Batman & Robin

Movie review by Ed Grant, Common Sense Media
Batman & Robin Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 11+

Weak superhero movie has lots of innuendo, some violence.

PG-13 1997 130 minutes
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Parents say

age 8+

Based on 21 reviews

Kids say

age 10+

Based on 103 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Batman & Robin is a 1997 action movie in which George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell play campier versions of "The Dynamic Duo" than portrayals more commonly seen in recent decades. Practically everything out of Poison Ivy's (Uma Thurman) mouth is either sexual innuendo or double entendre. After Batgirl puts on her costume for the first time, the camera zooms in on her buttocks and breasts in the skintight outfit. Direct mild profanity is used infrequently, but bad puns like Mr. Freeze saying "Let's kick some ice!" are in abundance, and in one scene, Batman, in a heated argument with Robin, emphasizes Robin's real first name, "Dick," in a way that clearly means more than someone's first name. Action movie violence occurs throughout: machine guns and handguns, punches, kicks, choking. An illegal motorcycle street race nearly results in a fatality. There's some drinking and cigar smoking. This is not one of the most loved movies of the Batman franchise; families can use this one as a springboard to discuss what makes a movie "good," and even why there are disagreements between viewers as to a movie's overall quality and entertainment value.

Community Reviews

doctora
doctora Adult
June 12, 2022
age 11+

Michael Gough...the only reason to watch this film.

Wow...soooooo I did not believe it when people said this film was terrible, because I thought...How bad could it be? Enough money was thrown at it! Anyway...yeah, the first 15 minutes are walk out of the theatre bad...preposterous, silly, unfathomable, uninteresting, confusing, cartoonish, and lacking any cohesion or empathy. Then the film settles into subpar silly with a dash of sentimentality with Alfred's timeline which is the only saving grace of the film. Michael Gough is the only one doing any acting and it is such a relief that I live for those moments in this 2 hour, feels like 4, film. But he is not enough to make this film watchable, just enough to give it a little bit of a heartbeat before it flatlines under the weight of Mr.Freeze one-liners.
macc
macc Adult
July 10, 2021
age 5+

Why the hate

This is Batman for kids… all the other live action Batman movies are not made with kids in mind and this is.. is campy OTT fun… if the kids want to watch a comic book movie for kids they should have fun with this.
See all 21 parent reviews

What's the Story?

The caped crusaders battle not one but two supervillains in director Joel Schumacher's second Batman film. When an experiment gone wrong transforms Dr. Victor Fries (Arnold Schwarzenegger) into the evil Mr. Freeze, it's up to Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) to stop him from turning Gotham City into an arctic wasteland. Meanwhile, another scientific endeavor goes awry, changing timid horticulturalist Pamela (Uma Thurman) into vicious Poison Ivy. The dynamic duo must also stop her from wiping out humankind in her quest to create a vegetation-only planet. Batman and Robin get some help when butler Alfred's niece (Alicia Silverstone) comes to visit and becomes the crime-fighting Batgirl.

Is It Any Good?

This by-the-numbers Bat-sequel is an outright rip-off of the preceding entries in the series. The introduction of Batgirl and Alfred's first step to center stage can't compensate for the uninteresting supervillains. The movie draws its depiction of Poison Ivy straight from the Catwoman section of Batman Returns, and takes its hastily forged supervillains from both Batman Returns and Batman Forever. Batman & Robin's recurrent refrain of a villain invading a high-society gala is also from Batman Forever.

Unlike its three predecessors, which wound up making the villains more fascinating than Batman, Batman & Robin succeeds in making both the villains and the heroes equally uninteresting. The villains spout nothing but pun-filled taglines, and good guys mostly spew tedious platitudes about teamwork. Even younger viewers will notice the overly simple plot, especially if they've seen the far-better-scripted animated adventures Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero or The Adventures of Batman & Robin: Poison Ivy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what makes a good superhero film. In other films, Batman has a darker side. Did that come across in BATMAN & ROBIN? If not, would it have made this movie better, or worse? Why do you think people enjoy films based on comic book characters?

  • Did the sexual innuendo add to the overall entertainment value of the story, or did it seem forced and overdone?

  • This movie has been almost universally panned. What are some of the qualities that would make a movie "bad"? What are some movies you like that other family members or friends don't? Do you have any "guilty pleasure" movies?

Movie Details

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