Batman and Robin

Composed by Elliot Goldenthal

01 - Main Titles (2:20)
02 - Museum Mayhem (5:38)
03 - Blast Off / Surfs Up (5:55)
04 - Frozen Stiff (2:32)
05 - Bane is Born (4:31)
06 - Memories of Childhood (:48)
07 - Poison Ivy / Mr. Freeze's Plans (4:59)
08 - Barbara Arrives (3:57)
09 - Observatory Unveiling (1:57)
10 - Ivy & Bruce (3:12)
11 - Costume Ball (4:48)
12 - Cool Party Crasher (4:15)
13 - A Chilling Chase (2:35)
14 - Matters of Trust (2:21)
15 - Freeze on Ice / Renovations (7:10)
16 - Main Titles Alternate (3:35)

       A Helping Hand (13:11)
11 - Partners Three (2:04)
12 - End Credits (4:54)
13 - Main Title Reprise (2:18)

Orchestrated by Robert Elhai and Elliot Goldenthal

Conducted by Jonathan Sheffer

Total Running Time: 44:23

Total Running Time: 44:23

     Joel Schumacher's second entry into the Batman franchise was even worse than his first. Sporting the generally affable George Clooney in a role that he is totally not meant for, Batman and Robin took the whole "camp comic" style established in Forever and turned it on its head. Throwing in everything from increasingly painful one-liners and bad puns to cartoony sound effects, this film effectively did what no supervillain had yet accomplished: kill Batman. Thankfully, Batman only stayed dead for eight years, and the new Christopher Nolan film looks to make things right again.

     Returning to the fold from the first Schumacher Bat-film is composer Elliot Goldenthal, turning in a score that is essentially Batman Forever redux. This is somewhat understandable given that Batman and Robin is essentially the same film with the only differences being the two new villains and Clooney in the title role. Even the addition of Batgirl doesn't allow for too much new material as she only appears at the climax of the film. Thus, keeping the same main theme and compositional construction during the action set-pieces, Goldenthal's mew material for this score brings out more of his eclectic side, even going so far as to include a few light references to his banging horror cues for Alien³ ("Bane is Born"). His material for Poison Ivy is lampooningly exotic, sometimes reaching incredibly odd points ("Costume Ball"). Of course, with the on-screen antics, its hard to take everything seriously, and Goldenthal is far more tongue-in-cheek with this score than he was in Batman Forever.

     While the score branches out far more wildly in style than his first one, Goldenthal's inclusion of material keeps things consistent. The first three cues are pretty much re-workings of his material from Forever, though a bit more enjoyable on the whole from what is head in that score. It actually tends to bog down whenever Goldenthal departs from his earlier work, and it's a shame that his new material isn't as fresh as it should be. Even so, Batman and Robin displays an occasional maturity that defies the mud-puddle of a film that is attached to, and occasionally shines brighter than its more famous brother. Once the action starts moving along at a better pace come the second disc, things get better, resulting in a nice climactic action cue on track ten, with the following cues befitting a worthy finale.

     Given the less-than-stellar reception to this film, the score release of Batman and Robin was not followed through on, and all that exists legitimately is a song compilation album (featuring some interesting holographic artwork on the front). Obviously, a two-CD version of the complete score does exist, but good luck in finding it as it is difficult. True fans of Goldenthal's work on the series will definitely do their best, however, and so more power to you.

See Also