Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend an exclusive early fan screening of The Batman in IMAX and it did not disappoint. Director Matt Reeves has unveiled a new and quite different interpretation of Batman mythos, alongside new Batman actor Robert Pattinson. Is the hype real and The Batman is the greatest Batman movie ever made? Let’s dive into my thoughts about the film and the different aspects of it.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THE FILM!
THE STORY
The Batman is a hard, gritty, darker take on Batman than ever before. We know this because the movie beats you over the head with it.
Right from the get-go, the tone of the film is established. Dark, gritty and with Gotham in despair, crime is worse than ever and at an all-time high. Criminals like the Riddler, reimagined as a sadistic serial killer, have overrun Gotham with fear. Batman, in the second year of his crusade, realizes that he isn't enough and his methods haven't yielded promising results in Gotham. Yes, criminals fear him, but he notes he's only one man and can't be everywhere.
The Batman makes the viewer think deeper than most other Batman films. It takes a very philosophical approach to how Batman tries to make a difference in Gotham. His arc is certainly an interesting one in the film, going from a symbol of fear to a beacon of hope by the end of the film. He realizes that he cannot continue on alone, meeting and establishing a partnership of sorts with Selina Kyle to help get a closer look into Gotham's seedy underbelly. Batman does have an established relationship with Jim Gordon, not yet the commissioner but a lieutenant in the GCPD, but he can only get so much out of him since the commissioner and other cops are not particularly thrilled with Batman's involvement in the criminal crusade of Gotham.
The film also touches on, more so than other Batman movies, that Batman's presence may bring out the worst in Gotham. Near the end of the film, when talking to Riddler at Arkham Asylum, Batman is horrified to come to the realization that he inspired Riddler to begin his killings across Gotham. He's even stunned that Riddler thought that he would be impressed by him and they would become partners. When Batman vehemently rejects him, Riddler becomes unhinged even more and Batman internally realizes that he may have inspired crazies who "want to be like him". The final nail in the coffin for him is when violently taking down a Riddler follower later in the film when asked by Gordon who he is, the criminal replies "I'm vengeance", something that Batman said at the beginning of the film after beating up some thugs. This finally pushes Batman to do what he can to be a beacon of hope and get the citizens of Gotham to fully understand that he is there to help.
The film contains some light social commentary that can be applied to our society as well. As the Riddler live streamed a number of his killings and used social media to his advantage to get his message to the people of Gotham. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Riddler gained loyal followers through social media that agreed with him and wanted to help him in the uprising of Gotham. This is common in today's world, especially with everyone's near-total reliance on social media. It is partly to blame for the January 6th riots last year in the United States, something that I think Reeves was trying to comment on in the film as the events are pretty similar.
Something I liked about the film was it was quite clear that Reeves turned to some famous Batman comics to get his vision across. The three most prominent ones picked up on were Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Year One and Batman: No Man's Land. Pattinson had also mentioned that some of these comics were ones he studied immensely when doing research for the character. And it wasn't just comics in my opinion. The fighting style had a somewhat similar appearance to the style found in the Batman Arkham video games, and the stunning revelation that the Wayne family was involved in shady dealings in Gotham is something that the Batman Telltale game touched on a few years ago. I think its clear that Reeves is a massive Batman fans and knows his stuff. I think fans should be assured that future films at the helm of Reeves have someone that is well-versed in Batman mythos and his direction will be outstanding.
ROBERT PATTINSON
I thought Robert Pattinson gave a great performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne. I would rank him as one of the better Batman's of the group, who has the potential to climb up in subsequent appearances. Pattinson gives a nuanced performance that captures the inner conflict of Bruce Wayne and what drives him to be the Batman. Something that Pattinson has to his advantage over the last Batman; Ben Affleck, is that Pattinson has a lot better material to work with than Affleck did. But I think the cowl is in good hands with Pattinson, and if you break out of the Twilight shadow cast over him, he has quietly solidified himself as a versatile actor over the past decade with a ton of great performances. They did take some liberties with the character, alluding to Wayne's possible own mental illness (something that people argue the character of Batman always had at least some form of) with the bombshell that his mother Martha Wayne was in Arkham Asylum for awhile back in the day. This may be something fleshed out in future sequels in terms of the characterization of Bruce Wayne.
Something that surprised me is how often we saw Pattinson in the suit. I would argue that he was in the suit for 75% of the film and only 25% as Bruce Wayne. Wayne is established as a recluse in Gotham who is rarely seen, really only making a handful of appearances throughout the film. I will say that I wasn't overly a big fan of the re-imagination of Bruce Wayne as an overtly emo recluse. To me, part of the facade of Batman is putting on a mask in public as Bruce Wayne, something that the character acknowledges in the film. However, you kind of have to assume that the people of Gotham are oblivious to the fact that an orphaned billionaire who is never seen is not using his wealth to be dressing up like a bat and thrashing criminals left and right. Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne did the facade of Bruce Wayne best in my opinion, doing things like buying hotels and cars and dating supermodels to throw the public off in his intentions for Gotham. With Batman's changing arc in this film; especially remembering he's only in year two as Batman, hopefully this aspect of Bruce Wayne will be more developed in future installments.
Batman as a detective is something that has been hit or miss with the live action franchises. While films show him investigating and doing some detective work, it is never really the focus. The only detective aspect I can think of in a previous film that carried any weight was in The Dark Knight when Batman was investigating one of Joker's killings with ballistics and DNA in his bunker. Batman in the comics is dubbed "The World's Greatest Detective" but this has not translated well into the movies. That changes with The Batman. Batman as a detective is front and center in the film, giving the film a more noir-feeling adding to the darkness of the film. Batman investigates crime scenes with the GCPD, solves the Riddler's riddles based on the greeting cards addressed to him, and uses cutting edge technology in the form of recordable contact lenses to go back through crime scenes later in the Batcave. It was important to Reeves to tell a detective story in the film, as it had not been the focus in other live action Batman films. This is arguably the most defining aspect of what sets apart The Batman from the others, and I expect future sequels with Pattinson's Batman to be the same.
I was a fan of the suit and the Batmobile; as brief as its appearance was, remembering that this is early in Batman's crime fighting career. It's a shame that the Batmobile was only in one scene though, and a lot of it ended up being shown in the trailers. The only thing that took me out of the dark, gritty take on the film is that bullets just kept bouncing off of Batman. I understand the suit is meant to be bulletproof and other than a close-range shotgun blast, bullets bounced off of the guy like he was Superman.
But all in all, I enjoyed Reeves and Pattinson's Batman and look forward to more!
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
As good as Pattinson is in the role, the supporting cast nearly steals some scenes from him. Each actor was at the top of their game, with Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano in particular as standouts.
Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman fits seamlessly with Batman and their partnership really evolves throughout the film. Kyle's pull into the criminal underworld is something that proves valuable to Batman throughout the film, and they continue their cat and mouse game all the way to the end of the film. It's great that the film has Selina acknowledge that she knows that she will always be second in Batman's life to his crusade, even though they have great chemistry together. When her surprising link to Carmine Falcone is revealed, Batman is able to talk her down from going too far and she at least reconsiders from killing. Even though she rides off to leave Gotham behind, there is no doubt that Batman will be seeing her again!
Paul Dano’s take on the Riddler is certainly a new take on the character, in live action anyways. Reimagined as a sadistic serial killer, Dano’s performance is unhinged and utmost creepy. He brings a certain showmanship to the role too, being able to jump between "normal" and demented in the blink of an eye. I am not surprised by Dano's performance as he has a knack for playing odd characters. He was announced as the Riddler, the first performance of his I thought of was in Prisoners (2013) and right away I knew he would make a great villain with this tone and great material.
While Kravitz and Dano standout, each side character gets their due and no one turns in a bad performance in my opinion. Colin Farrell disappears into his brief role as Penguin, setting the stage for a powerful villain down the line. It should be noted that Farrell will reprise the role in a spin-off show focusing on Penguin for HBOMax in the future, probably showing his rise through the criminal ranks after taking up all of Gotham after the city is flooded. Jeffrey Wright’s turn as Jim Gordon shows a different side of Batman’s most trusted ally and giving him a more hands on approach than in past films. John Turturro makes his few scenes count in a small yet pivotal role as crime boss Carmine Falcone.
One character I would say was underused was Batman’s most trusted confidant Alfred Pennyworth. Andy Serkis is great in the role, but is largely regulated to the sidelines. Him and Bruce don’t speak that often and are not on the best terms. Landing in the hospital after opening a package from Riddler that was a bomb, he is visited by Bruce when he is confronted about the truth about his parents. After this scene, he isn’t seen again for the rest of the film. Hopefully the character gets fleshed out in future sequels.
Hopefully each one of the villains fully evolve into their villainous personas in the future, as they were not meant to be "Catwoman" and "Penguin" just yet. Maybe even Riddler returns in a sequel, which seems likely given his conversation with a mysterious cellmate at Arkham State Hospital. Speaking of which...
THE FUTURE
Are we really surprised that the Joker was teased in the movie? I was certain they would allude to him, but not like this. I was pleasantly surprised when the "Unseen Arkham Prisoner" as he is credited in the movie, was conversing with the Riddler about good jokes and vengeance against Batman. While in the shadows, the silhouette of the Clown Prince of Crime and that unmissable trademark laugh indeed means that the Joker will show up in the next sequel to battle Batman. The interesting part is that Joker does not appear to be planning to go at it alone, recruiting Riddler and possibly other villains in Batman's rogue gallery to take Batman down.
Given the tone of these films, I was not surprised that Joker appeared in a small role. After the events of this film, it is exciting to think of what madness the Joker can bring with Reeves at the helm. With the Riddler as a serial killer in this film, I can't imagine what the Joker has in store for Batman. Actor Barry Keoghan has some big clown-sized shoes to step into; with two previous Jokers winning Oscars for their performances, but with Matt Reeves at the helm I am excited for this next iteration of the Joker and The Batman 2.
FINAL VERDICT
I enjoyed The Batman. The talent both in front of and behind the camera delivered a worthy take on Batman mythos and I am excited to see what the future holds for the character. Do I think it is better than The Dark Knight? No. While great, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Christopher Nolan's classic and arguably best comic book movie of all time. But it has laid the groundwork to be a great trilogy (or however many they make) in its own right and maybe even surpass The Dark Knight Trilogy. It's too early to tell, but it is on the right path.
My final verdict: 8.5/10
What did you think of The Batman? Do you think its the best Batman film ever made? Are you excited for the future of the franchise? Let me know in the comments below!