What a lovely girl…
Okay… this character has come up quite a few times during the past, including one proposal that was discovered to be plagiarized, then another which got her up again. However, after finally watching this, I'm afraid to say that her problems are impossible for her to stay here despite being the most vile incarnation of her yet. With that being said, let’s begin!
Permission has been granted by The Pro-Wrestler. Thanks buddy!
What's the Work?[]
Batman & Robin is a disaster of epic proportions made in 1997, directed by the late Joel Schumacher. Starting a different guy (George Clooney) in the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, this… glorious failure has him and Robin/Dick Grayson get into nasty arguments about teamwork and family while showing off random gimmicks throughout (The costumes have visible nipples and there are special credit cards) the movie as three new supervillains come to wreck Gotham: Dr. Victor Fries, also known as MR. FREEZE! (Arnold Schwarzenegger delivering some of the best-worst lines in cinematic history) "What killed the dinosaurs?! THE ICE AGE!" and Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman trying her absolute best to create a dazzling yet utterly wicked seductress with a obsession over plants), seeking to ultimately destroy Gotham and the world with mutant plants reshaping the Earth while Freeze also wanting to find a cure for his terminally ill wife, Nora Fries. And last but not least, Bane… who isn’t given much to do besides being a horrendously watered down stupid muscle who can mainly only do grunts. That's not all! Barbara Wilson/Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone delivering an unusually serious performance compared to mostly everyone else) is also there to see her dying uncle aka Alfred Pennyworth. She later discovers Batman and Robin's secrets and decides to take on a mantle herself and alongside Batman and Robin, try and prevent the villains’ desires from coming to fruition.
Who is Poison Ivy?[]
Dr. Pamela Isley is introduced in a laboratory trying once again to make the orchid and rattlesnake breed, only for it to sadly fail. The reason why is that Isley seeks vengeance against men for harming plants so she wants them to fight back. Isley is also bitter against Dr. Woodrue for whisking her venom, which she planned to use on the plants and taking it to his personal Gilgamesh Wing. Nevertheless, Isley decides to go to Woodrue, only to be appalled by him experimenting on people such as Antonio Diego to create an army of super soldiers, even going as far as to call him a monster and a psycho. Woodrue however spots Isley and Isley gets shoved into her own poisons and toxins, hoping to bury her six feet under. After Woodrue finds a winning bidder for Antonio/Bane, the ground suddenly shakes and out comes… someone new. Ivy. Ivy tells Woodrue she has changed and pulls him close, to kiss his lips, which contains venom. It ends up killing him. Ivy notices a bottle with Wayne Enterprises' logo and decides to head out alongside Bane on a trip by hijacking Woodrue's vehicle.
Ivy disguises as her old self while Bane drives her and him to Gotham Observatory. Ivy is caught by security but is taken to Wayne, who learns that she was from a project in South America and that he declined the funding due to Woodrue. Ivy brings Wayne papers demanding that Wayne stop any and all actions that harm the environment, citing that people are murdering Mother Nature. Wayne refuses, saying that the lives of innocents are far more important. Angry at this, Ivy warns the people that plants and flowers will strike back and kill them all, and yet… they laugh back at her. Wayne however giver her an invite to a ball with Batman and Robin to auction a diamond to raise cash and awareness for the gardens. Ivy takes it, but secretly vows to take over Gotham.
Ivy dresses up at the gala as a gorilla and demonstrates her seductive poses to the crowd, introducing herself to the announcer and to Batman and Robin. Ivy used her charm to entrance Robin/Dick Grayson. Turns out it was a distraction for Mr. Freeze to invade the gala and start attacking the participants, including freezing some. Ivy also steals the Heart of Isis, but gives it to Freeze who promptly leaves. Ivy looks at a snow globe and declares Freeze to be a God, she and Bane (who was in the other gorilla costume) leave to strike back later.
Ivy talks to Bane that the dust on Batman and Robin was ineffective but then discovers a Turkish bath and allows Bane to destroy the boards. Ivy discovers a small gang and unleashes Bane on them, making them flee. Ivy rebuilds their place and plans to use Freeze as her accomplice. Ivy sees Wayne and his girlfriend Julie on a date and nearly sabotages it by making Wayne call Julie "Ivy". As Freeze sits in his prison cell reminiscing about his wife Nora, having been defeated earlier, Ivy is let in pretending to be her sister, then offs two security guards. Ivy and Freeze discuss talks about a partnership as the rest of the cops break in, forcing the two to hop out. Freeze retrieving the diamonds while Ivy and Bane visit Nora.
Ivy uses the dust again on Batman and Robin as they fight off Bane, but Batman corners Ivy as he demands the location of Freeze. Unfortunately, Ivy has Bane grab him, only warning him not to make much of a mess as he tries squeezing the life out of Batman. Ivy fully convinces Robin to battle against Batman as she tries giving him a poisoned kiss as she bids the heroes bye before she and Bane escape. Ivy goes to Nora. Consumed by petty jealousy, Ivy decides to cut her life support just as she’s currently being kept alive by being suspended in a tube, Freeze's ultimate goal is to find a cure for her Magregor’s syndrome. Ivy blatantly doesn’t care about that. Ivy lies to Freeze by saying Batman ended her life.
Ivy manages to convince Freeze to freeze Gotham, and then the world so that she can repopulate the planet with mutant plants with only Freeze and her remaining. "Adam… and EVIL!" Ivy hijacks the demonstration of Wayne/Batman's telescope by getting the keys from Commissoner Gordon, who she nearly kills. Ivy sees the Batsignal on the rooftop and has Bane lift it up for the sky to see. Freeze attempts to demonstrate his engine by using the telescope. Batman confronts Robin and warns him that Ivy is scheming to kill her by luring him out, and so Robin trusts him again. Ivy meets up with Robin at her lair and lets slip of her and Freeze’s plans, and then they kiss. When Ivy mocks/taunts Robin of his impending fate, Robin reveals that he was warning rubber lips. A deadly glare flashes on Ivy's face, as she shoves Robin into a pool and traps him with the plants in a desperate effort to make him drown. Ivy is then faced off with Batman as she says "So many people to kill, so little time”. When all hope looks lost, Barbara/Batgirl breaks a window and drops down on Ivy. Ivy reveals to Batgirl she was the one who terminated Nora's life support, but Batgirl kicks her into her own flytrap, as she yells ”Curses"! Leaving only Freeze left for the heroes prevent him from freezing the city within eleven minutes. Batman manages to sway Freeze by revealing him the truth of what Ivy did to Nora while they also manage to defeat Bane. Ivy is last seen in Arkham Asylum. picking a flower: "He loves me, he loves me not". Only for Freeze to reveal to a shocked Ivy that he had arranged to be her cellmate, promising to make her suffer during her time there as vengeance. "Prepare for a bitter harvest. Winter… has come at last".
Why does Ivy need to be cut?[]
Now, I have decided to make this it's own section. I'm not going to sugarcoat it but there are a few other nasty villains within the movie series:
The Joker for example is responsible for Batman existing to begin with. As Jack Napier, he killed off Bruce Wayne's parents with a gun, but also comes seconds close to shooting Bruce as well before he was forced to flee when his partner-in-crime, Bob, informs him of the squad. Resurfacing as Joker after another confrontation with Wayne years later sees him plunge into a vat of toxic chemicals, he systematically targets the Mafia leaders to become the number-one criminal, and produces a deadly gas he brands Smylex to test on civilians on the streets. Joker also brutally cuts his lover, Alicia Hunt's face open and depending on what happens next she either is driven to kill herself or Joker just decides to murder and dumping her corpse before immediately using news reporter Vicki Vale for his own pleasures, eventually coming up with a scheme that would result in a huge chunk of Gotham City's population die an agonizing death with Smylex by hijacking the 200th anniversary parade and, getting annoyed with Bob's failures, resorts to getting rid of him before attempting to finish off both Batman and Vale.
The Penguin meanwhile decides to have his minions kidnap every baby in Gotham City and have them thrown into the waters to drown while also sinking his teeth to an advisor over his ugly appearance, launching bullets over many people gathered into an event for rightfully betraying him, including Catwoman when he tries to get her to date him and even his own conspirator Max Shreck (although he’s a sniveling coward so that’s partially justified). Despite that, all indications point to him being tragic, having been ungratefully tossed out by his parents years ago and given a heartfelt send-off by the penguins at the climax when he perishes.
The Riddler and Two-Face are overall the least heinous but they still get up to a lot. Edward Nygma/The Riddler has Fred Sickley, his former boss fall to his death and presented it as though he killed himself, while also working with Two-Face (more on him soon) on threatening an entire circus and it’s his plan to brainwash Gotham City's population with The Box, and in the finale he cruelly tries to make Batman choose who to spare: Robin, or his girlfriend Chase Madison. Meanwhile, Two-Face breaks out of prison to rob a bank, putting a security guard's life at risk before coldly gunning down a pilot and pushing his body out in an attempt to kill Batman, then threatening to explode a circus and personally killed Robin's parents, trying to dispose of him and Chase later and barely restraining himself from murdering Riddler on the spot when he met him. That being said, both are very comedic and are legitimately insane.
And here’s where it finishes. Poison Ivy murders quite a few people, from Woodrue to police officers, slowly corrupts Robin, and spitefully unplugs Nora's cable from her tube, all in order for Mr. Freeze to snap and destroy all life on Earth except for them both, with Ivy showing no real concern about plants except when it suits her so that she can alter them and recreate the Earth in her own image. She also tries to finish off the heroes. Her plot is by far the worst in scale so thus she easily passes the heinous standards.
Comedy isn’t much of an issue either. Despite making quips, sexy gestures, and earlier being made fun of by a crowd during her act as Isley, she's viewed as a dangerous threat by Batman, Robin, and Batgirl and her scheme would entail the death of billions across the globe. So she gets an easy check here.
We get it, Pixarfan1234! What is the reason she should be removed?!
Alright, alright! Brace yourselves, folks. The reason why I'm talking her to be cut is…
Moral Agency.
When we are first introduced to Isley, she's visibly shown to be disgusted by Woodrue's experiments to the point that she literally threatens to report the authorities on him for perverting her research and it’s only after she takes the gruesome chemical bath that was literally designed to murder her that she suddenly acts like a megalomaniacal vamp. To the point where she says, and I quote:
"Hello, Jason. I think I've had a change of heart. Quite literally. The animal-plant toxins had a rather unique effect on me. They replaced my blood with aloe, my skin with chlorophyll, and filled my lips... with venom. Oh, and Jason, one other thing. I probably should've mentioned this earlier. I'm poison."
There’s just no way this can be interpreted as anything other than her entire body, including her own mind being essentially altered. It’s an irreversible transformation from the initially well-meaning scientist with a moral conscience. As if to draw a contrast, Joker also went through a similar mutation, but he was clearly and bluntly shown as a crooked villain from the start and all it did was to bring out the true extent of his evil more. Ivy on the other hand is demonstrated as to have went insane from her experience. Thus, I can only say that she lacks the clear sapience needed in order to be Pure Evil.
Final Verdict?[]
What killed Ivy's Pure Evil status? HER MORAL AGENCY ISSUES!
Cut.