The Batman Review

It’s been a very Batman-heavy week on this blog. First I ranked all the theatrically-released Batman movies. Then I did my March movie preview, which was essentially previewing how well “The Batman” was going to do as it is one of the only broadly-appealing March releases. If you’re curious, $134 million was the correct answer on that in terms of its opening weekend. It opened lower than “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Batman v. Superman,” all of which opened to around $160 million, but still an excellent number all things considered. And with no competition all month, it has a great chance of holding well very well in the coming weeks. But anyways, now we are topping this off with the post you’ve all been waiting for, my actual review of the movie, which I thought was rather excellent.

Personally I’m well aware that not everyone was on board with this movie leading up to its release. DC in general doesn’t have the best reputation right now. In a desperate attempt to play catch-up to Marvel, they fell flat on their face and became quite the laughing stock for people. And since then they’ve essentially abandoned this idea of a cinematic universe as they’ve been throwing everything at the wall in order to see what sticks. I can see why that sort of scatterbrained philosophy might seem like a turnoff to people, but I think it’s worked out rather well. If you pay attention to the actual comics, that’s exactly what the comics do. There’s not necessarily just one storyline that’s happening. Continuity is often thrown out the window and timelines are all over the places as different writers and artists are all just trying to tell their own stories. And I think DC taking this approach with their movie universe has been the best thing that’s happened to them in terms of creating quality content. Instead of trying to create one big universe that’s all interconnected with the same exact tone in every movie, they’re letting directors simply make movies. Giving full control to these filmmakers and allowing them to do what they want has really opened the door to an endless amount of possibilities and also allows for more variety and creative freedom.

As great as Marvel is and as much as I enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe, their massive success is both a blessing and a curse. They have their formula down and it really works, but they are now strapped to that formula. Any time they try to stray from that and do something different, they’re going to get backlash from their core audience, especially parents who now believe the MCU should always be 100 percent kid-friendly. For proof of that, go dig up online discussion of what parents thought of “Eternals” when Chloe Zhao included one slight edgy scene. Meanwhile in James Gunn’s universe, he’s certainly cackling over all of that. Marvel is under fire for that while he’s doing things that are 1,000 times worse in the likes of “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker.”

And that there proves my point in Marvel vs. DC right now. I won’t say that Marvel is doing bad by any stretch of the imagination, but DC right now has a lot more creative freedom and can get away with doing things like “Joker,” “The Suicide Squad” and “The Batman.” And even though “Birds of Prey” was a slightly failed experiment, albeit still entertaining to me, I commend them for taking chances. And the freedom to take those chances in my opinion has led to much higher highs in the DC realm. Those three aforementioned movies, “Joker,” “The Suicide Squad” and now “The Batman” I think are far superior to most things in the MCU. Yet they’re the type of movies that Marvel can’t even dream of making right now. Again, I’m not trying to crap on Marvel or make this a Marvel vs. DC fight. “Infinity War” is still probably one of my favorite ever comic book movies and “No Way Home” was one of my favorite movies overall from last year. But as someone who has been a lifelong DC fan, I’ve been very happy about the content they’ve been able to put forward. And I’m grateful that we now have a Batman movie that is essentially a dream come true. All this because DC gave the keys to Matt Reeves and let him do whatever he wanted to do.

And yeah, sure, it’s kinda weird that we’ve had so many Bruce Waynes show up recently. And that might continue if “The Flash” pulls a “No Way Home” by bringing back both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck via Multiverse stuff in their movie. Throw in young Bruce Wayne from “Joker” and Christian Bale from the Nolanverse and that’s a potential of five live-action Bruce Waynes showing up within the last decade? And that’s not even counting the name-drop of a different Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse who has yet to show up or the various Gotham-related TV shows that I have yet to watch. It’s definitely an oversaturation of Batman and Bruce Wayne. But in the golden era of comic book stuff, I’m really enjoying it. Yet through all that, I think we now have my ultimate favorite version of Gotham with a new Batman universe that I think certainly has the best start of any Batman universe and has the potential to become the best version of Batman that we’ve seen in live-action via Robert Pattinson.

Speaking of whom, Robert Pattinson is another reason why not everyone has been open to this version of Batman. I hope that the trailers squelched a lot of that skepticism, but it’s a really annoying, ongoing phenomenon that some people have not been able to forgive both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for “Twilight.” And yes, those were bad performances in atrociously awful movies, but the world needs to move on from “Twilight” and realize that both of these actors have done amazing work. Pattinson specifically has done things like “Good Time” and “The Lighthouse” that immediately made me phenomenally excited for him as Batman, especially with them portraying a younger and more broken Bruce Wayne. He’s the perfect choice. And even “Tenet” from 2020 should’ve proved to general audiences who don’t see indie films that Pattinson can act. But, well, we’re still here.

Whether or not he converted you with this performance or caused you to go see this movie, him teaming up with Matt Reeves, director of the new “Planet of the Apes” trilogy, proved to me personally that I was justified in being excited for this movie. I mean, just imagine if the director of said “Planet of the Apes” trilogy was given full control over a new Batman movie and he cast the guy from “Good Time” as his new Batman. Sound exciting? Well, it should be because that level of quality is exactly what we got. Matt Reeves is an excellent storyteller and a master at his craft. And he has built something truly special.

Having a Batman movie being dark, gritty, and grounded in reality is certainly an idea that is not new. That’s been around since at least Tim Burton’s live-action Batman movie in 1989. And maybe longer in the comics. I’m not sure of that history. But yeah, the shtick with DC is that Superman is light and fluffy while Batman is dark and gritty. But even with that said, Reeves with his Gotham has built upon what Nolan did with his Gotham, who in turn built upon what Burton did with his Gotham. It’s been a progression that’s been incredible to see, especially after doing a marathon of the movies fairly recently. What’s really impressive is that Reeves has made this feel more real than even what Nolan accomplished, which in turn now makes Burton’s movies even more silly and hokey in comparison. Granted, being silly and goofy is not necessarily a bad thing in the comic book realm or even in the Batman realm. I put both “Batman and Robin” and the 1966 “Batman: The Movie” really high up on my Batman list for simply being silly and fun. There’s not one way that a Batman movie has to be filmed and portrayed. It’s just that this version feels like the ultimate version of Gotham that pleases me the most with how it has unfolded.

The first positive thing in that regard is that this is Year Two Batman. In other words, Reeves fully realizes that everyone and their dog knows the Batman origin story. We don’t need to watch another movie that shows him putting on the mask, training to become a Ninja, and being Batman for the very first time. And we definitely don’t need to watch Thomas and Martha Wayne get killed yet again. We’ve seen all that. And any changes in the origin can be easily discussed and learned as we go, using various creative storytelling choices. Point in case, the Thomas Wayne backstory is different in this universe, but we learn of that as Bruce Wayne has conversations with the likes of Alfred and the Riddler after newscasts get revealed about certain things he may have done that surprise Bruce in this movie. That’s a way to tell an origin of a character without the movie being an origin story itself.

The other major benefit of this Year Two idea, and what I really loved about this movie, is that this Bruce Wayne hasn’t figured things out. We begin the movie with a narrative monologue from Bruce himself, via his journal writing, wherein he’s expressing his concerns that he doesn’t really know if he’s doing any good. And he’s seemingly questioning this idea of going out at night in a bat suit altogether. And his Bruce Wayne life is definitely in shambles. In just about every other Batman, while Bruce Wayne definitely has his challenges and his obstacles to overcome, he nevertheless has a much higher confidence level in what he’s doing. We haven’t really seen Batman questioning his existence as Batman. And in most cases, he’s really good at using Bruce Wayne as a cover. I’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter questioning the portrayal of Bruce Wayne here because they don’t like that we didn’t get the Billionaire Playboy version of Bruce Wayne that Batman uses as a mask to hide his identity. And while people are allowed to have their opinions, I love that Bruce Wayne in this movie hasn’t figured this out. He’s a more broken Bruce Wayne than he’s ever been before. And while he’s certainly a skilled fighter and has a really good suit that provides great protection, he’s not a perfect, flawless fighter yet. He gets beaten up by some that are stronger and he’s sometimes nervous to fly around with his suit and definitely fails at doing so at one point.

All of this is impressive to me because Reeves decided to use Batman as a means to create a character-driven narrative. The movie definitely has plenty of action sequences. And said action sequences are fantastic. It has a thrilling car chase sequence that you see previewed in the trailer. And the fighting sequences are really gritty and bone-crunching. Each blow makes you wince a bit in ways that typical superhero affair, Marvel or DC, usually don’t accomplish. It’s easy to kick back and relax during a summer action blockbuster and be entertained by brainless action, but this movie letting you feel the weight of the action elevates it above much of that affair. Yet despite this, the movie feels more like a drama than a superhero action film. The action sequences aren’t the point of the movie. Experiencing the heavy weight of what Bruce has gone through and how he’s responding to such a difficult life is the point. And that’s why I really gravitated towards this movie’s character building and loved the fact that the movie was long enough to let all of this breathe.

Yes, it’s long. And yes, you feel that length. I walked out feeling like I had binged a whole season of a Batman show. But I don’t mind that. I binge shows all the time. And especially with superhero shows being more commonplace, I often think that medium benefits the characters more in compared to a 90 or 120 minute movie. To Marvel’s credit, their Disney+ shows have allowed characters like Wanda and Loki to experience a lot more real progression than if either of them had been given a movie instead. So the 175 minutes of “The Batman” I think did a real favor in allowing this specific character to grow and blossom in ways that even Michael Keaton or Christian Bale’s Batman weren’t able to do. And those movies weren’t short by any stretch of the imagination. Yet “The Batman” felt like the Batman movie that allowed its Bruce Wayne to really grow and progress more than any other Batman movie.

Intermixed with this Bruce Wayne character piece was a villain who perfectly complimented and mirrored him. Some comic book movies include a villain out of a seemingly moral obligation to do so. And that’s not inherently wrong. But this Bruce Wayne having to deal with this version of the Riddler was truly key to his arc in this movie. And I don’t want to dive too far into this portrayal of the Riddler because I didn’t declare this as a spoiler review, but nevertheless I think Paul Dano does to the character of the Riddler what Heath Ledger did to the character of the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” Both of them gave legendary, cinema-defining performances and I think both of them are on the same level of quality. There’s even mirroring interrogation scenes in both “The Dark Knight” and “The Batman” that are equally as impressive in my mind. Watching this unfold in “The Batman” had me in pure awe that we were getting something that rivaled “The Dark Knight” in terms of Batman movies.

But different than “The Dark Knight” and more aligned with 2019’s “Joker” is that this movie paid homage a classic filmmaker and genre. “Joker” was basically a classic Scorsese film with Joker characters and “The Batman” is basically a David Fincher crime drama film with Batman characters. In this case, the Riddler as a villain was perfect. And it’s the complete opposite of Jim Carrey’s portrayal in “Batman Forever” or even some of the classic animated portrayals. The Riddler is a serial killer who is using clues and puzzles to string along the police and Batman. In which case, he feels like the Zodiac killer, who did that in real life and is portrayed in David Fincher’s “Zodiac,” which has always been a favorite of mine. The other Fincher film that everyone has been pointing out in comparison is “Se7en,” which is most certainly not based on real events, but is a movie wherein a killer uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. In that movie, you have Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman visiting each of his new crime scenes to figure out who he is and what he is doing.

Essentially “The Batman” is just that. It’s Jim Gordon and Batman going to each of the Riddler’s new crime scenes to figure out who he is and what he is doing, especially since each of his victims is a prominent member of the Gotham community. Why is the Riddler doing this and what are his motives? As someone who thinks both “Zodiac” and “Se7en” are two of the greatest crime dramas ever made, and as someone whose favorite genre of TV and filmmaking are these thrilling crime dramas, this put a smile on my face for much of the movie in a way that replicated Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s “Batman.” I mean, you take two of my favorite things, DC comic book movies and serial killer crime dramas, and you put them together in a grand and glorious way? How can I not just simply soak the whole thing in as if it was a movie where Matt Reeves decided to stalk me personally, learn of all my favorite things, and create a piece of cinema that he knew I would absolutely love?

That was my first reaction when my friend sitting next to me in the movie theater during the credits leaned over to me and asked me what I thought. It was a movie made just for me. And it also did something that I’ve been wanting from a Batman movie in a long time. Detective Batman. This is a Batman who’s not just out fighting crime and punching bad guys. He’s solving crimes. He has contact lenses that records what he’s doing and he has a journal each night where he writes down what he sees and thinks about it after reviewing the video. When the Riddler leaves clues, in addition to discussing it with Jim Gordon on the scene, him and Alfred work together at home to decipher things in a way that feels like this is what they do every night rather than it being a new thing for this case. And even though Andy Serkis’ Alfred has less screen time compared to other characters, him and Pattinson pair perfectly as Bruce Wayne and Alfred. Andy Serkis is just as perfect to this version of Bruce Wayne as Michael Caine was to Christian Bale’s version of Bruce Wayne.

Now I’ve already written nearly 3,000 words of a review, which is more words than many may choose to actually read, but the other incredible thing about this movie is that there’s just so much that is perfectly set-up. This is a Gotham that has been lived in and a Gotham where a lot of the key characters are already there. It’s not an introduction to a new franchise wherein the filmmakers have to scramble to figure out what they’re going to do in future movies and thus create sequels that feel like they’re just cashing in on the success of the first. Matt Reeves, while successfully focusing in on making one good movie, has also put the building blocks together for a grand universe. There are characters like Catwoman, Penguin and Carmine Falcone that are established already and whose presence feels natural. A history about Thomas and Martha Wayne that is fascinating to learn more about. It’s a whole city full of people and characters that I’m excited to explore. One where I’d love to visit even in a TV show setting without Batman in it, but am certainly excited for more Pattinson films with Reeves. We’ve done a lot of Gotham lately, but I want this to now be our definitive Gotham moving forward for the unforeseeable future.

If this movie wasn’t for you, that’s OK. I understand. Much like I understand how not everyone is crazy enough to have watched all 323 episodes of “Criminal Minds” or to have binged the first season of Fincher’s Netflix series “Mindhunter” in one evening. And I know I turned some heads by claiming “Joker” as my No. 1 movie of 2019 and one of my top movies of the 2010s decade as a whole. But if you know all of that about me, I hope you’ll understand why “The Batman” was made for me and why I loved every second of it. And you’ll also understand how I can write a 3,000 word review and still feel like I left things out, especially since this is a not a spoiler review and the final half of the film itself has plenty of content that could double the length of this review if I let it. I’ve tried to do shorter reviews recently. And I’ve posted a lot of them straight to Facebook instead of dedicating a whole post to them on this blog. But this is a situation where I couldn’t help but just use this blog as a platform to express everything that I want to about a movie that was made for me.

Again, if this is not your type of movie, that’s totally fine. But if you know that your taste aligns with mine in terms of things that I’ve mentioned, definitely run out to see this movie if you didn’t already contribute to its $134 million opening weekend. But one final thing that I’ll mention is that I honestly don’t think this is as dark of a movie as “The Dark Knight” is, so if that movie was too dark for you, I still think this is maybe a movie you should give a chance to? The violence has weight to it, but it’s not bloody or graphic. And while the movie is dark the whole run time in a literal sense of it taking place mostly at night, there is a lot of levity scattered throughout. Not like a Marvel movie, but I laughed more than I was expecting to. And thematically, the movie leaves with a sense of positivity and hope instead of feeling grim and weighed down with so much darkness. There’s a difference between being physically dark and being thematically dark and this movie isn’t as thematically dark as one might think, which is why the criticism of it being “too dark” is one that I vehemently disagree with.

Without diving into spoilers of the ending, there is an arc for Bruce Wayne wherein he is a much different Bruce Wayne at the end that, not unlike Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, might take us a few movies for him to figure out who he is and eventually become the Batman that we all know and love. And in turn may squash some concerns about him not being the Batman that some wanted him to be. I think there is patience to be had, but also the evidence of that being an eventual thing is right here in the movie and not just speculative. And if Matt Reeves pulls this franchise off like he did with his Planet of the Apes trilogy, I have no doubt that this specific franchise has the potential to wind up as the best individual Batman franchise that cinema has provided. It’s already off to the best start so far and I can’t want to explore it more. A movie that rivals “The Dark Knight” and outdoes the origins of “Batman Begins” is not what I was even expecting out of this, but it is exactly what we got. And I couldn’t be happier.

Grade: 10/10