Film Pretty much got what I expected
Before starting, I should probably admit that I am somewhat... biased against Batman in general. As a fan of the wider DCU, it irritates me to no end how the Dark Knight has become a Spotlight-Stealing Squad to ludicrous degree, and gets more attention on media than the rest of the DCU gathered together - not helped by his fans sometimes turning obnoxious with how far they push his Memetic Badass status. For this reason I was mostly rolling my eyes when this movie came out and people announced it as "the greatest Batman movie ever" (Jeez, never hard that one before!). I mostly went to see it because I had nothing better to do, and I got what I expected: a good, well-made movie, with great music, good performances... but at the end of the day, it's just another Batman movie that doesn't bring much new to the table.
This movie pursue the path of trying to make Batman more grounded and realistic, somehow pushing it even further than the Nolan Trilogy. At this point, most of Batman's gadgets have been dialed back to be as mundane as possible: his ability to glide with his cape is replaced with an ordinary gliding suit that he only uses once with a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, and the Batcave is reduced to a glorified basement, among others. I suppose some people might enjoy this if you prefer your Batman more grounded, but personally I love my comic book stories when they embrace the crazy fantasy elements, and after so many movies movies trying to make Batman seems more realistic, I'm just groaning and feeling frustrated.
I admit I am glad that they are playing up the detective angle which was mostly neglected in the previous movies, but at the same time even that felt a bit underwhelming: this Batman doesn't feel that much like a great detective, and pretty much ends up doing exactly what the Riddler expected him to do for most of the movie. Out of all the victims of the crazy serial killer, only one manages to get away - and that's only because of sheer luck. Moreover, while sticking to a smaller scaler detective story would have been appreciated, the movie drops the ball in the last act by adding a climax with an obligatory big flashy large-scale destruction that I feel was unneeded and should have been kept for a sequel.
With that said, I don't wanna say this movie is bad. Like I said, the music is great, and I did love a few scenes; the introduction of Batman, which nicely plays up his Terror Hero angle, is amazing, and does a great job at establishing how he strikes fears in the heart of criminals. I also appreciate that they take time to show how deep the corruption of Gotham goes, where it came from, and why Batman is needed. Overall, it's a pretty good Batman movie and definitely one of the best Batman movies - but considering most Batman movies were way above average, that doesn't particularly make it stand out for me. As far as I am concerned, this movie didn't need to be made.
Film Better than the Nolan Trilogy, but not by much. (Very Minor spoilers)
I will be honest, I was pleasantly surprised when I left the theater, since I got in expecting a torrent of plotholes that led nowhere.
What I found was at least a bumpy road with some resounding plotholes, but nothing that broke the ride.
The Batman is a gritty movie about the most 'edgy' and 'emo' cinematic version of Batman yet. I sincerely couldn't stop laughing at many of the scenes featuring Battinson, because he mostly just stood around, looking like an awkward teenager in his uncle's barbecue, not wanting to be there, staring at things with his head tilted. He is openly hostile against Alfred, a first in the cinematic series (Batfleck was bitter, but there was still respect and underlying affection between them), openly yelling "You're not my dad!" which I expected a fifteen year kid to scream, not an adult Bruce Wayne. Previous movies with the character didn't show Batman painting his own eyes black to disguise them under the cowl for a reason: Its hilariously stupid-looking, but this movie did it anyway, and the results were unexpected golden hilarity.
"But this is inspired by Year One! Batman hasn't developed yet!" Yes, its also inspired by "The longest Halloween" and other heavy-weight comics, I know, but one thing is to be under-developed, and the other is to be a broody pastiche that offers no contrast to the already broody vigilante. Year One Batman was still figuring things as he went, but he had a personality. Also somehow Batman knows about shady puzzles, but can't bother to google things happening at the very city that he swore to protect, needing exposition dialogue and people berating him, constantly asking him if he lives under a rock or if he was a rich spoiled kid out of touch. The answer to both is Yes, but this shouldn't be even remotely close to batman. I kept laughing thinking that Edward Cullen escaped to Gotham. I actually like Pattinson's acting, I saw "The Lighthouse" and I believe he could deliver a superb Batman/Bruce, if only the script allowed him to.
Speaking of script, the strengths of this movie lies solely on the material lifted from the comics. Whenever it tries to deviate or improvise, things fall short faster than you can say "Because I'm BATMAN!", and the directing helps as much as it makes things harder. I always joke that DC only have two colors in the palette, and this is still true here, previous movies were black and grey, this one is black and red. The pacing is glacial, with Batman taking at least two whole minutes to simply pick a letter addressed to him... FIVE TIMES, ending with the movie clocking whooping three hours when it could have been two. It also doesn't help that there is a lot of needless whispering between Batman and side-characters, and chemistry so forced, a molotov cocktail would be more subtle.
My biggest gripe with the movie is that the third act (no spoilers) was completely, utterly unnecessary and the ramping of threat was something that felt forced. The movie could have ended at the end of the second act, and it would have been perfect.
But even with all that, it was enjoyable. The soundtrack is really solid (even if repetitive at times), the cast try their best, there was a nice stitching of heavy-hitting batman stories, and honestly, its nice to see him acting like a detective for a change without ludicrous supercomputers. This is also the most "Grounded" batman you'll see so far. Nearly all his gadgets (sans two or three) are something that you could imagine a rich guy buying on a whim and trying to adapt to crime fighting. Just don't buy into the hype, this is far from the best batman yet. Go with a bucket of popcorn and don't the movie seriously.
At least he isn't Mr "I want to save this guy because killing is wrong, so I will explode this whole building and kill dozens of people, including the guy I wanted to save".
Film A Dull Darkness
It's a little hard for me to articulate why I didn't enjoy this batman film as much as any of the others I've watched, from Burton to Nolan. There's a lot of strong individual elements, particularly Catwoman and Riddler, but overall the package just doesn't feel right to me.
The best I can explain is that movie just feels...too mundane. Maybe it was the dry exposition dumps that deliver a lot of the twists, or that one of the key twists amounts to accounting fraud. The fact that it's very, very dark and brooding shouldn't be an issue for Batman, but Nolan and Burton were able to give their darkness a sense of grandeur and excitement that works for a comic-book movie. This film doesn't have that same feeling. I've always felt realism in these kinds of movies works best as a shading tool, giving the fantastical elements dimension and depth. "The Batman" overdoes the grit and I'm left feeling bored and empty on watching it.
There is one clear thing I can call out, and that's the final act. It's both rushed and draggy, draining away what was a perfectly solid climax for a rushed event that should've been it's own movie, but instead amounts to a glorified sequel hook.
Overall, it's a solid film and I can appreciate it's strengths, but it's not for me.
Film Pattinson Performs Powerfully (Spoiler-Free Review)
I just saw the movie tonight, and my boyfriend and I were absolutely floored by how much we liked it. It wasn't just us- our theatre went wild at the end. So why did I like it so much? Well, there's a couple of reasons, but I'll start with how good Pattinson is in the role.
In this film, Batman is very stoic. Restrained. Cold. And that's not Pattinson being emotionless- he's very clearly playing the character as someone forcing himself to be detached and serious at all times, which means the moments of emotion leaking through hit pretty hard, no matter how subtle they are. He's also a very smart, very skilled hero, who relies on his brain just as much as his brawn, which helped add to the whole "detective movie" angle.
Catwoman was awesome too, as expected. Selina was a great foil, and her scenes kept stealing the show for me.
The score was also great, as was the cinematography. A few shots had a lot of subtle symbolism behind them that I felt amazed to notice, and the opening scene is shown from a first-person perspective looking into a window, which immediately makes things interesting. Some of the shots were downright scary, dark and striking. In short, everything was just as cool to look at, even if it did suffer from the DC darkness issue.
Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I'm excited for more.
Film Riddle me This Batman; Idiot Says What?
Shot in the style of a Se7en, The Batman is grittier than a Greggs meat pie. The caped crusader has a new adversary on the perpetually rainy streets of Gotham, a mad serial killer who leaves cryptic clues at the scene of every crime. To solve the case, Batman must meet with a whole menagerie of miscreants including Penguin, Catwoman, and the frog like Riddler himself.
The Batman is sufficiently distinct from previous outings in the franchise. Robert Pattinson plays a far more disturbed and self-doubting Batman, far from the pillar of moral righteous we've seen before. It reflects our contemporary reality, where movie goers are becoming ever more doubtful about the value of policing, power, and violence when inflicted on the "criminal classes". We're a long way on from The Dark Knight, which confidently justified torture, surveillance and deceit as a means to an end. Here, Batman appears downright villainous the first time he appears on screen, accompanied by blasting horn music reminiscent of Darth Vader's Imperial March. This idea that Batman might not be a force for good acts as the central question of the story, and it is never far from your mind.
The aesthetics of The Batman reflect the shift towards a darker tone. Gotham is a grimy chiaroscuro. Its ocean of black shadows and islands of light are claustrophobic, intimate, and hostile. We're trapped in close even in the car chases and fight scenes, one of which is lit with nothing but gunfire flashes. The sound design is exceptional, with barking static and jarring scratches. When the Batmobile makes its first entrance, the roar of its engines brought me out in goose bumps.
Unfortunately all of this does not disguise the fact that the movie is very long. It moves at a ponderous pace. There is an extraneous mid section in which the whole Riddler mystery pauses, and we are treated to a prolonged diversion involving rival mob bosses, one of whom has limited screen time and the other is never even shown. This movie could have easily been twenty minutes shorter without this drawn out section that sees Batman having to punch his way back into the same nightclub over and over to ask the owners yet one more question. He should really get his hand stamped for re-entry.
Whilst I enjoyed The Batman, I have a feeling that a lot of the best parts of it will be diminished outside of a cinema experience. Without it, the trudging is going to feel far worse. So whilst I recommend you see the film now, I might have trouble doing the same when I revisit it on a tv screen, with the volume set to a respectful neighbourly level.