The Batman - Review Thread

I remember a lot of people saying about Dark Knight Rises 'there's no reason a Batman movie needs to be 2 hours 45 minutes.' I like long movies as much as any film buff so long as it's justified and I gotta say the runtime is a bit concerning. I'm still seeing though, hopefully Saturday but I'm being cautiously optimistic.

Yea Kurt Cobain would fucking love to sell his art to Warner bros. Courtney love still sucks.

I'm not sure Battinson works. I don't think the emotional beats are really very well earned, it didn't really drag but it's certainly all 3 hours.

Jeffrey wright is the best, Alfred is pretty much wasted and useless, the music as fanible mentioned is just... A bit off. Some of the fights and some scenes are pretty great looking though, I still had a pretty good time, just felt like a little bit of wasted potential, it reminded me of the apes movies (duh) but in the way that they seem like they should be just really good and incredible but there's just something off about them, and they are simply not very warm or inviting at all, minimal charm.

Thought the 'funny' parts actually hit but it was also a little unintentionally funny at times, especially in the beginning.

Will definitely need to see it again to really get a better feel for it I think.

#itsokaytoeatfishcuztheydonthaveanyfeelings

Prob a 6/10. Not quite a dug it.

Going today. IMAX. 

This had me hook line and sinker for much of the film. For as much as I thought this iteration of Batman was going to be a rehash of the Nolan world, I have to admit, it feels very much like it’s own animal.

The film looks wonderful, as Reeves give us a rain drenched, neon sign, weary looking Gotham. Most of the score works for me, as the sounds really helped amplify the horror and tension of certain moments. Combined, these two areas of the film make The Batman stand out. 

Ultimately, I’m a fan of Pattinsons turn as the caped crusader. He may sulk a bit much, but that felt more a result of the script than anything else. He also has a pretty vengeful streak, which works quite well with the theme of the film. He taps into some of these emotions with ease, and his rage feels natural. 

The rest of the cast is mostly strong, notably Kravitz and Wright. They have great chemistry with Pattinson, and with the 3 hour runtime, are given room to breath. Most of the characters feel realized enough within the world that Reeves is building. 

The introduction to both Batman and Batmobile are the two of the best moments. Perfect amount of buildup and tension, as I anticipated both with a child like glee. And I didn’t think I’d feel that way. Batman is always a character intended to strike fear in his enemies eyes, but it’s really felt here, at least during the films high points. 

The first hour and a half or so runs pretty smoothly, and is really well paced. I think the longer it goes though, the more it gets dragged down. Clearly this a film committed to its world building, and it wants the audience to feel a certain way. With all its rain soaked grittiness and moody characters, it certainly works. But it also feels like a chore the longer it goes. 

I don’t think all the emotional beats work as well. As much as I loved the cast, the dynamic between Alfred and Batman didn’t hit as it should. That storyline also felt all too familiar between the two. I think this is where the script and dialogue end up hurting some of the film. It can be a little too exposition heavy, and as a result feel clunky. 

The Batman is not what most people would call an origin story, however, as the film moves along, there is a familiar arc the character has to take. At some point, Batman has to be less about pure vengeance and lean more into the watchful protector of a broken, corrupt city. That’s fine, that’s the characters ethos after all. However, I’m not sure that arc is fully realized here. 

While a lot of The Batman does a great job of setting itself apart from its predecessors, you do start to wonder how familiar it might feel in the long run. Again, this does more than enough to separate itself from the Nolanverse, but here and there you feel like this is taking some of its cues from that trilogy.

All in all though, a pretty fun experience. As I mentioned earlier, the film looks incredible, and there are multiple still shots throughout that blew me away. The scenes in the night club were awesome, and well choreographed. You want to see Batman angry, kicking ass, taking names, and that he does. Pattinson brings that with ease. He might not be the best Bats, but he leaves his mark.

This fucking ruled.

I'm about as far left as can be but I was thinking maybe the far right has a point... We got the Batman crying holding hands with Alfred, and James bond gets weak in the knees when he sees a sexual conquest in a hallway.

Bit soy boy ish if I'm honest.

But we can turn it around. Right? Right...?

*impatiently awaiting PhantomKnight*

When the trailer first came out, I noticed how the music was similar to the Empire theme from Star Wars.

When I first began typing out this review, I started with a sweeping statement on how certain characters and stories have been told for so many years and have been successful because their themes and ideas never stop feeling timely. I was going to bring all of this around to Batman, because Batman is of course one of the most iconic characters ever and has spawned more literature, movies, and more than maybe any other. Batman has always had this unique appeal, despite the brooding cynicism that generally surrounds him (though that's a huge part of the appeal), and it's led to several interpretations and depictions and everyone has a sort of line in the sand of which of those they like best and which they hate. And then I realized that the latest iteration of the character, The Batman, didn't waste time crafting an origin story - thank goodness - and assumed we're all highly familiar with the character and let's get on with the show, a brilliant decision that pays off instantly. And so I thought, why should my review circle around the character that everyone knows about and waste time getting to the actual analysis? While there have certainly been a staggering number of content around the character, we haven't seen the version of the character on the big screen that we're treated to with The Batman. Director Matt Reeves has crafted the Batman film that I personally have always wanted to see; it's a movie much more steeped in reality that eschews the gadgetry and glamour and goes all in on a detective story peeling back corruption. There's still big action pieces, villains, and every hallmark staple fans expect from a Batman movie. This isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but that's not what we want either. We like our tropes, hence why we're seeing yet another version of this character, but I think everyone can agree that this is quite the departure nonetheless. I found The Batman to be wholly engrossing, thrilling, mysterious, heavy on Batman and light on Bruce Wayne, all plusses in my book that make The Batman a fascinating blockbuster that I'm already eager to view again.

There's so much to discuss about The Batman and so many that will offer takes on it all, so I figure I'll start with the character himself. The opening of The Batman is a brilliant one; the bat signal hits the sky and in film noir voiceover narration, Robert Pattinson describes how Gotham is a big city and he can't be there to prevent all crime. This is overlayed against images of various crimes being committed throughout the city, and when they see the signal all of these criminals instantly scatter. Pattinson discusses what the symbol represents, and I love that the signal alone is a deterrent to crime and also a fantastic introduction to a character we know in and out as a terrifying entity of...vengeance (couldn't help myself). One of these events though takes place on a train, where a group of thugs with face paint on (it's Halloween) attempt to mug a man. Batman (Robert Pattinson) emerges from the darkness in one of the coolest entrances a protagonist has ever made, and dispatches the bad guys. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the film to follow, and I was absolutely hooked from this moment on and fascinated by the Gotham that Reeves and his team created. The rain soaked streets reminded me of Blade Runner, but there's also a lot of sepia-inspired looks that made me think of Lars Von Trier's underrated debut, The Element of Crime. And those are some ripe comparisons for The Batman, which for the first time of these many movies feels like a mystery and the action is made secondary. No, I don't think that the film has anything profound to say about corruption nor should some of the twists and turns be viewed as earth shattering, but it's another departure that makes The Batman stand out from the others that have come before it. There's something afoul in Gotham, and it doesn't just irk Batman but truly eats away at him. He's not a detective for hire or a gumshoe that's gotten in over his head. This is his home and he feels emboldened to do something about it.

Pattinson himself performs a fascinating portrayal of the duel characters. Most of the film he's Batman - another departure from other films which split the ratio more along 60-40 at best - and we can see the confidence, the devotion, the resiliency with which he pursues the plot points. When he's Bruce Wayne, he walks with a slouched gait, unsure and uneasy in his suit and nice clothes and being the reclusive celebrity of Gotham. We don't see lavish parties, or boardroom meetings, or charity events. Reeves smartly knows that these moments in past films have hardly shed much interesting light and are big time wasters attempting to tide us over with Bruce Wayne business while we eagerly await getting back to Batman. They're unnecessary, and thankfully you won't find them in The Batman. Bruce Wayne's world is a crumbling one that he doesn't attend to. The family's fortune could be running out, and he could care less. He's come to the decision - realization? - that as Bruce Wayne he's limited in what he can do to save Gotham, but as Batman the possibilities are endless. That he can inspire real change by donning the cape and cowl. I found this to be one of the movie's most brilliant stances, and more importantly it's absolutely what motivates Pattinson's Batman to go to the lengths that he does. In other films, we're getting good performances of the duality of Batman and Bruce Wayne. In The Batman, we're seeing that Bruce Wayne is a hollow shell and the real person that can change the world is Batman. Great stuff. Another element I loved is the presence that Batman has. Early in the film, Batman is called to the crime scene of the first victim of The Riddler (Paul Dano). All of the cops save for Lieutenant Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) are visibly disturbed by his presence. They move around him, can't look him in the eyes, and all revile him as a freak that's interfering with the structure of law and order. Batman has always been viewed as a vigilante outcast, but there's a repulsion from others towards him in The Batman that I really appreciated.

The Batman does take its time world building and bouncing around across a large cast of characters, but like all filmmakers who do this well Reeves makes all of this pay off in big ways and the movie feels far more immersive than Gothams in the past. There's a real sense of dread and tension that the movie is able to sustain in large part to fleshing out the city, and that's impressive given the film's near three hour running time. Nowhere feels safe and secure - not even Wayne Manor - and when more of the terrorism elements of Riddler's plan come to light we get a Gotham completely on the edge of collapse. It's a nightmarish vision of it that we have only seen from Nolan's Batman Begins, and in many regards The Batman takes all of this quite a bit further. A lot has been made of the film being PG-13 and not R, but thankfully aside from some dealings with The Riddler this movie doesn't pull any punches. Its tone is a grimly fascinating one, the action is grounded but thrillingly performed - that car chase in traffic was fantastic - and there's plenty of allusions to some nasty underlying happenings going on.

Some final random thoughts: the editing was incredible. It's clear that Reeves and his team got a lot of coverage of everything and some fantastic shots to boot, so assembling all of this had to be a daunting task and it's one handled brilliantly by the team of William Hoy and Tyler Nelson. The pacing of a film as long as this one is crucial, and this was some of the best editing I've seen done in a blockbuster film in a long time. Greg Fraiser is a phenomenal cinematographer whose work just recently wowed in Dune last year, and he's outdone himself again with The Batman. Brilliant lighting designs, excellent use of rain and atmosphere, and those gorgeous sepia-looking shots are the exact representation of what I expect a Batman film at its grittiest to look like. He's one of the best in the game for a reason, and he might have just exceeded his reputation here. The rest of the cast is really strong, but I was very surprised by how good Zoe Kravtiz was as Selina Kyle. She nails the femme fatale role while also being more than just mysterious eye candy, and she and Pattinson play extremely well off of one another. Paul Dano as Riddler does well, though he doesn't really steal the show like Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson did in their respective roles. Still, I liked their take on his character being basically a misanthropic incel instead of some giggling buffoon like a lot of the interpretations of his character have that usually left me with the view that he was a second rate Joker and not much else. 

There's so much more than I can get into about this movie, and it's one that I expect to be revisiting and enjoying more on a repeat viewing. There are some cinematic experiences that stand out to us, where we have this visceral reaction of letting the goosebumps take over and sitting back in amazement at what's unfolding onscreen. The Batman was one of these for me. I was instantly swept up in its style and interpretation of the character, as well as Reeves' smart decision to not make this reboot jump through the usual hoops that most do. It felt like I was pushed into the middle of a movie that already did all the tired exposition and introductions and now we're just going to start at where it's interesting. It's a method that I know not all stories can utilize, but I would absolutely like to see more creative character crafting and world building from other comic book adaptations after The Batman was able to successfully move past most of it and not miss a beat. 

8/10

Save your money for Morbius.

The Batman(3/7/2021)
Remember when Batman movies were rare and each new film seemed like an event? I remember that, and I must say I’m coming to kind of miss it. In theory the newest Batman reboot, The Batman, is the first solo movie about the caped crusader since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises but in-between we’ve gotten two major movies with Batman fighting as part of a team (one of them released in two different forms), one high profile movie about his greatest villain, three movies in the Suicide Squad-verse (which is fairly intertwined with Gotham), a live action TV series (“Gotham”), several animated films and shows, several video games, a Lego movie… there’s been a lot. On some level maybe it’s my fault for watching all this stuff, like someone who gorges on a ridiculous amount of ice cream for a week and then lashes out when someone invites them to go get more ice cream, but at the same time Warner Brothers has been pushing all this stuff and I’m not going to apologize for taking them up on it. It’s a bit of a contrast with what Marvel does, which is certainly culturally omnipresent in terms of the overall brand but they are pretty diligent about carefully doling out their specific characters in reasonable portions so that you don’t get sick of them individually as quickly. By contrast Warner Brothers/DC seems to know Batman is their one most consistent performer so they just give us version after version of Gotham over and over. Of course it kind of sucks that I’m coming to feel this way right when one of their most ambitious Batman films hits theaters, and that movie’s trailer was just cool enough to make be pretty pumped to give it a chance.

This is not a sequel to any previous iteration of Batman but it’s also not exactly another origin story. In comics parlance this is a “year two” story that begins with Batman (Robert Pattinson) already being an established vigilante in Gotham City but still early in his crime fighting career and the public isn’t really sure what to make of him. He faces his greatest challenge as the film starts when Gotham’s mayor, Don Mitchell Jr. ( Rupert Penry-Jones), is assassinated by an elusive killer calling himself the Riddler (Paul Dano) who leaves intentional clues at the scene to taunt the police and Batman. Soon other officials start being killed as well and Riddler starts releasing videos to the public suggesting his victims were all part of some sort of vast citywide conspiracy. This will force Batman to coordinate with Detective Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to investigate some of the mob leaders running crime in the city like Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and his right hand man Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) to figure out what this conspiracy is and cut off Riddler and one of the strongest leads is the suspected murder of a woman named Annika Koslov (Hana Hrzic), whose roommate just happens to be a skilled cat bugler named Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) who while investigating that death finds she has common cause with Batman.

At this point it is perhaps a bit stale to compliment a Batman movie for taking a “dark” and “gritty” approach to the character but… this movie is certainly pretty damn dark though perhaps a bit less gritty than some of the previous adaptations. Where The Dark Knight trilogy leaned into trying to make some of the comic book insanity of the character fit within the template of more familiar action movie tropes this one leans a bit more into giving the movie the feel of a comic book. Not necessarily a silver age comic book like what the Marvel movies are drawing on or the edgelord comics of the 80s but more like the feel of contemporary comic books that are a bit more nonchalant with their darkness and are characterized by a bit of glossiness in the art. In terms of story this is plainly drawing on the classic comic book limited series “The Long Halloween.” It doesn’t have the holiday jumping element of that book and doesn’t involve the two-face character, but like that series it’s a “year two” story that sort of explains how Gotham’s mob families lost control giving way to the criminal supervillains Batman would become more famous for fighting and like that series it delves into the question of whether Thomas Wayne was everything he was cracked up to be.

In place of Two Face the film uses a version of The Riddler who is depicted as a sort of serial killer with delusions of fomenting revolution by revealing Gotham’s dark secrets. I… have some mixed feelings about this take on the character. The Riddler is historically a character about the dark side of intelligence, a sort of dark mirror image of the “nerd” comic book reader who has become so smug about his own intelligence that he builds these elaborate crime plans to prove how smart he is to the world. On some level this Riddler has shades of that but he’s a lot angrier and his scheme is more of a sincere if twisted crusade than an exercise in ego presentation. Also, while the traditional Riddler is not above killing it’s not his raison d'etre while this guy is rather actively targeting murdering people in fairly sadistic and attention getting ways to start off his crime spree which is presented as a sort of PG-13 version of a Saw movie and once we learn more about him he starts to resemble the killer from Se7en almost to the point of plagiarism and by the end of the film he’s almost just a barking lunatic who does not exactly seem capable of the elaborate planning and coordination that’s required to bring about the evil scheme that eventually unfolds.

Having said all that I mostly did like Paul Dano’s performance in that role, which is saying something because I’m usually not that into Dano’s work. Dude certainly dedicates himself to what he’s doing. In fact I’d say a lot of the acting in this is quite good. Colin Ferrell is really fun as this mobbed up take on The Penguin where he’s caked in makeup to the point of near unrecognizability but does manage to make some real energy come out from under all that just the same. The villains are rounded out by John Turturro as the gangster Carmine Falcone, who isn’t exactly stretching himself here but is certainly has some nice touches, particularly his understated delivery of a key speech late in the film. On the other side of the law I quite dug Jeffrey Wright as Gordon and Peter Sarsgaard does some good work as Gotham’s not very trustworthy district attorney. Andy Serkis is here as the film’s version of Alfred, who does a good job but I wouldn’t say it’s the most interesting or memorable take on this familiar character. Then there’s Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman who is just incredibly striking pretty much every time you see her on screen. Her take on the character is well in line to the antihero quasi-love interest version of the character that’s been in vogue as of late. We saw a similar take from Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises but this version is a bit more “punk rock” down to Kravitz’ short Halsey-esque haircut and general body language.

Having said that, I’m not exactly sure that catwoman was entirely necessary to this story. I would miss Kravitz’ take on the character but we’re dealing with a movie that’s nearly three hours and while I’m not inherently opposed to that I do think this particular movie does feel a tad bloated, which is exacerbated by having something of a false ending about forty minutes from the end and it’s the Catwoman material that, more than anything else, feels like a needless appendage on top of the story rather than an intrinsic element within it. I would also say that I’m not sure I can get behind the political undercurrents of all this. On the positive side, I think there’s value to a movie about questioning the histories of certain heroes (in this case Batman’s father, Thomas Wayne) and whether they were as virtuous as they claimed, which is useful in a time when the legacies of so many past historical figures are having their legacies re-evaluated. On the other hand I’m less interested in getting behind something that argues that the entire establishment is corrupt and all the “elites” are colluding, as The Riddler is trying to expose given how much damage similar outlandish populist conspiracy theories (like the one involving the seventeenth letter of the alphabet) have done as of late. Obviously this attitude is being put into the mouth of a villain, but the movie only really questions his methods, not his mission and he’s more or less vindicated as correct about most of what he’s trying to expose.

So, I have some issues with this movie but I kind of knew when I started this review that it was going to end up seeming more negative sounding than my overall feelings about the movie actually are. My the record show that I do in fact like this movie quite a bit, if this had come out before superhero and specifically Batman movies were overexposed beyond belief (say, in the summer of 2008) I would have probably been over the moon about it. But I think I’ve become a bit jaded through overexposure and I may well have just gotten up on the wrong side of the bed the day I saw it because I just do not have that palpable sense of excitement that this should theoretically be giving me. Minute to minute much of Matt Reeves’ filmmaking here is extremely impressive. Some of the action scenes are a bit choppily editing, but they’re accentuated by some really cool moments that make up for this. Gotham looks better than ever between Greig Fraser nicely amber brown cinematography and production design that gives the city more of a modern New York appearance than what we’ve mostly gotten out of modern Batman adaptations. I also appreciated what Robert Pattinson was able to do with the character, especially when he was in costume and taking part in fights. I think if they had just given Batman a bit more of a break before making this I would have been more excited but Warner Brothers apparently can’t afford breaks anymore.

**** out of Five