The Batman - Movie Review (9/10)

Though the MCU has shown the world the successes that can be had with tightly controlled, same-toned blockbusters, the DC film-verse has seemed to be hell bent on proving the successes and failures of stories helmed by ambitious auteurs looking to make their name known on the ever-growing list of directors who have done a superhero movie. Its my pleasure to report that Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” sits squarely in the former.

Taking place early on the Bat’s career but not so much that we re-tread the same origin story, “The Batman” tells the tale of a man tortured by his ideals and past, a man pressured everyday to act in a way that leaves a legacy to remember. But when a mysterious killer going by the name “The Riddler” begins his attacks on Gotham City’s political elites, the World’s Greatest Detective finally finds his match in this tense 3-hour suspense thriller that explores the corruption that lies at the heart of a system.

The first thing I need to praise here are the brilliant visuals that persist throughout the film. Though I find Nolan’s take to still be more “real and grounded”, The Batman’s placed focus on visual style gives it a much stronger identity. Never has the dark been clearer and beautiful, with each character’s different moral shades shinning through their attire and preference for the shadows. Whenever the film does venture into the light, its when Bruce Wayne takes the stage, keeping the contrast between the bright false front put on by everyone while sinister things take place under the guise of the night. Along with his work on this and Dune (2021), Greig Fraser’s cinematography I think will come to play a key role in defining how blockbusters of the future should look like. This is the most beautiful Batman yet.

The dense, gloomy atmosphere is also accentuated with the blocking and tight camera work. The police station scene comes to mind where too-many bodies shoved into a single room create the claustrophobia needed to heighten the tension between Batman and the cops and emphasizes the difficulty Gordan has in blending the two together. Another scene that was really interesting in its choice for camera placement was the highway chase scene. It seemed the perfect opportunity to let go and take it to a grand scale, with swooping “helicopter shots” as most other movies do. But Reeves restrains that urge to shoot something much closer and personal, with the screen never leaving the immediately vicinity of the two vehicles, highlighting not the scale but the adversary between the Penguin and Batman, and how their desire to escape or catch up. Its also the smarter choice given the dark nature of the visuals that would make keeping track of the cars much more difficult for the audience in a typical chase sequence. To me it shows an understanding of filmmaking far beyond the typical CMB or your general action film, and anybody who doubted Reeves’ skills should rest easy.

A major dimension of this film is of course its titular Caped Crusader, Robert Pattinson’s Batman. And oh boy does he deliver. I was never one to doubt Pattinson’s acting chops, as one only has to see his work on Good Time, The Lighthouse, and surprisingly, his practiced broodiness from Twilight to see what a perfect fight he was for the character. I appreciated its dedication to keeping him masked for the majority of the run time, a decision that wouldn’t have worked nearly well enough without Pattinson’s ability to express emotion entirely through his eyes and body language. In a single scene he could give out three stares holding three significantly different meaning without uttering a single word (refer to the funeral scene). And his choice of voice is also great, still containing the hint of coarseness from Bale’s work while being his own thing. The writing of Batman here is also great to see unfold. We see a character who is tortured by the helplessness he felt at the death of his parents and who is in turn seeking to become a symbol of fear for the criminals of Gotham city, those that will come to fear the chance of encountering him. But he is too obsessed with this goal to also see its negative ramifications, something that is explored beautifully in the Riddler’s character. Those saying the film’s lack of the “Bruce Wayne” persona are the same as those complaining its lack of “jokes” and levity – they are equal in their misunderstanding of what the film is trying to achieve at its core. He has to LEARN what it means to be something other than the symbol of fear – its an origin story that is breaking away from the format popularized by Sam Rami’s Spider-man, and its all the better for it.

The film’s plot is also intriguing to watch unfold, as the mysterious and secrets come to light one by one. This is a crime thriller through and through, owing much more to the noirs of old and the works of David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I really appreciated the major focus placed on Batman’s detective side, something that has been sorely missing (at least in prominence) from his recent iterations (I haven’t seen much of his animated portrayals so maybe I missed some there).

There are, however, certain things that are not the greatest here. I thought the Jim Gordan – Batman relationship here was really good, but I also got annoyed at the constant “what does this mean” or “what do you think” that persisted their conversations at the revelation of a new mystery. It seemed a forced way to extract exposition that could have been better written. I’m also not totally against the run time, and I honestly don’t what you would cut, but the third act does begin to feel its length towards the end. Again, its not a flaw as I am able to overlook the minor lulls in lieu of everything else it gets right but be warned that it does slow down at some points.

I think I would be incomplete without examining the limitation, or more so the context, that persists the character of Batman and his relationship with the system. Taking it out with a friend on Batman’s moral code, I finally realized the connection Bruce still has with his upbringing, and that is his unwavering trust in the system. Being born rich, his viewpoint was never challenged. Whenever an issue occurs in the criminal justice system, his response is not to question its very existence, but the individuals that exist within it. Its they who make bad things happen. And if we simply highlight the good ones, or put in better people, the system will then work out. Its in this point that I think the Riddler pushes back against. He calls out the focus the media placed on Bruce Wayne’s orphaning when, while tortured with the pain of the event, his resources and connections (created on the backbone of the common folk) definitely made his life a lot easier than the thousands of other not-fortunate kids that cover every nook and cranny of Gotham. So, while the film does fall into the “not all cops” narrative, I think its entire message is something beyond just that. The ending itself leaves room for a stronger and, despite Batman’s gruesome reputation, hopeful future that may be open to much growth.

Closing this review, I think we have come to a point of saturation in the comic book market where evolution will be necessary to stand a chance. The Batman presents that evolution, in a blend of genres that’s slowly moving these movies away from the typical “superhero” box. The Joker did something similar by largely borrowing from Martin Scorsese’s works on “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy”, and Spider-man: Homecoming before that with it being almost a teen-comedy staring the web-head rather than the other way around. I sincerely hope this trend continues as the strongest in the genre in recent memory have been precisely the ones to embrace this. I give “The Batman” a 9/10. Top two DC movies to date (tied with The Dark Knight, or SLIGHTLY below it).