The Batman
Director: Matt Reeves
Writer: Matt Reeves, Bob Kane (co-creator), Bill Finger (co-creator)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Peter Sarsgaard, John Turturro
Reason for watching: New Batman release
Number of times I’ve watched it: first time
***
Is it the cape? No. Is it that he used to play Edward in Twilight? No. Is it how literally dark everything is? No. It is because I’m tired of seeing Batman show up on screen and everyone doubling down on same the schtick. He is angry, hard-core, and in need of an outlet. Perhaps the brooding mental state and desire to punish criminals with his bare hands and solve their crimes used to attract me as a young male fan. But now I’m not so sure. When I rewatched The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises before The Batman came out two weeks ago, I kept thinking about how selfish Bruce was. He has all of this money and resources at his disposal, but instead he chooses to be a vigilante and spend money on fancy gadgets that only he knows how to use. Or maybe I just hated the riddler’s plan.
The Batman is the latest attempt at a franchise about the world’s greatest detective and his adventures in Gotham City. Batman (Robert Pattinson) finds himself chasing after a serial killer named the Riddler (Paul Dano) who leaves mysteries and clues at every crime scene, leading to a greater conspiracy. As he is pulled deeper into a winding conspiracy, Batman finds an unlikely ally in Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravtiz) as she has vendettas against crime bosses like Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and the Penguin (Colin Farrell). The more he learns about the terrible city he calls home in Gotham, Batman learns that his own family’s hands might be in mud as well.
First of all, I do not have any real complaints about the cast or any technical aspects. Yes, the movie is dark. But it’s striking a purposeful tone to show how helpless the situation is in Gotham. Cinematically, the camera moves in a flowing and athletic manner that is uncommon for a superhero movie. The score is strong as well, as Michael Giacchino delivers another ominous tone to follow the Caped Crusader around. Acting wise, there is not a bad performance among the cast. They are all seasoned or talented performers who brought their A-game for this movie.
Where I take real gripe with this movie (other than being sick of Batman in general) is that the Riddler’s plot goes in so many convoluted and complex directions that I cannot be certain what he has planned and what ends up happening. I cannot get into it too much without get spoiling the movie so I won’t. But know that the climax of the movie is trying to tell us one thing about Batman’s journey but the facts of what is happening tell me something else has happened by the time the credit rolls.
Sorry for the shorter review, folks. I think I am going to need to see this one another time before I can definitively rate and review it.
5/10
Until I see another one.