History Headscratchers / BatmanAndRobin

* Why was Mr Freeze carrying around two vials of [=MacGregor=]'s Syndrome medicine in his suit? What possible use could he have for them? Did he know Batman was going to ask for them?

** Why didn't he just market this medicine for more research into finding a cure for the stage of the disease his wife has? And, for that matter, why didn't he market the cryogenic technology he used to preserve his wife? There's no excuse for this version of Freeze to have turned to crime and start holding cities to ransom, and blow all that money on death rays and getaway rockets.
*** Why? Because he's nuts, obviously. Seriously, that's the reason, both in the film, the comics, and the animated series. He isn't quite as cracked up as guys like ComicBook/TheJoker or ComicBook/TwoFace but he's not exactly sane either. Even before the accident that turned him into Mr. Freeze he was heavily obsessed with curing his wife's condition. After the accident his obsession kicked into overdrive and he stopped caring about ''anything'' except curing his wife. The thing you have to understand about pathological obsessions is the sufferer's focus on what, in their minds, seems like the most direct route to their goal. Anything that deviates from that route or adds extra steps along the way is an unacceptable distraction, even if it would produce the same result with a fraction of the effort. Based on this, I'd say that at some point in Movie!Freeze's (or The Freezinator as I like to call him) history he was in a position where turning to crime seemed like his only option. For instance, after his accident Freeze may have become unemployable. Rumours of rank incompetence and lax safety standards would swirl around him, damaging his scientific reputation. Universities and private companies would be understandably reluctant to fund a project that already turned one person into a mutant freak, and no doubt they would balk at the expense of maintaining a constant sub-zero environment for Freeze and fuelling his diamond-powered suit. After getting rejected enough times and becoming increasingly desperate Freeze could easily have concluded that the only way to get the research money he needed was by stealing it or blackmailing the city for it. And once he goes that far, well, there's no turning back. If he developed the early-stage cure after turning to crime it makes sense that he wouldn't sell it to fund his research. In his (now slightly unhinged) mind, crime is the most direct route to curing his wife. Anything else, including using the early-stage cure to get legitimate funding, is an unacceptable distraction.

** The question is ''why'' would he keep them with him. They are of no use to Nora!

** And on the other hand, who says that they can harm anything or anyone with those lasers? All we see them do is heat up water really quickly and melt ice. You know what that would do if you applied it to the outside of Freeze's cold suit? Make it expend slightly more energy than normal to keep him cool. Well, Whoop-de-do.

** Actually, in Schumacher's Gotham, crime seems to be even ''worse'' than Burton's. In both movies, the city's gang problem seems to be totally out of control, with small armies of weird, neon thugs overrunning entire blocks.
* When did public appearances become acceptable for Batman? At the same time innocent civilians became bait?
** Though using the civilians as bait is disagreeable, if we're to assume that the series has progressed in real time, Batman's existence has been public knowledge for eight years. Public appearances aren't much of a stretch, especially if he wants to be at said appearance to stop the current biggest threat in the city.
** Maybe around the time when he [[Film/BatmanForever decided to attend a high profile criminal trial in full gear and during daylight (as opposed to his usual preference for night patrols), no less]].

** Because he could logically have overpowered her before she could. In that moment, the best thing to do was to dispose of him quickly without much of a physical battle, which she tries to do by pushing him into the pool and letting her plants handle him.
* Who the hell let Mr. Freeze keep his suit after going to prison the second time, when he's shown that he can freeze people using that instead of the gun?
** Probably the same person who thought it morally sound to arrange him a cell to share with someone (of the opposite sex, mind you) that he would logically want to torture and kill.

** Letting a prisoner have access to a shiv is slightly less of an issue when said prisoner is physically incapable of moving five feet away from his own bed.

** The novelisation has Freeze say that he used some of his diamonds to bribe the Arkham guards to let him in for just long enough to kill her.

** It's completely possible that the card doesn't trace back to an individual person. It's not uncommon for businesses and organisations have bank or credit cards the same as a personal account would, and with Batman's trademark resourcefulness, money could change hands a dozen times between Bruce or Wayne Enterprises and "the Batman Fund."

* How exactly was Freeze hoping to freeze the whole world with his ray cannon? Even if we assume that it has infinite range, the ray is straight and ''the world is round''. Meaning he could only fire it as far as the horizon. If I'm not mistaken, for the telescope standing, say, a hundred meters high, it would make 50 kilometers or so. And that is, of course, if nobody simply sends a bomber and blasts the telescope. With a bomb. Which he has no protection from. I know, it will sound a tad redundant, but that was the stupidest EvilPlan ever!

** That was his plan ''before'' Ivy convinced him Nora was dead. Afterwards, he wanted nothing but to destroy the world. Ivy's plan was to repopulate the world with her own plant creatures once the ice thawed.

** Given Ivy probably knows squat about how the cryochamber works, actually killing Nora would have been more trouble than it's worth. The cops were already raiding the place, so it's not like Freeze could go back and see if Ivy was telling the truth.

** At first this seems like a really big plot hole, until you realise one major thing: this was marketed as a family film, so do you ''really'' think they would make Poison Ivy kill Robin (even if it still makes almost no sense)?

** He volunteered for the job. Why should he had left then?

** Who says he never takes it off, or eats? That's just [[LawOfConservationOfDetail one of those little details that are irrelevant to the plot]]; it's safe to assume he does these things off-screen.

* How long was Bane just standing in the lab, roaring and flexing, before Poison Ivy picked him up? Didn't Woodrue think about moving him somewhere safe?

* Bane is brain damaged and can barely walk straight. So how is he able to operate a moving vehicle and obey traffic laws like a normal person?
* If the venom goes in Bane's bloodstream, why is there never any blood going through those tubes on his head? Shouldn't Antonio have bled to death after the tubes were pulled off, or even before he is transformed?

* Does Arkham usually put men and women in the same cell together? On top of that, the man has a grudge against this woman for trying to kill his wife. Is this a revenge thing for the guards? What guarantee Freeze won't kill her, or do they care?

** A better question is: why ''didn't'' they find out? It was such an obvious hideout, you'd have to be stupid not to realise he was in there.

** Batman was talking out of his ass. Of course such a small rocket with no warhead wouldn't destroy Gotham. It would've just been a chunk of metal falling down. Sure, there'd be some damage, but definitely not city-wide.
** It wasn't Freeze's plan at all. The rocket was for a quick escape (though he didn't really seem to need it; that tank it came out of ''picks him up'' from his landing site). Freeze simply recklessly disregarded the rocket in favour of the glider and like stated above, Batman exaggerated the theoretical damage.

* This is a minor one, but what purpose does Freeze's henchgirl (Vivica A. Fox) serve? She doesn't strike me as a fighter. Why would Freeze keep her around? Also, if he's still faithful to his wife, why allow a woman in skimpy clothes to walk around in your lair. Not going to question how she isn't freezing to death in her outfit.

** Ivy wanted her plants to gain the strength and intelligence of animals, so that they would hate all humans and could defend themselves against the harms of mankind. While Ivy fought Batgirl, the plants' intellect reached maturity, so when she fell in, the flower throne, [[GoneHorriblyRight recognising her as a human]], and/or [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness without any more need from the human that raised them]], [[TheStarscream turned on their mother]].
** Better question is: what DID happened there? The plant clearly didn't ''actually'' eat her - she's physically fine later. Hell, it didn't even have anything to eat her ''with'' - there was just a cushion in the middle and some petals that served as a cover. Why would them closing around her suddenly send her thrashing and wailing, and turn her into a complete wreck? It really looked less like it (tried to) eat her and more like it... violated her. I'm sorry, but WTF?
** Well, in real life, Venus Flytraps release digestive enzymes to break down their prey after they’ve been captured. Could be it was trying to do that to Poison Ivy (if she designed that thing to eat humans, pretty sure its digestive fluids would be quite potent). It would explain her dishevelled appearance later (being partially digested alive wouldn't be pleasant I imagine). As for why that wasn’t shown… maybe the special effects team couldn’t get it to look right without looking obscene, so just cut after the plant trapped her.

** Because this version of Freeze is also trying to extort money in order to continue his research into a cure for his wife. Antarctica is already frozen, so his threat wouldn't be very frightening to the dozen or so other people who live there. And if he were to move there after he succeeded, it wouldn't be a very great place to settle down considering that his wife, if she were to be revived, is still a normal human.

* Why was Mr Freeze carrying around two vials of Macgregor's syndrome medicine in his suit? What possible use could he have for them? Did he know Batman was going to ask for them?

*** Why? Because he's nuts, obviously. Seriously, that's the reason, both in the film, the comics, and the animated series. He isn't quite as cracked up as guys like ComicBook/TheJoker or ComicBook/TwoFace but he's not exactly sane either. Even before the accident that turned him into Mr. Freeze he was heavily obsessed with curing his wife's condition. After the accident his obsession kicked into overdrive and he stopped caring about ''anything'' except curing his wife. The thing you have to understand about pathological obsessions is the sufferers focus on what, in their minds, seems like the most direct route to their goal. Anything that deviates from that route or adds extra steps along the way is an unacceptable distraction, even if it would produce the same result with a fraction of the effort. Based on this, I'd say that at some point in movie!Freeze's (or The Freezinator as I like to call him) history he was in a position where turning to crime seemed like his only option. For instance, after his accident Freeze may have become unemployable. Rumors of rank incompetence and lax safety standards would swirl around him, damaging his scientific reputation. Universities and private companies would be understandably reluctant to fund a project that already turned one person into a mutant freak, and no doubt they would balk at the expense of maintaining a constant sub-zero environment for Freeze and fueling his diamond-powered suit. After getting rejected enough times and becoming increasingly desperate Freeze could easily have concluded that the only way to get the research money he needed was by stealing it or blackmailing the city for it. And once he goes that far, well, there's no turning back. If he developed the early-stage cure after turning to crime it makes sense that he wouldn't sell it to fund his research. In his (now slightly unhinged) mind, crime is the most direct route to curing his wife. Anything else, including using the early-stage cure to get legitimate funding, is an unacceptable distraction.

*** A "first step" memento.
*** So that, even if his lair is raided or his notes destroyed, he always has a sample to build on and continue his research.
* Batman and Robin have lazers to melt each other out of ice. Why didn't they think to fire one at Freeze's leg or the bulky power pack on the back of his suit?

*** Uhm, power them up?
*** In answer to that question, let me ask you this one... can you turn a laser pointer into a laser gun by hooking it up to a car battery?

*** Ooooh, a little bit of Burton's Gotham shines through here. Well played.
*** You're damn right Burton's Gotham shines through. Watch the scene before the race closely. That one biker gang was raising a small child in that shit-hole, and keeping feral women on leashes.
*** Actually, in Schumacher's Gotham, crime seems to be even ''worse'' than Burton's. In both movies, the city's gang problem seems to be totally out of control, with small armies of weird, neon thugs overrunning entire blocks.

*** Still, it'd have to be one heck of a prudent kiss!

*** What was to stop her from ''grabbing'' Robin's head and forcibly kissing him just after the lips are off? He was close enough, and he wasn't really paying attention to her.
*** Because he could logically have overpowered her before she could. In that moment, the best thing to do was to dispose of him quickly without much of a physical battle, which she tries to do by pushing him into the pool and letting her plants handle him.

*** That's a shiv. He probably made it (albeit only to carve sculptures, not to kill people).
*** But he also put the ice sculpture in a glass. Someone had to have known he had that. And the clock he used as the base.
*** Letting a prisoner have access to a shiv is slightly less of an issue when said prisoner is physically incapable of moving five feet away from his own bed.
*** It's not a prison, it's a mental hospital. Anybody who works in one will tell you that glass and loose bits of metal are a HUGE no-no. Some aren't even allowed hardcover books because of the potential for weapons and/or self-injury.

*** He would most likely make life hell for her simply by making it ''really cold'' in her cell. Plants freeze and die in the winter, after all.
*** But then it's still lethal...
*** The guards would remember how Poison Ivy and Bane killed a number of their fellow guards when they busted Freeze out. They probably would enjoy watching her squirm.
*** [[FridgeBrilliance Come to think of it,]] it ''is'' Gotham after all. The guards are probably all violent, sadistic lowlifes who got a job there because a mafia don is paying off the administration. Those two guards Ivy killed looked pretty shady.
*** The Novelization has Freeze say that he used some of his diamonds to bribe the Arkham guards to let him in for just long enough to kill her.
** Batman promised Freeze he'd have his wife moved to the Arkham labs so he could continue his research to cure her, meaning he's be walking between his cell and the labs constantly. Freeze needed a 50 below zero environment to survive; no-one else could survive at such a temperature, and his suit was his only means to walk around freely AND stay at 50 below, so if he was to continue his research, he would need his suit.
* Why would Batman guarantee his own exposure with a bat credit joke?

*** Or it was a joke.

** It's completely possible that the card doesn't trace back to an individual person. It's not uncommon for businesses and organizations have bank or credit cards the same as a personal account would, and with Batman's trademark resourcefulness, money could change hands a dozen times between Bruce or Wayne Enterprises and "the Batman Fund."

* How exactly was Freeze hoping to freeze the whole world with his ray cannon? Even if we assume that it has infinite range, the ray is straight and ''the world is round''. Meaning he could only fire it as long as the horizon. If I'm not mistaken, for the telescope standing, say, a hundred meters high, it would make 50 kilometers or so. And that is, of course, if nobody simply sends a bomber and blast the telescope. With a bomb. Which he has no protection from. I know, it will sound a tad redundant, but that was the stupidest EvilPlan ever!

*** Wouldn't the beam freeze the mirrors themselves? Even if it wouldn't, it took him several minutes to freeze one city in his immedieate vicinity. How long did he hope to remain unchecked before somebode just launches a missile at him?

** Given Ivy probably knows squat about how the cryochamber works, actually killing Nora would have been more trouble than its worth. The cops were already raiding the place, so it's not like Freeze could go back and see if Ivy was telling the truth.
*** Actually Ivy states that she "pulled Nora's plug" and we see her do just that. It seems she did intend on killing her and simply thought that while unplugged Nora would die or drown (clearly she had to be fumbling around with the body as she swiped her pendant). Ivy meant to kill her, but Batman managed to save her in time.

** At first this seems like a really big plot hole, until you realise one major thing: this was marketed as a family film, so do you ''really'' think they would make Poison Ivy kill Robin? (Even if it still makes almost no sense)
** there are a few reasons for this, even if they are a bit of a stretch. First, this was the first time someone had survived Ivy's kiss and she was outsmarted by Robin. He tricked her into revealing her plan, and to add insult to injury he basically stole a kiss from her. She was too angry and humiliated to think straight and shoved him to let out her anger. Also, she appears to be NotGoodWithRejection. When Batman resisted her charms she tried to have Bane kill him so she could focus on Robin. Since Robin revealed he's seen through her charms she "breaks up with him" by shoving him into the pond to drown him instead of just kissing him again.

*** Mr. Freeze would be an expert on the RuleOfCool.
*** Slippers aren't going to do much since his mutated body doesn't radiate heat. The reason warm clothes or blankets work is that your own body heat is now being produced in a tighter environment where it has no place to go but back through your skin.

** A better question is: Why ''didn't'' they find out? It was such an obvious hideout, you'd have to be stupid not to realize he was in there.

** Batman was talking out of his ass. Of course such a small rocket with no warhead wouldn't destroy Gotham. It would've just been a chunk of metal falling down. Sure, there'd some damage, but definitely not city-wide.
** It wasn't Freeze's plan at all. The rocket was for a quick escape (though he didn't really seem to need it; that tank it came out of ''picks him up'' from his landing sight.) Freeze simply recklessly disregarded the rocket in favor of the glider and like stated above, Batman exaggerated the theoretical damage.

* Poison Ivy was sitting in her chair/plant when she kisses Robin. She fights him and Batman. Then Batgirl comes in and they fight. Batgirl pushes her into the chair/plant which eats her... No reason was given as to why her chair just ate her...
** One of two things happened: When simply lounging inside the plant, Poison Ivy didn't put enough pressure on its trigger mechanism to close it, but when she fell into it, the mechanism triggered and, like a perfect reflex action, the plant closed instinctively. Another possible reason is that Poison Ivy simply lost control of the plant due to being beaten up from the fight and her mind being otherwise occupied.
** Ivy wanted her plants to gain the strength and intelligence of animals, so that they would hate all humans and could defend themselves against the harms of mankind. While Ivy fought Batgirl, the plants' intellect reached maturity, so when she fell in, the flower throne, [[GoneHorriblyRight recognizing her as a human]], and/or [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness without any more need from the human that raised them]], [[TheStarscream turned on their mother]].

** Well, in real life, Venus Flytraps release digestive enzymes to break down their prey after they’ve been captured. Could be it was trying to do that to Poison Ivy (if she designed that thing to eat humans, pretty sure its digestive fluids would be quite potent). It would explain her dishelved appearance later (being partially digested alive wouldn't be pleasant I imagine). As for why that wasn’t shown…maybe the special effects team couldn’t get it to look right without looking obscene, so just cut after the plant trapped her

* If this version of Mr.Freeze can survive outside of his suit as long as it's freezing cold in the surrounding area, why doesn't he move to Antarctica, so he'll never have to wear it (the implication seems to be it's really unpleasant to wear)?

* If this version of Mr.Freeze can survive outside of his suit as long as it's freezing cold in the surrounding area, why doesn't he move to Antarctica, so he'll never have to wear it (the implication seems to be it's really unpleasant to wear)?

*** Can't say I actually disagree with them on this one, honestly.

** Some power switches, like the ones on ''very'' early computers, do require a key. They would go on a panel, right next to the "ON" switch. The key locks it in the OFF position.

* Gordon has ''keys'' to the Bat-Signal. Actually not a bad idea. But it does raise the question: where would the keys even go on a giant searchlight? Is there a locked safety over the lever or something?

** Better question is: what DID happened there? The plant clearly didn't ''actually'' eat her - she's physically fine later. Hell, it didn't even have anything to eat her ''with'' - there was just a cushion in the middle and some petals that served as a cover. Why would them closing around her suddenly send her thrashing and wailing, and turn her into a complete wreck? It really looked less like it (tried to) eat her and more like it... violated her. I'm sorry, but WTF?

* Bruce adds a credit card to Wayne Financial, in the name of Batman, with no expiry date, and a bit of obfuscation, which draws on his own considerable finances, or a ghost account in the name of Batman. As far as the credit card company is concerned, the transaction is valid, and money is paid to the seller.

* Bruce adds a credit card to Wayne Financial, in the name of Batman, with no expiry date, and a bit of obfuscation, which draws on his own considerable finances, or a ghost account in the name of Batman. As far as the credit card company is concerned, the transaction is valid, and money is paid to the seller.

* Something I've wondered ever since I read the AgonyBooth review: near the end when Batman is reprogramming the satellite, he types on this keyboard with a really weird layout (he claims the top row reads “UWCARNYDLO”) and wonders what the hell it's called. I have looked and haven't found any examples of that layout online. Was it just some weird futuristic type keyboard prop?

* Bruce adds a credit card to Wayne Financial, in the name of Batman, with no expiry date, and a bit of obfuscation, which draws on his own considerable finances, or a ghost account in the name of Batman. As far as the credit card company is concerned, the transaction is valid, and money is paid to the seller.

* Even when I first saw this film as a ten-year-old, this bugged me: Why was Mr Freeze carrying around two vials of Macgregor's syndrome medicine in his suit? What possible use could he have for them? Did he know Batman was going to ask for them?

** Why wouldn't he allow her to wear what she wants? And she could do all kinds of things from dealing with the finances to doing food runs.

* This is a minor one, but what purpose does Freeze's henchgirl (Vivica A. Fox) serve? She doesn't strike me as a fighter. Why would Freeze keep her around? Also, if he's still faithful to his wife, why allow a woman in skimpy clothes to walk around in your lair. Not going to question how she isn't freezing to death in her outfit.

* This is minor, but what purpose does Freeze's henchgirl (Vivica A. Fox) serve? She doesn't strike me as a fighter. Why would Freeze keep her around?

** A deleted scene from ''Film/BatmanForever'' deals with Harvey escaping Arkham. The outfit could be from the previous time he was caught.

*** What feral women? All I could see in that scene was a man and woman that had a chain connecting their collars. Were they before that part and I just missed it?

** The whole thing would be ''almost'' acceptable if he, as in Batman, as in ''the only man in the world with technology that can reverse the effects of the freeze ray'', had stayed around to thaw out the frozen guests instead of leaving it to a clueless Gordon.

** Also, please note that he calls himself "Mr Freeze" instead of "Dr Fries". He feels that he has disgraced his profession and won't use his title of Doctor.

*** A "first step" momento.