals, poisons and toxins. Her lips are filled with venom as a result of the toxins, making her kiss deadly.


 * Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl Her parents had previously died in a car accident. Alfred, her uncle, was very close to her mother, Margaret. As she is Alfred's niece and is an orphan, Barbara is not Commissioner Gordon's daughter like in the comics, hence why her surname is Wilson instead of Gordon.


 * Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Alfred is dying of a rare disease from which Mr. Freeze's wife also suffers.


 * Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes.


 * John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue A deranged scientist who aims to create Venom-powered "supersoldiers" to sell to dictators and warlords in order to make millions. He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a kiss from her toxic lips.


 * Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. She proposes to Bruce, but he does not respond, fearing for her safety.


 * Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B. Haven Mr. Freeze's sexy assistant who flirts with him constantly. He is unresponsive, as he is still in love with his wife.


 * Robert "Jeep" Swenson as Antonio Diego/Bane Poison Ivy's bodyguard and muscle, who was originally a diminutive serial murderer. Transformed into a hugely powerful "Super-soldier" by the strength-enhancing drug "Venom", he was seen getting Mr. Freeze's suit back from Arkham Asylum, as well as fighting against the main heroes several times. Despite proving more than a match for Batman and Robin earlier on, he is eventually defeated by Robin and Batgirl after they find a way to stop the venom flow to his brain.
 * Michael Reid MacKay portrays him in flashbacks prior to his transformation.


 * Vendela Kirsebom as Nora Fries Mr. Freeze's cryogenically-frozen wife.


 * Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty Gotham's top gossip columnist.


 * Jesse Ventura as Arkham Asylum Guard