Movie Reaction: The Batman

Formula: (The LEGO Batman Movie – The LEGO Movie) * Joker

 

We have absolutely hit a Batman saturation point, but I’d argue that it seems even more saturated than it really is. We had 4 Batman movies from 1989 to 1997 with 3 different actors playing Bruce Wayne. The variety of Bruce Waynes and Forever looking like a soft reboot made the 90s feel like a barrage of new Batman visions being tried out. Even the quiet 8 years before Batman Begins had Catwoman with Halle Berry at the height of her fame generating headlines. I know I heard more about Catwoman than the box office would suggest. Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was a cultural behemoth. Those films were actually 3-4 years apart, but it took that long to get people to shut up about the previous one. So no real breaks from Batman in that time. Another 4 years until Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice with Justice League the very next year. Oh, and a Suicide Squad cameo in between those. Again, those are movies that were more discussed than they were loved, so their pop cultural saturation is outsized. It’s been 5 years now since an onscreen Batman, but it feels like less with Joker in 2019. When you break it down, it’s not like Batman is showing up with MCU consistency. It’s just that every iteration has long legs and someone is always ready with the new take.

 

The Batman is a very specific take on Batman. I respect a lot about it. Matt Reeves leans as far into the Batman perception as possible. He’s heard every joke you’ve made about Batman soliloquizing about the night and vengeance. He’s aware of every quip you’ve made about how moody and dark the DC movies have been. And his decision is to lean all the way into those in hopes of coming out the other side. In other words, commit to it so hard that you have to respect the commitment. And I do. There is nothing cynical about this take on the Dark Knight. No apologies for being about Batman in a run-down Gotham, overrun by crime. All that said, I feel so bad for anyone not on this movie’s wavelength. This is an oppressive vision at times. There’s not a single well-lit room throughout the massive 3-hour runtime. I liked the movie and I was still exhausted by the end.

 

Of all the Batman movies out there (live-action), The Batman is the one most about Batman. That’s the best thing about it. Most of the films either spend a lot of time on Bruce Wayne or are most interested in the villain. The Batman is about the superhero. He’s part detective and part unstoppable force. It assumes we know the backstory by now. The film starts 2 years into the appearance of the Batman. His key relationships with Alfred (Andy Serkis) and Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) have already been established. He’s a vigilante, but his relationship with Gordon lets Batman move pretty freely around the police. In this film, he is chasing down a madman who is killing prominent public figures and leaving clues about what he’ll do next. Batman (played by Robert Pattinson, by the way), eventually crosses paths with Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) who is doing her own investigation into the disappearance of her friend. They become uneasy allies as they dig deeper into the Gotham criminal underworld and expose figures along the way.

 

I’m a big fan of all the casting in this movie. Pattinson has a great jawline for Batman and seems like he prefers the time spent in the mask. His Bruce Wayne is underwhelming, but that’s kind of the point. He plays Batman as a character and not a disguise. I really love Zoe Kravitz as a screen presence. She’s very good at carrying herself like she’d act the same with if there was no camera. She’s also tiny but believably able to beat people up. That’s a skill. I love Wright’s Lt. Gordon. Making him and Batman complete allies unlocked something I hadn’t seen in a while. Gary Oldman was always a bit guarded in the Nolan movies. Wright gets to carry himself like there’d be a movie here even without a Batman. Paul Dano as the Riddler will be your litmus test for the movie. He is extreme and you will either read the performance as terrifying or as camp. An ill-timed giggle in the theater can break the mood. I also must give props to the makeup department for the work on Colin Farrell as The Penguin. I saw his name in the end credits and had no idea where he was in that movie.

 

I complain about movie length a lot. Normally it’s because I think it means filmmakers are taking the easy way out. Instead of finding a way to do two things with one scene, they do two scenes. My issue with The Batman length is more similar to The Dark Knight’s length. It’s trying to fit too much movie in. The Dark Knight is a Joker movie, yet the last act is about Harvey Dent’s downfall, which could’ve filled an entire movie on its own. It’s a little less clean in The Batman, but the Riddler is already in Arkam Asylum before the extended climactic sequence. I’d get it if Matt Reeves was trying to wrap up a full story because he only has a single film. But this is a planned trilogy, and the end of this hints at a lot of future plans. It’s funny how so many TV showrunners talk about how their show is really a “10-hour movie” and so many filmmakers put together movies with the amount of plot in a limited series.

 

I know I keep going to this, but one more thing about the unrelenting darkness of this film. There are a lot of cool stunts and sequences that I wish I could’ve seen better. I don’t get the impression that the darkness was used to mask mediocre stunt work like in many other movies. There’s some impressive large-scale staging in this. I just can see it all. Part of that is the intent of course. Reeves has a lot of fun playing with focus and looking at scenes from unexpected or distant angles. It helps with the feeling the Batman could be watching around the corner at all times. I feel like he gets in his own way some. Sort of like when Nolan makes some sound mixing choice that may be accurate, but they make it impossible for people to hear. Reeves may be catching actual darkness, but it means I can’t see in a visual medium.

 

I’m very curious about where Reeve’s plans go after this. The Batman ends with Bruce reaching the realization that Batman should be more about hope than vengeance. There’s a really “the night is darkest before dawn” feeling to this movie. This is as dark as a Batman movie should go. Does this suggest than we’re in for a tonal shift moving forward? I wouldn’t mind that. I think The Batman is much more interesting as the dark Batman movie than the beginning of the dark Batman trilogy.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend