Batman & Robin is so bad it’s good, as it’s generally considered the very worst Batman movie. For many fans, the very best/worst part of the film is the dialogue. In fact, the dark approach that Christopher Nolan took with Batman Begins was a direct response to the criticisms of the over-the-top campiness of Batman & Robin, so at the very least, fans have the 1997 movie to thank for the Dark Knight trilogy.
However, no matter what viewers think of the movie 24 years after its release, there’s no denying that the film is a goldmine when it comes to puns, references to shared universes, and the hilariously dismissive exposition. It's hard to pick just a few standout quotes, but fans have settled on a few favorites.
“Allow Me To Break The Ice”
In a movie that contains more ice puns than Pingu, Happy Feet, and Frozen combined, one of the very first comes when Batman and Robin meet Mr. Freeze for the first time.
It’s the most extravagant and theatrical scene in a movie full of them, as Mr. Freeze watches his ice-skating minions launch hockey pucks at the superheroes in a museum full of dinosaurs. And Freeze introduces himself in a typically exaggerated way, which comes right before he flies in to space, naturally.
“This Is Why Superman Works Alone.”
At the beginning of the movie, in what is yet another brilliantly ludicrous quote, Robin gets jealous of the Batmobile, saying, “chicks dig the car.” In response, Batman exhales, “This is why Superman works alone.”
It might be a throwaway line of dialogue that was written to get a cheap laugh from the audience, but it was actually the first ever time that the idea of Batman and Superman being in the same universe was ever acknowledged in a movie. It came before a team up movie was hinted at in I Am Legend, and long before Zack Snyder’s Justice League was dividing audiences. So despite the movie’s negative reputation, it actually set a big precedent.
“You Break It, You Buy It.”
The museum scene isn’t just full of artifacts and dinosaur bones, as it’s a treasure trove for cheesy but hilarious lines of dialogue too. Considering how most of the artifacts in the museum are frozen or destroyed already, it doesn’t make sense as to why Batman would be so bothered about one single vase when he says "You break it, you buy it."
However, it does subtly add to the slow building tension between him and Robin that carries on throughout the whole movie. And as goofy as it was, the drama between the Batman and Robin was brilliantly delivered, making the fallout between them inevitable.
“That's A Utility Belt, Not A Money Belt. Six Million.”
Playing up to the camp tone of the whole movie, Batman and Robin make an appearance at a charity event, which takes place at non-other than a tropical themed nightclub. But they aren’t the only people who show up, as Poison Ivy rocks up the the stage in a gorilla outfit, and what follows is an auction where the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder fight over the villain.
Every line of dialogue is golden, and the best comes from Robin when he makes a terrible joke about Batman’s utility belt. It’s hard to figure out what is more thriftless, spending millions on one night with a woman they don’t know, or Bruce and Dick taking shots at each other like they’re kids in a school yard. The role of Robin is one of Chris O’Donnell’s best performances, and this line is evidence why.
“Come on, Bane. Enough Monkey Business. We’ve Got Work To Do.”
Following the fight between Batman and Robin over Poison Ivy in the club, Mr. Freeze storms in with his crew and steals the diamonds. And though he’s best known for them, Mr. Freeze isn’t the only one obsessed with puns.
Once Freeze and the heroes have left, she tells Bane that’s enough monkey business. It’s classically campy, as it comes when Bane is still disguised as a gorilla. But what’s even funnier is that, given how Bane can’t think or even speak for himself, he grunts and nods before saying, “Monkey Work.”
“Who Killed The Dinosaurs? The Ice Age!”
The best ice pun of them all again appears in the first scene with Mr. Freeze in the museum. As the villain is taunting the heroes while they’re being attacked by his minions, Freeze mentions that the ice age killed the dinosaurs, bragging himself up in a way that only 1997 Mr. Freeze can do.
The dinosaurs in the museum aren’t just the centrepiece of a curated exhibit, but they’re set pieces too, as Batman even skids down the tail of a long neck dinosaur. And while where he learnt to do that will forever remain a mystery, it’s one of the many golden nuggets in the scene.
“As I Told Lady Freeze When I Pulled Her Plug, This Is A One-Woman Show.”
This quote is an outlier in the movie, as it’s one of the few serious moments that’s shrouded in puns. When Poison Ivy tells Batgirl that it’s a one-woman show, she’s admitting to the fact that she murdered Mr. Freeze’s wife.
Freeze’s story arc surrounding his wife is actually extremely well told in the movie, even though it’s clouded by so much humor, which makes this quote pretty hard-hitting. But despite the impact of the line, Thurman still delivers it in a typically Batman & Robin-esque theatrical way.
“Tonight’s Forecast, A Freeze Is Coming.”
Mr. Freeze’s dastardly plan involves freezing the whole of Gotham with the new telescope, and though it doesn’t make sense, it makes for another ingenious “freeze” pun. Again relating to himself in the third person just to brag himself up in the form of a pun, Mr. Freeze is basically his own hype-man.
Not only that, but there doesn’t even seem to be anybody around, so he’s effectively saying it to himself. Though Mr Freeze is a villain fans sympathize with, it’s really hard to do so when any momentum the heartfelt story has is dampened by all of the puns.
“I Hate To Disappoint You, But My Rubber Lips Are Immune To Your Charms”
There are a lot of inventions in movies that don’t exist just to progress the narrative, whether it’s the ESD Harpoon Launcher in 2 Fast 2 Furious or the Neutralyzer in Men in Black. But in Batman & Robin, there’s one of the most creative yet, as Robin dons invisible rubber lips so he’s immune to Ivy’s poisonous kiss.
Though Robin was infatuated with Ivy the whole movie and wasn’t in the slightest bit immune to her charms, his rubber lips seemingly were. Between the rubber lips and Batman’s premium exclusive credit card, there are so many brilliant and random items coming out of the Batcave, and some great one-liners that come with them too.
“BANE!”
Though the Dark Knight Rises’ Bane inspired loads of memes, that portrayal of the antagonist was lauded because it made the character more 3D dimensional than just the muscle, as he had a fascinating backstory and an expansive vocabulary. This was the polar opposite to the Bane found in the 1997 movie.
The character was brainless, and all he could do was repeat phrases like “Monkey Work.” But more than anything else, the character loved to inexplicably scream his own name in action. “Bane!” would echo throughout nightclubs and ice-cream factories when he was trying to break Batman’s back, and that’s as much character depth that Bane had in the whole film.