21/03/2022
The Batman
Matt Reeve’s The Batman tells the tale of two orphans both tortured by clinging on to their pasts. One man, Bruce Wayne, grieving his parent’s death even after twenty-years, as grief knows no time. The other man, Edward Nashton, feeling alone, forgotten, isolated, and grew tired of empty promises. Reeves tells the story of each of them coping with the anguish bottled inside. It tells the story of a broken and corrupt city displaying that even if you believe in the best in people, lies and deception can still be unearthed.
Bruce copes through bringing vengeance to his parents’ death and the criminal underworld of Gotham City as Batman. Batman has been operating for two years and has become the embodiment of vengeance itself to the point that it has oddly become a nickname of sorts. Matt Reeves gave the Batsignal more depth than any director that preceded him. As an audience we know when the signal shines in the night sky, it’s a call for help to Batman. In this the audience was shown how the other side views it. Criminals and thugs stop in their tracks and flee in fear of Batman lurking in every shadow even when he’s nowhere.
The Batman tells the duality of man and begs the question, can a city beyond corrupted become uncorrupted by one man. As the villain the Riddler exposes the corruption of the political, social, and corporate elite through murder and riddles. Batman himself begins to question if Gotham City is redeemable. Batman’s crusade becomes entangled with Catwomans as she is searching for her missing roommate who worked at the same nightclub as Selina where all the corrupted men and women lounge. First using her as eyes and ears evolves into him finding clues to the next victim, uncovering Riddler’s big plan, and a very forced romance between Batman and Catwoman that lacked chemistry.
The film gives us a Batman story with very little Bruce Wayne. What small amount of Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne we received I found myself feeling awkward to watch him and his relationship with Alfred had much to be desired. He felt like he himself was uncomfortable in the role. As he’s fairly been dubbed “Emo Wayne” the issue goes further than that. His interactions with most came off as short, angsty, and as if he rather be anywhere with that person or an any event truly. Him having to be Bruce Wayne came off as a bother to him and just wished he could be in his cape and cowl solving the Riddler’s enigmas. His Batman however was much more entertaining. Though in his second year I would have preferred his classic basic gadgets like a gliding cape instead of a flight suit, batarangs instead a bat-shaped blade that detaches from his chest, and smoke pellets. The fight choreography for Batman was excellent and the focus on Batman being a detective would have been a nice change if he truly felt like the World’s Greatest Detective. Outside of the opening riddle and the riddles he helped Gil Colson solve, most of the riddles were decoded by Alfred. He also got stuck on a riddle that Burt Ward’s Robin could’ve solved. Other than that, his Batman was decent.
Paul Dano was the perfect casting for the Prince of Puzzles, Riddler, but the direction they took with the character was not one I found enjoyable. Edward Nashton was orphaned as a child like Bruce but didn’t have the money and luxury to comfort him like Bruce he only had his puzzles. He was promised a better tomorrow in the orphanage through Thomas Wayne’s “Project Gotham” initiative that unfortunately never kicked off after the Wayne’s murder. While it was well-known, he was heavily inspired by the infamous Zodiac Killer they went to heavy on the inspiration and in my opinion lost the character of the Riddler along the way. The Riddler is a character who suffers from severe OCD and a massive superiority complex who wants people to know he is more intelligent than all including Batman himself. The Riddler we received hid behind a full-face mask hiding his identity completely. His goal was to expose the corruption in Gotham City and showing that the people we put our trust in are full of nothing but corruption and broken promises.
Zoe Kravitz portrayed a nearly perfect Catwoman. A Selina Kyle down on her luck thanks to Gotham City so she lives impoverished in her dingy apartment with her roommate and three cats. She finds whatever work she can and becomes a cat burglar at night to steal from those who have too much. Her issue stands that even though her story was developed it did not feel that way. Her side plot felt shoehorned in and didn’t flow well with the rest of story coherently. Carmine Falcone, played by John Turturro, whom is the antagonist of Catwoman’s story plays the role really but lacks the intimidation value Falcone possesses.
Colin Farrell’s Penguin was beyond perfect to his unrecognizable makeup and comic accurate Iceberg Lounge running Penguin mannerisms.
Jim Gordon didn’t feel much like anything and Jeffrey Wright is of no blame. Throughout the film all he did was vouch for Batman’s involvement in the investigations and was Batman’s echo chamber as he follows Batman on a leash. That is really all there is to his character. The interaction between the GCPD and Batman was beyond entertaining watching evolve from protesting his involvement to just giving up and letting Batman do his thing.
In conclusion Matt Reeves’ skillful cinematography, moments of unpredictable gripping scenes, and his neo-noir/western detective film. A picture-perfect Gotham City, and a Batman who learns he needs to be more than vengeance to help Gotham. The film still faltered in adding logicless moments like Batman being completely unharmed and ash free from a point-blank explosion with shrapnel and a shotgun inches away from Batman being fired without leaving a dent in the armor. At points the movie does feel goofy and like an edgy take on Batman ’66 and the nearly 3-hour runtime needed to shave off a solid 45-minutes. The conclusion of the film being Batman fighting Riddler’s cult following instead of a classic hero defeating the villain was refreshing accompanied by a great fight scene. The characters however at times felt lifeless and as if they were there to do nothing more than move the plot forward instead of characters I could get invested in and care about what happened to them.
The Batman and Bruce Wayne that Matt Reeves crafted is one that is learning to become the Batman we as an audience know and love. Though it is a fact I can accept I can’t say I’m invested enough to want to see more of this Batman’s story, however I am looking forward to them exploring more of Matt Reeves Gotham City through the HBO Max Penguin, Catwoman, and Arkham Asylum series. Overall, the film scores a 6/10.
