Batman and Robin (1997): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Batman and Robin follows Gotham's two crime fighters as they take on Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy while their own partnership comes under strain. The film opens with Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) already working side by side, though the tension between them is plain from the start.

The first threat is Victor Fries, a scientist transformed by a cryogenic accident into Mr. Freeze. He steals diamonds to power the freezing suit that keeps him alive. Elsewhere, the botanist Pamela Isley is changed by toxins into Poison Ivy. Meanwhile, Alfred's niece Barbara arrives at Wayne Manor, and she is soon drawn into the heroes' world.

If you are new to the saga, this is the second Batman film directed by Joel Schumacher, after Batman Forever. Chris O'Donnell returns as Robin from that film, while George Clooney takes over the cowl from Val Kilmer.

In full, Batman and Robin chase Mr. Freeze, a former scientist who steals diamonds to power the cold suit that keeps him alive, while a second villain rises elsewhere in Gotham. Botanist Pamela Isley is turned into the seductive Poison Ivy after an attack in a lab. Ivy gets close to Freeze, and the two agree to work together against the heroes.

Robin falls under Ivy's spell, and the rift between him and Batman grows. At Wayne Manor, Alfred is ill, which adds to Bruce's worries. Alfred's niece Barbara discovers the Batcave and becomes Batgirl, joining the fight at a moment when the partnership could use another pair of hands.

Freeze plans to freeze Gotham, and Ivy plans to let her plants take over what remains. The heroes work out how to stop the freezing plan and track the villains down. Along the way, Batman learns that Freeze only wants to save his wife, and he offers help. The heroes defeat Ivy and stop Freeze's plan. Freeze is arrested and sent to Arkham Asylum, and Ivy is locked up too. The film ends with the heroes as a closer team, now with Batgirl in it.

Batman and Robin opened in US theaters on June 20, 1997, a date confirmed by The Numbers, and no premiere date or venue has been confirmed. The United Kingdom and Australia both followed a week later, on June 27, 1997, and those two dates are reported rather than confirmed.

The film is rated PG-13 in the US, PG in the UK and PG in Australia. Its runtime is 125 minutes, which is one minute shorter than the 126 minute Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), and four minutes longer than the 121 minute Batman Forever.

In release order it sits sixth in the theatrical Batman run, and the next release is Batman Begins in 2005. The full order, including spin-offs and appearances, is at batman movies in order.

The ending of Batman and Robin resolves on three points: Gotham is saved from the freeze, Mr. Freeze is offered help rather than only punishment, and the heroes become a united trio. The plan to freeze Gotham fails and Ivy is overpowered. Freeze is jailed in Arkham Asylum, and Batman gives him a chance at help for his wife's condition. Robin and Batman repair their partnership, and Batgirl becomes a full member of the team.

What does that mean in story terms? The film treats Freeze as a villain with a motive, not only a threat. Victor Fries steals diamonds to power the suit that keeps him alive, and his wife Nora Fries (Vendela Kirsebom) is the reason he cannot stop. That is why Batman offers help instead of leaving him to the cell. In my opinion, it is the most generous beat in the film, because it gives the villain's goal of saving his wife a place in the resolution. Ivy gets no such grace: she is simply locked up, which perhaps explains why Schwarzenegger's villain gets the emotional close.

Compare that with Batman Forever, made by the same director. There, Two-Face and the Riddler are driven by a grudge, one scarred in an attack and the other rejected by Bruce when he pitches a brain-wave device, and Dick Grayson becomes Robin because Two-Face takes his family. Here, the villains are less tied to Bruce personally, and the personal stakes sit inside the team instead.

The Batman and Robin rift is the other thread. It begins when Robin falls under Ivy's spell, and Alfred's illness adds to Bruce's worries at the same time. Barbara, Alfred's niece, discovers the Batcave and becomes Batgirl just as the partnership could use another pair of hands. By the last scene the quarrel is mended, and it could be argued that the closing image of three heroes together is as much a merchandising shape as a story one, given that the studio wanted the film to be more toy friendly than its predecessor. That is a reading, not a documented intention.

The result did not hold. The film cost more than Batman Forever and earned less, and the series then reset with Batman Begins in 2005, directed by Christopher Nolan. Begins goes the opposite way: a single hero, a young Bruce falling into a well, parents shot outside an opera house, and Alfred raising him. After a team ending with a trio, that lone origin story reads as a deliberate answer.

Batman and Robin was filmed in California, with sets at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank and exteriors at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. The Greystone grounds stood in for Wayne Manor.

That makes it an all American shoot, unlike Batman (1989), which used British studio space at Pinewood and used Knebworth and Hatfield as Wayne Manor. For how Gotham changes from one era to the next, see the batman timeline.

These Batman and Robin facts come from the film's production history:

• The studio wanted the film to be more toy friendly than its predecessor.
• William Baldwin was considered for the role of Batman before George Clooney was cast.
• Batman co-creator Bob Kane worked on the film as an official consultant.
• Alicia Silverstone learned to ride a motorcycle for her Batgirl scenes.
• Production finished about two weeks ahead of schedule.
• The film contains about 450 visual effects shots.

Chris O'Donnell plays Robin here for the second time in release order, after Batman Forever. For the whole run, see how many batman movies there are.