When I decided to do a marathon of all the Batman movies that had been released in theaters, this decision came from not only trying to build anticipation for myself and others for this newest entry but tried to get a sense of how each individual Batman incarnation differentiate themselves for one another. Not only to see what each different version has brought to the table and to see what exactly the new one could do, but more of what each version has NOT brought to the table and what exactly could this new one bring that the other films have not. With a character that has gotten so much live-action films along with TONS of animated ones, you would think that you have milked the franchise long enough in movie form and be fresh all out of full cows. I’m not gonna go over how each single version of Batman has stood out as their own since I’ve done that several times throughout my Bat-athon but I’ve always made the case that it seems like each director’s goal was to make a stylish Batman that fit more with their overall vision than the source material. Which is honestly why I was the most curious when it was announced that Matt Reeves was going to helm a Batman movie, a director who’s filmography consists of 75% remakes, reboots, and sequels.
It wouldn’t be a mistake to compare Matt Reeves with the likes of say J.J. Abrams, a director who’s prime skillset as a filmmaker is mimicking the style and feel of other people’s movies/properties. Yet, there’s always a sense through Reeves’s films that he’s telling a story that feels familiar but also is able to tell it as if it’s the very first time that particular story has ever been told. These two directors also tend to have a different sense of goals. Whereas Abrams tends to aim making flashy, sugary, fast-paced movies that are entertaining on a surface level but nothing much else, Reeves tries to add a sense of depth with his own unique style, direction, and storytelling. That’s what made his superb Planet of the Apes movies stand out despite it’s similarities to other films and that’s also what makes The Batman stand out as well because of it.
The Batman really feels like the first time in live-action that a filmmaker isn’t trying as hard to put his own “spin” on the character. Reeves isn’t so much interested about expressing his own unique voice but more on expressing his love for the Batman character, along for David Fincher films. We see his influence and inspiration on screen with The Batman functioning as a Batman movie first and as a genre movie second. In this case, that genre movie would involve detective tales, murder mysteries, and crime thrillers. While fans of these type of genre movies might be a tad underwhelming here as it doesn’t add much different to that particular genre, fans of the Batman character himself should be greatly satisfied.
And they should be more satisfied with the fact that this movie arguably features the most amount of Batman out of any of the live-action movie thus far. There have been complaints in the past that Batman movies focus too much on Bruce Wayne and not enough on Batman. I highly doubt that complaint can be made here, heck I wouldn’t be surprised if some complain that there’s too much Batman and not enough Bruce Wayne here. Even when we do get Bruce Wayne, he doesn’t seem all that different than his Batman persona. This is a Bruce Wayne that has let his Batman side take over what should be his human side to him. While that might bother some, Reeves makes it clear early one that is his full-on intention with showing a Bruce that is still in that insomnia/trauma phase that he hasn’t been able to get over of.
We spend so much time with Batman himself being the defined character we all know him as and more focused on the detective aspect than we have seen in film’s past. We see him do things like solve mysteries, investigate crime scenes, trying to get together evidence, and use special equipment like contact lenses to pin-point and record actual footage. Heck, we even see him doing as something simple as showing Batman look for clues in a stock folder of files. How much more detective can you get than that! While these detective aspects are admittedly nothing groundbreaking , it’s at least nice to see the World’s Greatest Detective actually act more like the World’s Greatest Detective for once.
What’s also greatly appreciating is how this is also the kind of Batman movie that doesn’t let it’s main villains or side characters overshadow the title character. I have made the argument in the past that the Batman is mostly define about the villains and that’s why it’s equal screen time to other characters hasn’t bother me as much as others, but The Batman shows that you don’t have to sacrifice one end or the other to make that ring true. While we see characters like Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and a few others have their fair amount of screen time, it never functions as it’s own separate story and always finds a way from both a thematic point and story point to trace it all back to Batman himself and his important duty in Gotham City.
And speaking of Gotham, this movie beats just about every single Gotham City we’ve had in live-action so far. While I loved that Batman Forever’s Gotham brought a sense of life into a corrupt town and Batman Begins hinted at a small portion of the absolute wasteland that the city can be, The Batman puts that corruptness and wasteland-like nature on full display. This is the first time in any of the live-action movies that you can buy Gotham as a city that’s lost his soul. It’s the first time I bought it 100% as an absolute shithole where crime has taken over from both a surface and symbolic level. It’s the first time I bought Gotham City as being a complete and utter mess that would take Batman forever (no pun intended) to clean up. This is the Gotham I see that gone through hell the same way that Bruce Wayne has.
However, hell isn’t something that only Gotham goes through in this movie but also the main characters the movie focuses on. Similar to other Batman movies, The Batman keeps it’s core and thematic through line through three different characters, this case it’s Batman, Catwoman, and Riddler. It’s the way this movie compensates into the depths of trauma and insomnia that has consumed all three of these figures throughout the past and present. Batman, with the death of his parents along with the other hits he takes as the story goes on. Catwoman, with the sins and connections to those from her past along with needing to find her friend/roommate. Riddler, with trying to share the amount level of grief and wanting acceptability along with coming up with a complete convoluted plan that will give him some sense of completeness. It’s that distinct mindset and things that each one of these characters have gone through or will go through that drives the movie forward and meets it’s overall endgame. With most of the characters presented, it might just be the most truly darkest dark night of their entire lives.
The performances are all stellar across the board. While the jury is still out on how he will hold his own as Bruce Wayne (again he doesn’t really get the chance to be fully at home as Bruce himself), Robert Pattinson makes for a perfect Batman, perfectly capturing the brooding and stoic nature of the character without going too overboard in any of that department. Zoe Kravitz is an absolute blast to watch as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, adding a ton of energy and feels the most comic-book accurate out of all the Catwomen we’ve gotten so far (although, I think I still prefer Michelle Pfeiffer). Jeffrey Wright makes for one cool Commissioner Gordon and one that even has the audacity to stand up to Batman. Paul Dino is perfect as the Riddler here that provides the right mix of being insane, threatening, and somewhat sympathetic by the end of it. Colin Farrell is recognizable but also quite entertaining as the Penguin. John Turturro continues to prove how underrated of an actor he is with his turn as Falcone. And despite not having as much screen time as one may hope for, Andy Serkis makes for a compelling Alfred in his own right.
The movie looks fantastic with it perfectly capturing the toxic but beautiful atmosphere of Gotham. The action, while used sparingly, is top notch with the highlights being that of a nightclub sequence that puts even the one in The Dark Knight to shame, and a Batmobile chase sequence that’s immediately brief but awesome in it’s own right. The score by Michael Giacchino is inspired and memorable in it’s own right, (Good luck not humming “DUNNNNNNN DUNNNN DUN” just mere moments after the movie has ended). The tone while dark and grim, never goes overboard with it and never forgets to have a bit of levity every now and then. And the film itself was entertaining and engaging throughout that mostly kept my attention and even it’s three hour long runtime didn’t feel taunting to me.
As for the flaws with this movie, there’s not much major ones but definitely some gripes. Firstly, there are elements in the third act that feel rushed and never gets that impactful feeling I think Reeves is originally going for. With the events that transpires there, I would suspected at least a little more time to be spend on it not be so glossed over. Secondly, while I get the movie isn’t trying to break any new ground with it’s material, there are times where the films’ inspirations to both past Batman movies and detective stories such as Se7en and Zodiac can feel a bit on the nose that you might be able to see a plot point or two coming from a mile away. I understand that after over a dozen or so Batman movies released in theaters that original ideas can be tricky but I do think that perhaps it could have afford to take a step further in some of the material it presents itself. However, unlike with Joker, this does at least have an actual functioning brain in his head with it’s own distinct feeling for itself that it’s inspirations won’t take you out of it. Thirdly, there’s a scene towards the tail end of the movie that is clearly meant to give a sequel tease that I honestly could have done without. The movie works well enough as it’s own thing that the overall tease felt quite forced and honestly made me roll my eyes.
The big overall question that everyone wants to know is if The Batman is the best Batman movie ever made? Well, it really depends on the kind of Batman that you want and hope to get out of this new movie. We have gotten so many different incarnations of the caped crusader in the past and nearly every single one of them has their fans of some sort. In my opinion, it’s not quite the best Batman movie or even my personal favorite one but still a damn solid one nonetheless. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown more accustom to filmmakers doing their own unique thing with the character that one movie that feels more in line with the actual source material than one the director put their own version of Batman in their own unique sandbox is what makes The Batman come across as more conventional Batman movie compared to some of the others one. However, conventional doesn’t mean the same as bad. I would never punish a really good movie for being a really good movie, even if it’s not the best or even my favorite one. The Batman is a really good movie that while doesn’t break any new ground, it does tick off most of the right boxes of what I (and imagine others) would view as a proper Batflick.
As for the post credits scene, there’s not anything you MUST see if you have to go somewhere immediately after the movie is over. If you can stay, I would say do it in anyway to show some respect to all the folks who worked immensely hard on this movie along with a little bit towards the very end of the credits. Again, you won’t be missing anything if you leave after the movie is over but if you can stay, I would say stay anyway.
Think of it like a similar post credit scene to say, Birds of Prey.
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