The Batman - Review Thread

It's good it was cut. Too blunt on the movies Bruce themes.

That being said, I think it's a good Joker performance. I just hope they hold him on earnest until after the next movie. Give me some different rogues, man.

Decent performance. Way too mutilated for the Joker, though.

Finally got down some full thoughts on this:

Ever since Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale's iteration of Batman, it feels like each on-screen representation of the character has gotten darker and darker, and one need only look at the opening sequence of Matt Reeves' The Batman to see that trend continue. But also, this deep into the character's pop culture status, there's the question of, "How do you offer up a unique interpretation of Batman at this point?" And Matt Reeves' answer is to place him at the center of a modern, noir-soaked, 70's-inspired detective story that simultaneously owes a lot to David Fincher's Se7en.

And I ate up damn near every minute of it.

Has Batman been overexposed in movies/media the past seventeen years? Possibly, but I'm decidedly not the right person to ask since he's my favorite superhero of all-time. So, if any filmmaker feels inspired to offer up a new take on him and his mythos, like this film, then I'm here for it. Because the bottom line is: The Batman is yet another compelling as hell take on The Caped Crusader. In broad strokes, one could say that this film owes a lot to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, but for real...this movie makes those look almost like Marvel movies by comparison in terms of tone. That's not me saying The Batman is better than The Dark Knight or even Batman Begins, but this is still a great film.

Matt Reeves' take is certainly different from others before it, in that it portrays Batman and Bruce Wayne in a way we haven't seen before. Normally, we're used to seeing the character in a more confident and heroic light, but here, he's still early into his career and still unsure of his ultimate place within Gotham. He's portrayed truly as a "Monster in the Shadows" that criminals straight-up fear, while he himself is much more vengeful than in other iterations and even emotionally stunted in a sense. It's without doubt on purpose that Robert Pattinson has much more screentime under the cowl than any other actor in the role before him, and that his Bruce Wayne displays the characteristics of an alien struggling to blend into society when he's out in public. And my God, is Pattinson great in this. It's a very quiet, reserved performance, yet one that totally makes sense once you consider the kind of person Batman really is. Especially at this point in his career. Pattinson communicates so much through measured/calculated lines of dialogue and just facial expressions alone, and I frankly think it's one of the best interpretations of the character we've gotten so far.

The rest of the cast is equally in top form, too. Zoe Kravitz is an alluring, tortured and mysterious Catwoman who perfectly compliments Pattinson's Batman, Jeffrey Wright occupies the right middleground between grizzled and hopeful as Jim Gordon (plus, he has an EXCELLENT buddy dynamic with Batman that I just loved), Colin Farrell literally disappears into his role as Penguin, John Turturro is snakelike as Carmine Falcone and Paul Dano is downright eerie and disturbing as The Riddler. Honing in on Dano for a moment, you can draw parallels between him and Heath Ledger's Joker, yeah, in terms of the way they integrate into their respective stories, but Dano's Riddler interpretation doesn't feel so far removed or out of left field in terms of the character's core essentials, and he's downright riveting. An interrogation scene between him and Batman late into the film is just mesmerizing.

Dano's Riddler also feeds into what Matt Reeves is doing tonally and stylistically with this film, and it's something he more than pulls off. In the comics, Batman is often given the moniker of "The World's Greatest Detective" and no movie has exemplified that more than The Batman. To be upfront, I don't know if I'd say that the film has a great mystery, per say, but rather that the process of Batman piecing together all the clues of Riddler's scheme really highlights a side of Batman that we haven't seen much of before and helps give the film a unique feel in the long run. This isn't an action movie, as like all other superhero movies; again, it's a gritty detective thriller where the detective just so happens to be Batman. And the plot is always actively engaging and the tone maintained. It's menacing and mysterious, yet totally exciting, even fairly grim. But Matt Reeves' conviction really sells that. He commits to the story he's telling, but also makes sure to offer up the entertainment value we've come to expect from superhero cinema. A car chase near the film's midway point is the highlight there; it truly plastered a big grin on my face. Oh, and Michael Giacchino's score is great as well.

If I have any qualms, it's that despite how compelling the movie is, you can certainly feel the near 3-hour runtime more than once, and the film could've stood to trim maybe fifteen minutes at the very least. The Third Act brings out that quality the most. But still, pound for pound, The Batman is a pretty awesome movie and definitely the kind of superhero movie we need to help stave off genre fatigue. Is it the best Batman movie to date? No, but it more than makes a case for itself and more than leaves an impact long after it's over.

****/****

Just watched this yesterday, I really enjoyed it. Probably could have done without the Joker tease (there are other villains, people) but overall everything seemed to work very well. Colin Farrell crushed it too.

I would kill a small child to look like this.

Marginally athletic high schooler still sounds good to me.

Pay me millions to be Batman and I shall.

It's like hiring timothee chalamet as your lead in an action movie. He's done 10 pushups in his life he's qualified for Batman too.

I’m deep into my 30’s. Best I can hope for is 1970’s Sean Connery.