Batman & Robin

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This article is dedicated to Joel Schumacher, who died from cancer (August 29, 1939 - June 22, 2020) May he rest in peace.


Batman & Robin
Behold: the film that froze off the Burtonverse and the ill-fated Schumacherverse to death.
Genre: Action
Comedy
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Produced by: Peter Macgregor-Scott
Written by: Akiva Goldsman
Based on: Batman by Bill Finger and Bob Kane
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger
George Clooney
Chris O'Donnell
Uma Thurman
Alicia Silverstone
Michael Gough
Jeep Swenson
Pat Hingle
Elle Macpherson
Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: June 20, 1997
Runtime: 125 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $160 million
Box office: $238 million
Franchise: Batman Motion Picture Anthology
Prequel: Batman Forever
Sequel: Batman Unchained (Cancelled, with the franchise being rebooted with Batman Begins)

"There is no defeat in death, Master Bruce. Victory comes in defending what we know is right while we still live."

Alfred Pennyworth

Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which tells the story of Batman and Robin's attempts to stop former scientist and decathlete Mr. Freeze and his new running mates, Poison Ivy, and Bane. Along the way, Alfred's niece, Barbara Wilson, discovers the true identities of the Dynamic Duo and joins them as Batgirl to thwart the evil threesome.

Being preceded by Batman Forever, Batman & Robin serves as the sequel to the film, and is the fourth/final film in the Batman Motion Picture Anthology. The film was a box office bomb, being panned critically for its tonal shift from the prior movies, as well as its predatory nature; being used as a marketing vehicle to sell toys. Plans for a sequel titled Batman Unchained (which would have been the true final installment) fell through after the critical failure and commercial failure of Batman & Robin, and Warner Bros. spent the next 8 years trying to put Batman back on the big screen.

Throughout the years and the release of other DC movies that are much, MUCH worse, the film has been revisited by some and has since become a cult classic, mostly due to its campy nature but also it's a heartfelt attempt at telling a genuine story about Bruce Wayne's issues with trust and control.

Plot

While Batman and Robin fail to stop Mr. Freeze from stealing a large diamond from the Gotham Museum, mad scientist Dr. Jason Woodrue shows off serial murderer Antonio Diego being turned into the brutish Bane. When botanical scientist Pamela Isley finds out, Dr. Woodrue tries to have her killed in her lab, only for her to turn into the seductive Poison Ivy and kill him in retaliation. She takes off with Bane to Gotham City to meet Bruce Wayne.

Back in Gotham, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson recap Mr. Freeze's origin and discuss Bruce's lack of trust for Dick. Not long afterward, Alfred's niece Barbara Wilson arrives in Gotham and is said to be staying for a few weeks. Pamela Isley arrives at the Gotham Observatory and confronts Wayne with her plan of botanical preservation, however, Bruce rejects her plan as it involves the deaths of millions. Batman sets a trap for Mr. Freeze, which is interrupted by Poison Ivy who seduces the Dynamic Duo with her pheromones. After Mr. Freeze makes off with the gems, Batman stops him and captures him. When the duo arrives back at the Batcave, they break out into an argument over Batman's control and trust issues, as well as his perceived jealousy of Robin for Poison Ivy being more into him than Batman.

Soon afterward, Freeze breaks out of jail, with help from Ivy and Bane. Later in the night, Dick catches Barbara racing motorbikes to raise money to help treat Alfred's illness. Bruce reveals that Alfred isn't just sick; he's dying from Macgregors' Syndrome, stage one. Alfred tries to reach out to his brother, Wilfred Pennyworth, but to no avail. Batman and Robin storm Mr. Freeze's base and find out his wife, Nora Fries, has the same disease as Alfred, only in a later stage. Poison Ivy seemingly kills Nora by terminating the power to her cryogenic chamber, as well as driving more animosity between Batman and Robin, causing the latter to exclaim he wants to end the duo's partnership.

After Ivy tells Freeze of Nora's supposed death, Mr. Freeze aims to wipe out the entire world; leaving him, Ivy, and Bane as the sole survivors. When Ivy hijacks the Batsignal to get Robin, Bruce, and Robin's tensions peak once more, however, Bruce calms Robin down by pleading with Robin to trust him, explaining in broad strokes that he was right about Bruce's trust issues. After the two leave, Barbara discovers the Batcave and dons her suit, now christening herself as the vigilante Batgirl. Together, the three take down Poison Ivy and head to fight Mr. Freeze.

After the trio stop Mr. Freeze, Batman reveals that Nora was saved and is still alive. The comforted Mr. Freeze gives up his reign of evil, agrees to continue his research in Arkham Asylum, and gives Batman the cure to the first stage of Macgregors' Syndrome. He is made cellmate to the now-imprisoned Poison Ivy and threatens to make her prison life hell. After being cured, Alfred joins the Dynamic Trio, and the four make their partnership official.

Production

Development

With the box office success of Batman Forever in June 1995, Warner Bros. immediately 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. The storyline of Batman & Robin was conceived by Schumacher and Goldsman during pre-production of A Time to Kill. Portions of Mr. Freeze's backstory were based on the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice", written by Paul Dini. Goldsman, however, expressed concerns about the script during pre-production discussions with Schumacher.

While Chris O'Donnell reprises the role of Robin, Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role of Batman from Batman Forever. Schumacher admitted he had difficulty working with Kilmer on Forever. "He sort of quit," Schumacher said, "and we sort of fired him." Schumacher would later go on to say that Kilmer wanted to work on The Island of Dr. Moreau because Marlon Brando was cast in the film. Kilmer said he was not aware of the fast-track production and was already committed to The Saint (1997). David Duchovny claims he was considered for the role of Batman, but he joked the reason they did not cast him was because his nose was too big. Schumacher originally had a strong interest in casting William Baldwin in Kilmer's place, but George Clooney was cast instead. Schumacher believed Clooney could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Michael Keaton (in Batman and Batman Returns) and Kilmer. The shooting schedule allowed Clooney to simultaneously work on ER without any scheduling conflicts. In the documentary Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of The Dark Knight, Schumacher said he was given the mandate by the studio to make the film even more "toyetic" even when compared to Batman Forever.

Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, and Patrick Stewart were considered for the role of Mr. Freeze before the script was rewritten to accommodate Arnold Schwarzenegger's casting. Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". Schwarzenegger was paid a $25 million salary for the role. Mr. Freeze's armor was made by armorer Terry English, who estimated the costume cost some $1.5 million to develop and make. To prepare for the role, Schwarzenegger wore a bald cap after declining to shave his head and wore a blue LED in his mouth. His prosthetic makeup and wardrobe took six hours to apply each day. Thurman took the role of Poison Ivy because she liked the femme fatale characterization of the character. Alicia Silverstone was the only choice for the role of Batgirl.

According to Schumacher, during the scene in which the costumes of the Riddler and Two-Face are seen, he originally planned to put Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze escaping from Arkham Asylum while many other villains saw them from their cells. The scene was not included in the final film.

Filming

The original start date was August 1996, but principal photography did not begin until September 12, 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, O'Donnell explained, "[...] First movie, things felt much sharper and more focused, and it just felt like everything got a little softer on the second one. The first one, I felt like I was making a movie. The second one, I felt like I was making a toy commercial." He also complained about the Robin costume, saying it was more involved and less comfortable than the one he wore in Batman Forever, with a glued-on mask that 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.

O'Donnell said that despite hanging out with Schwarzenegger a lot off-set and during promotion for the film, they never worked a single day together; this was achieved with stand-ins when one of the actors was not available. Stunt coordinator Alex Field taught Silverstone to ride a motorcycle so that she could play Batgirl.

Why It Froze The Batman Franchise

  1. Executive meddling: While Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever was less dark and more kid friendly to appease, Warner Bros.' executives felt Batman Returns was too dark and inappropriate for kids, as Schumacher was told to make this movie even more kid friendly to where dark elements of any kind from the previous movies had to be done away with entirely, thus killing the franchise entirely on ice.
  2. The main reason for Batman & Robin's negative reception is its tone, being overly campy and juvenile with the number of puns and jokes throughout the film, which is a far cry from the previous Batman films which are known for their dark and mature tones.
    • While it is true that the previous films did have their fair share of humorist moments and tones here and there, those were usually few and far between and never went overboard with their lighter moments.
  3. Misleading title: Despite it being called Batman & Robin, they don't team up that much here, instead it focuses more on Bruce taking care of a sick Alfred, while Dick has a relationship with Alfred's nephew, Barbara.
  4. Because of the success of Batman Forever in regards to merchandising, this film was made to sell even more toys and Happy Meals, and this is made apparent with the large amount of characters and vehicles present in the movie.
    • According to some sources, executives from both Warner Bros. and McDonald's were watching over the editing process, with the latter checking on the script to make sure it fit their needs.
  5. Most viewers will often levy criticism against Mr. Freeze's overabundance of cold and ice-themed puns, which can be seen as annoying due to the sheer amount of them. Given his backstory, it can also be said they diminish the tragedy of Mr. Freeze.
    • In all fairness, heroes and villains can have scenes of humor while having a tragic backstory, but in the case of Mr. Freeze whose backstory is about him trying to save his wife from an incurable disease and is shown to be quite traumatized by said reason, it's very jarring to watch.
  6. Countless amounts of product placement, such as the Apple Macintosh computers.
  7. While his Bruce Wayne is seen as a good performance, George Clooney's tenure as Batman leaves something to be desired, as he sounds rather bored and phones in his line delivery. George would consider Batman & Robin one of his worst performances.
  8. The character of Bane is often seen to be the worst adaptation of the anthology (next to Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face), as he's portrayed as an idiotic brute who speaks in grunts and one-word responses, instead of the tactical mastermind who systematically broke Batman as seen in the comics.
  9. Numerous oddities, plot holes, and inconsistencies, including but not limited to
    • Mr. Freeze can somehow smoke a cigarette, which goes against the state of his altered biology.
    • Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy do not seem very compatible as partners because he wants to freeze the world and she wants plants to roam the world. Plants cannot survive in freezing temperatures.
    • Ms. B. Haven shows no ill effects from wearing a skimpy outfit in Freeze's frozen hideout.
    • After Mr. Freeze takes out two vials with a blue liquid in them, we see that they fit perfectly into Alfred's IV stand in Wayne Manor. Unless they were both made by Wayne Enterprises, it's not possible to fit it in the IV stand that perfectly.
    • During the chase at the beginning of the movie, Mr. Freeze freezes Robin before he can snatch the diamond but chooses to spare Batman by saying he'll kill him later, which is idiotic since nothing is stopping him from doing to Batman what he did to Robin.
    • There's a pointless scene where we see the Riddler and Two-Face's outfits at the Arkham Asylum from the previous film and speaking of Two-Face, isn't he supposed to be dead?!
    • Batman and Robin appear at an auction instead of as their actual selves, which is strange since they usually only show up when a crime is going down.
    • During a scene where Batman, Robin, and Batgirl are in their vehicles and are being pursued by Freeze's henchmen, she's wearing a mask that looks hideous on her, but as soon as they reach the museum, she takes it off (supposedly because Alicia Silverstone didn't want to wear it due to how awful it looked on her).
    • There's one scene that features rubber ice on the car; no joke, there's actual rubber ice on the car!
  10. Robin may be seen as overly whiny and irritating, due to his constant complaining about Bruce's jealousy and trust issues.
    • However, this criticism can be handwaved when it's revealed that Robin has genuine issues with Bruce (due to the latter's issues with trust and control) and he was also being manipulated by Poison Ivy's pheromones.
  11. The very infamous "Bat Credit Card" scene.
  12. Again, Batman and Robin's suits have nipples, as well as pronounced codpieces and buttocks. These design cues were allegedly taken from Ancient Greek statues. Whether this was intended to convey strength or beauty isn't exactly clear, however, the presence of muscles is a problem due to how inappropriate they can be for very young children. Depending on the intent of the costume designers, it is possible that they tried to accentuate both Batman and Robin's anatomical aspects for an adult audience.
  13. The villains are not as good as they were in the comics books for many reasons:
    • Mr. Freeze is portrayed as an absolute joke of a sympathetic villain who relies on ice puns for his lines, using his vehicles and a winged jetpack that came straight from the film's toy designs.
    • Bane is portrayed as being an incredibly dim-witted yet somehow a capable brute named Antonio Diego in stark contrast to his comic book counterpart, who has genius-level intellect.
    • Jason Woodrue, who is one of Swamp Thing's archenemies as the Floronic Man in the comics, is now a generic "mad scientist" who creates Bane and Poison Ivy before getting killed by the latter.
  14. Very poor acting on everyone's part, especially George Clooney as Batman. Speaking of which, he was only hired as a replacement for Val Kilmer since he was committed to another movie, hence why Clooney took his place, which comes off odd since both movies feature the same director but with two completely different actors playing Batman.
    • Speaking of the acting, most Batman fans thought that George Clooney made a poor Batman, and he even admitted that he really didn't like playing Batman and would not portray him again in a planned canceled sequel. Years after starring in this film, he refuses to talk to people about how awful he felt playing Batman and most people don't blame him for being unhappy about it.
    • Chris O'Donnell's acting for Robin is very poor, even worse than Forever, as he sounds like a bratty teenager and all-around moron, and his character Dick Grayson/Robin spends most of his screen-time acting like a whiny brat just like his Teen Titans Go! counterpart.
  15. Alfred's survival goes against the message of the film that death can't be controlled, as he survives his Macgregors' Syndrome diagnosis thanks to Batman's direct intervention.
  16. Blatant disregard for physics (i.e., characters being able to safely jump from dangerous heights).
  17. There are numerous technical oddities present in the film which adds to how poorly made the movie is. For example:
    • When Robin comes out of the water in one scene, the scene goes in reverse motion just so he goes back under.
    • When Mr. Freeze says "It's winter forever here in Gotham!", the audio doesn't seem synced to the movement of his lips.
  18. Like Batman Forever, the film's presence in the same continuity as the Burton films is debated. With the presence of Joel Schumacher's Batman (as played by George Clooney) at the end of The Flash, the Schumacher films have been downgraded from directly taking place afterward to now being set in a parallel continuity which follows most of the same events of the Tim Burton movies.
  19. Most unfortunate of all, the film's failure in theaters resulted in the late Joel Schumacher's reputation unfairly being left in tatters. Schumacher's name is often associated with "campiness" when he often wanted to create relatively grounded and serious films, such as Falling Down and The Lost Boys. The late Joel Schumacher would direct smaller movies later on in life, such as Phone Booth and an adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera. He unfortunately passed away from cancer on June 22, 2020.

Qualities That Thaw Out

  1. The film is a love letter to the Silver Age of comic books, as well as William Dozier's 1966 TV series Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
    • Depending on the viewer's exposure to more comedic superhero media, the camp can be either overbearing or delightful.
  2. Batman and Robin's suits receive an update, with Robin's suit in particular taking inspiration from his second Nightwing suit in the comics.
    • However, unlike the comics, Robin's suit is colored red instead of blue and possesses a cape. He also still goes by the "Robin" title.
  3. The side plot of Bruce's issues surrounding trust and control is as genuine as it is heartfelt.
  4. All of the actors do a stellar job with what they have:
    • Michael Gough's Alfred brings a much-needed sense of heart to the movie, tying in wonderfully with the subplot of Bruce's struggles with control and death.
    • Despite his shortcomings in the suit, George Clooney plays the role of Bruce Wayne with sincerity, turning in a good performance as half of the Dark Knight.
    • Uma Thurman plays the role of the seductive and maniacal Poison Ivy perfectly, giving an iconic performance.
    • Bane and Mr. Freeze are both given an awe-inspiring physical presence, thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger and the late Jeep Swenson's impressive physical stature.
      • Jeep Swenson would pass away just under two months after the movie's release on August 18th, 1997.
  5. Once again, the film uses CG to create an awe-inspiring Gotham with an impossible scale and equally impossible architecture. Even with its relatively poor aging, it still dominates the screen with its presence.
  6. The direct mention of Superman's existence is a nice little reference as Bruce Wayne said "This is why Superman works alone." Given what was happening at Warner Bros. at the time though, this line could've been an Easter egg for Tim Burton's canceled film Superman Lives.
  7. To date, this is the only cinematic appearance of Julie Madison, Bruce Wayne's first love interest, as seen in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
  8. The film's climax was pretty epic, and the ending does end the Batman Motion Picture Anthology on a great note.

Reception

Critical and audience response

Batman & Robin received negative reviews from critics, audiences, and fans alike, and is considered to be one of the worst movies of all time[1] and the worst film of the Batman films. The film holds a 12% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 93 reviews, with a critic consensus that reads "Joel Schumacher's tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin, resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that's too jokey to care much for." It also has an audience score of 16%. Metacritic scores the film a 28/100, based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". On IMDb, the film has an average user rating of 3.7/10. On Letterboxd, the film has an average rating of 1.8/5. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

DogEatingDogs6 gives it 1/10, saying that he did not want to recommend the movie as well.

The movie currently has a Google users rating of "57% of users liked this film".

Schumacher and producer Peter MacGregor-Scott blamed the negative reception of Batman & Robin 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 "thumbs down" review of the film.[2] Ebert’s partner Gene Siskel who gave positive reviews to the previous Batman films, also gave this film a thumbs down; it was the last Batman movie he reviewed before his death in 1999. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times believed the film "killed" the Batman film series.[3] Desson Howe of The Washington Post disapproved of Schumacher's direction and Akiva Goldsman's script, as well as the returning costume design from the first film.[4] 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."[5] However, Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a more positive review, and praised Uma Thurman's performance.[6] Andrew Johnston, writing in Time Out New York, remarked, "It's hard to tell who B&R is intended for. Anyone who knows the character from the comics or the superb animated show on Fox will be alienated. And though Schumacher treats the Adam West version as gospel, that show's campy humor is completely incompatible with these production values."[7]

Many observers thought Schumacher added possible homoerotic innuendo in the storyline. James Berardinelli questioned the "random amount [sic] of rubber nipples and camera angle close-ups of the Dynamic Duo's butts and Bat-crotches."[8] Similar to Batman Forever, this primarily included the decision to add nipples and enlarged codpieces to the 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.

Clooney himself has spoken critically of the film, saying in 2005, "I think we might have killed the franchise",[9] and called it "a waste of money".[10] In 2015, while promoting Disney's Tomorrowland at New York Comic-Con, Clooney said that he had met former Batman actor Adam West and apologized to him.[11] Furthermore, when asked during a 2015 interview on The Graham Norton Show about whether he had ever had to apologize for Batman & Robin, Clooney responded, "I always apologize for Batman & Robin".[12]

In his book Batman: the Complete History, Les Daniels analyzed the film's relatively strong performance internationally: "nuances of languages or personality were likely to be lost in translation and admittedly eye-popping spectacle seemed sufficient."[13]

Box Office

Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997 in North America, earning $42,872,605 in its opening weekend,[14] making it the third-highest opening weekend of 1997.[15] The film declined by 63% in its second week.[16] Batman & Robin faced early competition with Face/Off, Hercules, and Men in Black.[17] Schumacher blamed it on yellow journalism started by Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and other film websites such as Dark Horizons.[18] The film went on to gross $107.3 million in North America and $130.9 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $238,207,122.[14] Warner Bros. acknowledged Batman & Robin's shortcomings in the domestic market but pointed out success in other markets.[17]

Awards and nominations

Batman & Robin was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Best Make-up and Best Costume. Alicia Silverstone won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. 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), as well as 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.

At the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film garnered five nominations, of which it won four: Worst Picture, Worst Director (Joel Schumacher), Worst Supporting Actress (Alicia Silverstone), and Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More Than $100M Worldwide Using Hollywood Math. However, it lost Worst Sequel to Speed 2: Cruise Control.[19] Later, the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards unveiled their "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list which "honored" the 100 worst films of the 20th century. Batman and Robin managed to rank as the #3 worst film of the century, behind Wild Wild West at #2 and Battlefield Earth at #1.[20][21]

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero

In 1998, a year after Batman & Robin was released, Warner Bros. Animation released an animated film with Batman, Robin and Mr. Freeze called Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, which was a sequel to the 1993 theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. SubZero was originally supposed to be released in theaters, but Warner Brothers decided not to release the film in theaters due to the negative reception that Batman & Robin got, and decided to release it on home video to avoid making more fans angry. The similarities and differences between the Batman & Robin Mr. Freeze and the one in SubZero? The Batman & Robin version was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and used a ton of corny one-liners and ice puns, while the SubZero Mr. Freeze didn't use any ice puns or corny one-liners and instead acted more like a serious villain. However, both versions had the same backstory that the Batman & Robin version had. The other difference? The SubZero Mr. Freeze was played by the late Michael Ansara, who also voiced him in Batman: The Animated Series. In contrast to Batman & Robin, SubZero was well-received by both critics and fans alike.

Videos

Trailers

Reviews

References

  1. https://www.comicbasics.com/worst-superhero-movies/
  2. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/batman-and-robin-1997
  3. https://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-20/entertainment/ca-5024_1_batman-forever
  4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/review97/batmanandrobinhowe.htm?noredirect=on
  5. https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/BATMAN-CHILLS-OUT-George-Clooney-can-t-fill-2834605.php}}
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/20/movies/holy-iceberg-dynamic-duo-vs-mr-freeze.html
  7. Andrew Johnson's Batman & Robin review (page 70)
  8. http://www.reelviews.net/movies/b/batman4.html
  9. https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2005/06/12/behind_the_masks/?page=1
  10. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/03/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-11-3-02-questions-for-george-clooney-true-confessions.html
  11. https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/wide-screen/george-clooney-to-adam-west--sorry-about--batman---robin-164734748.html
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXzcSCf3kwg
  13. Les Daniels' Batman: the Complete History (page 187–188)
  14. 14.0 14.1 https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=batmanrobin.htm
  15. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1997&p=.htm
  16. https://variety.com/1997/film/box-office/bat-beats-up-b-o-1116677093/
  17. 17.0 17.1 https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,288644,00.html
  18. https://variety.com/1997/digital/news/www-h-w-d-ticked-1116675713/
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20000818030700/http://www.thestinkers.com/1997.html
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20020604014203/http://www.thestinkers.com/100stinkers.html
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20020607033606/http://www.thestinkers.com/worstever.html

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