Skate-fighting. Proto-Bane. Mr. Freeze's one-liners. Bat nipples.The debate as to which of these elements most thoroughly destroyed The Caped Crusader's reputation for nearly a decade will likely rage on long after director Joel Schumacher has begun burning in hell for this abomination, but regardless of what that consensus is, Batman & Robin is undoubtedly the biggest failure in the history of the franchise. Can there be a family-friendly version of Batman? Sure. But it has to be possible to craft genuinely engaging characters that don't simultaneously give children permanent emotional scarring. There's a middle ground there somewhere and it does not involve Mr. Freeze or a permanently sour-faced Robin. Because say what you will about George Clooney's rigid portrayal of Batman, but it was the villains of Batman & Robin that really sunk the Schumacher-Batman ship once and for all. Though, to be fair, at least Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman (as the sexy plant-lady, Poison Ivy) try to imbue their characters with a little effervescence, which is more than can be said of Chris O'Donnell's take on Robin.
