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Batman & Robin
Warner Bros.

2.1 based on 21 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 25 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

FILM:

• Batman Forever
• Falling Down

• Internet Movie Database
• Official Studio Site

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for strong stylized action and some innuendos

Starring George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Elle Macpherson, and Vivica A. Fox

Batman, Robin and new crime fighting comrade Batgirl face Gotham City's deadliest threat yet when cold-hearted Mr. Freeze and venomous Poison Ivy team for some lethal mischief. (Warner Bros.)

GENRE(S):	Action  |  Adventure  |  Fantasy  |  Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Akiva Goldsman Bob Kane (Batman characters)
DIRECTED BY:	Joel Schumacher
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 21, 1997  Video: August 29, 2000  Theatrical: June 20, 1997
RUNNING TIME:	125 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Joel Schumacher, director and ringmaster, piles on the flashy showmanship and keeps the film as big, bold, noisy and mindlessly overwhelming as possible.

60

Salon.com Robin Dougherty

There's something almost maniacally heroic about packaging the fourth sequel of a superhero action series without resorting to the old standbys of good writing, capable acting or inspired directing.

58

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Unfortunately, the charming Batfamily can't stay in their cave indefinitely; they've got to go out and fight crime. And that's where this elaborately high-style production from Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher hits an iceberg.

50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

George Clooney looks great in a cape, but this fourth installment in the series has invested so much capital in razzle-dazzle special effects that it hardly matters whose head is under the pointy-eared helmet.

50

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's the lightest of the Batman movies, the most cartoony, the dumbest and the least ambitious. But it holds the audience's attention, brings on a few laughs and never really gets boring.

50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Batman & Robin, like the first three films in the series, is wonderful to look at, and has nothing authentic at its core.

50

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This film, which places yet another actor in the batsuit, has all the necessary hallmarks of a sorry sequel -- pointless, plodding plotting; asinine action; clueless, comatose characterization; and dumb dialogue.

50

Variety Todd McCarthy

Unfortunately, the operative word is bland, as the newcomers don't add much to the formula, leaving it to their nemeses to enliven the proceedings. Narrative drive and humor are also in short supply, which creates a serious sagsag in the middle when the novelty of the fresh components has mostly worn off.

40

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

There's so much happening in the movie that it feels like nothing is happening at all. Which leaves you free to gaze, slack-jawed, on the true glory of Batman & Robin -- its fabulously color-coded set design.

40

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's a gee-whiz kiddie movie imagined by pervy grown-ups who get a giggle out of mixing bloodless fight scenes with close-ups of rubber-wrapped butts and baskets.

30

Newsweek David Ansen

Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman has written quips, not characters and Joel Schumacher still seems miscast as a Bat-action director: he stages the mayhem confusingly and the comedy too broadly.

30

Slate Alex Ross

It has none of the minor virtues of Schumacher's other films. It looks bad: cluttered surfaces, production design reminiscent of overblown Broadway musicals, editing too fast for the eye to catch up, poor staging of fast action.

25

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

Clooney's stiff cornball delivery and tendency to smile during the most tragic moments bring this as close to the cartoonish Batman television series of the 1960s as any of the movies have come.

20

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Batman & Robin fails to engage the spirit of Batman, Robin, or decent marketing in general, and instead ends up as a limp, excruciatingly shallow knockoff that leaves viewers cringing at the unavoidable one-liners that make up the better part of the script.

20

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

It's clear that writer Akiva Goldsman and director Joel Schumacher are bereft of ideas and using the MTV clutter as a cover-up.

20

Dallas Observer Peter Rainer

The fourth installment in the Batman franchise is one long head-splitting exercise in clueless cacophony that makes you feel as though you're being held hostage in some haywire Planet Hollywood while sonic booms pummel your auditory canal.

20

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Lacking most kinds of inspiration and geared to undemanding minds, this project is so overloaded with hardware and stunts, it's a relief to have it over.

20

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The current Bat cycle was already tired when Schumacher replaced Tim Burton behind the camera on "Batman Forever." This chapter -- so action-packed, yet so insufferably dull -- makes it clear that there's nowhere else to go.

10

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Like a wounded yeti, Batman & Robin drags itself through icicle-heavy sets, dry-ice fog and choking jungle vines, before dying in a frozen heap. Unfortunately, that demise occurs about 20 minutes into the movie, which leaves you in the cold for approximately 106 minutes.

10

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Clooney fails to make much of an impression as The Batman, but to make an impression amongst all the garish theatrics, he would pretty much have to shout his dialogue in rhyming verse, backwards.

0

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Campy costumes can't disguise the incoherent plot, confused performances and lame script that send this star vehicle spiralling downward.

The average user rating for this movie is 2.1 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Burr gave it a6:
Batman and Robin was hated so much because of all the emo goth kids who thought Batman's roots were in moody, melodramatic darkness. Couldn't be farther from the truth. B&R was a throwback to the glory days of campy comic book silliness, back before he turned into an angst-filled goth magnet of muddled special effects sequences. Of course all the kids who think The Dark Knight is the greatest comic book movie ever to grace the screen are too young to realize that.

John D. gave it a0:
This is the worst movie ever made. The costumes look like something you wear at Halloween. The acting in "The Fear 2" is better. I've rather see Power Rangers then this again. Joel schumacher can't do anything.

Dale P gave it a1:
The only actor among all of them with the chin to play the title role and he gets it horribly wrong.

[Anonymous] gave it a0:
This has gotta be the worst comic movie ever. I absolutely hate it. Good thing X-men brought this franchise back with some decency.

Dan A gave it a1:
I gave this a one only because Robin still seems pretty much in place. Other than that, everything with the movie is wrong. George Clooney is cast as Batman, and believe me, he is one of the last people you ever need to get into that suit. George Clooney is about as fit to play Batman as Hulk Hogan would be to play The Flash. It just doesn't make sense. When you watch him perform both Bruce and Batman feel like cliche Clooney performances. Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl could probably work, but so much of the lines and delivery (along with sound effects) in this movie are so horrible that we'll never know. I also think Uma Thurman playing Poison Ivy could work, but again, whoever told her to deliver her lines with that rollercoaster pitch was out of their mind. Arnold Schwarzeneggar playing Mr. Freeze is very easily the most inaccurate portrayal of any character in history. It may also be the corniest as well. Mr. Freeze is supposed to be an intricate character, a man with real emotions and feelings that he was robbed of. He was not supposed to be a bumbling fool who uses horrible freeze related puns. The only goddamn thing that stayed very good in this movie was Alfred, and he had the least time in this film than any of the others!

David V. gave it a1:
One of the worst superhero movies to date. Someone should tell Joel Schumacher that ice skates, bat-credit cards, nipple suits, homoerotic statues, and neon lit thugs don't make a good movie.

Myles #13 gave it a1:
I am the biggest fan of the Dark Knight, but I HATE this film... campiest film you will ever see, and all of the puns will make you groan. Everything is much too flashy, not dark at all. I still don't understand why the franchise ever swerved towards being 'family' movies... Batman is meant to be a mature, adult film- thank GOD Batman Begins breathed new life into Batman films again. AVOID at all costs, if you value your sanity.

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