The Batman (Matt Reeves)

[Philip J. Fry]

Trailer:
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IMDb / wiki / RT / Metacritic

[StuSmallz]

I just saw this a couple of days ago, and I don't quite have as much to say about it as I was hoping I would, but that's not because I didn't like it; on the contrary, because I actually liked it quite a bit on the whole. Rather... [

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my lack of thoughts is more a natural result of how familiar an experience The Batman was at times, not just with the obvious inspiration it took from Nolan's Bat-trilogy (particular during a scene where another famous Batbaddie broadcasts his sadistic hostage-taking), but also from David Fincher's murky "serial thrillers", and even the elaborate death traps of the Saw movies, which resulted in the film feeling more derivative than it should have, especially coming from a director as skilled with blockbusters as Matt Reeves has proven himself to be.


However, despite that, and the fact that its somewhat convoluted plot and nearly 3-hour runtime both could've done with a little bit of pruning, The Batman still succeeds as meaty, intelligent, and engaging blockbuster filmmaking throughout, the kind that's disappointingly uncommon in modern Hollywood, as Reeves showcases his knack in directing memorable setpieces, and fully leans into the rich iconography and symbolism that's made its central character such an enduring figure in pop culture, creating a moody, thrilling experience that ultimately proves to be (mostly) worth the afternoon I spent to watch it. And, while its creative choices can't help but keep it somewhat in the shadow of The Dark Knight, which still remains the franchise's high water mark to date, The Batman still manages to be the runner-up Batfilm for me for now, and a strong foundation to build higher upon for whenever the inevitable sequel comes out; bring on some more cinematic battiness, baby!

]

[StuSmallz]

Also, one thing I didn't care for was the way that it hinted at yet ANOTHER version of The... [

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...Joker ready to emerge at the end; not only is it obvious sequel bait (something I'm already tired of in Superhero movies), and another element cribbed off of The Dark Knight trilogy, but I'm just tired of seeing the character at all in general. Like, part of the reason why Ledger's Joker was so impactful was that it had been nearly twenty years since we'd seen that character in a Batman movie, given us time to get eager for a new version, but then they give us Leto's Joker less than a decade later, then Phoenix's Joker, and now we're getting ANOTHER version of the character just a few years after that. It's like, I love the character too, but we need to give him a break for a while; there are other Batbaddies out there, you know!

]

[Ezee E]

Described this in my Letterboxd as, "The most BATMAN Batman," in that it truly focuses on Batman rather than the villains involved. I suppose Batman Begins does it too, but I really liked how this just went with him already being established in a very seedy Gotham City.

I'd be totally fine if Zoe got her own thing out of this too.

[transmogrifier]

Batman Returns > Batman (1989) > The Batman > The Dark Knight Rises > solidly good movies > The Dark Knight > Joker > Lego Batman > Batman Begins > Batman Forever > Batman & Robin.

Haven't seen Batman (1966) or Batman vs. Superman.

[Philip J. Fry]

Batman Returns > Batman (1989) > The Batman > The Dark Knight Rises > solidly good movies > The Dark Knight > Joker > Batman Begins > Batman Forever > Batman & Robin.

Haven't seen Batman (1966) or Batman vs. Superman.

No Mask of the Phantasm?

[transmogrifier]

No Mask of the Phantasm?

Haven't seen that. But you have reminded me to add in Lego Batman

[Philip J. Fry]

Haven't seen that. But you have reminded me to add in Lego Batman

You've got to watch that one (and Under the Red Hood).

[Morris Schæffer]

Finale isn't the movie's strongest aspect. So Riddler's [

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end game is to turn this into a Roland Emmerich flick ?!

]

Been reading a lot of reports about folks who are ecstatic about this finally being a batman detective story, but it's hardly as gripping as Se7en. Clues are deciphered with remarkable ease and it doesn't help we know right from the start who the culprit is.

And the movie's grounded approach just doesn't align with Batman talking a double barreled shogun blast to the chest and still living. Or being inches from an explosion and still living.

I mean, I liked it a lot in spite of that, but sometimes I just fucking wish I'd see a blockbuster and didn't have to have second thoughts about it. No yeah buts, just sheer transformative movie magic.

[Morris Schæffer]

Btw that Shot of Batman finally flying was astounding, epic... And then he [

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hit a bus for silly comic effect. Wish they left that out.

]

[transmogrifier]

I like that he fucked that up. It shows that he is still learning the ropes. However, the entire third act is a snooze and just ends like all other superhero movies with random destruction by the bad guy and faceless goons and a lot of stupidity. It was really good up until then.

[Morris Schæffer]

I like that he fucked that up. It shows that he is still learning the ropes.

Valid point. I guess it ruined that moment a bit for me because it was visually insane. Also because it looked like for a brief moment this immensely grounded superhero movie turned into a road runner cartoon, where the nastiest falls/collisions do virtually nothing.

[transmogrifier]

Valid point. I guess it ruined that moment a bit for me because it was visually insane. Also because it looked like for a brief moment this immensely grounded superhero movie turned into a road runner cartoon, where the nastiest falls/collisions do virtually nothing.

That's a problem throughout the film. Like...why do you even need to have bad guys shoot him point blank in the chest with a shotgun and have him shrug it off in the first place? It makes it hard to suspend disbelief. Like... just have him be wary of being shot in the chest point blank with a shotgun and like, avoid it? For some reason, superhero films really need their superheros to defy physics, common sense, etc. just in case the audience mistakes them for ordinary boring fucking human beings with bones and blood and shit.

[Pop Trash]

I mean, I liked it a lot in spite of that, but sometimes I just fucking wish I'd see a blockbuster and didn't have to have second thoughts about it. No yeah buts, just sheer transformative movie magic.

I agree. I think it's better directed than written. I like the look of this and what Reeves is doing in theory, I just wish the detective work was more interesting. Less deciphering clues from the Riddler and more trying to figure out and profile who/what/where the Riddler is. Zodiac (which is an influence here) had them tracking down a house with a basement in California (a rarity) among other things through a process of deduction. I also had a hard time believing a guy like this iteration of the Riddler would have some clone army dressed up like him to conveniently dispatch. It would be like if there were a bunch of John Does from Se7en (also an influence here) running around committing conceptual homicides for him. I do like all the corruption in Gotham City. John Tuturro as an aging mafia leader effectively running the city with an interchangeable corrupt system of mayors and DAs all on his payroll.

[[ETM]]

I can't say I disagree with anything you guys said, but MAN was this way, WAY too long. A friend literally dozed off and my wife was checking her phone throughout the second half. It feels like there could be a two, two and a half hour cut made out of this without losing anything of substance - just shortening the shots that go on for far too long with no particular purpose. In the end, my favorite thing in the movie was probably the sound of the Batmobile.

[Mal]

Cast is all pretty great... save Paul Dano who I never like in anything. Its a mild nay from me, mainly because this movie is too fucking long and its finale was stupid (giving me The Dark Knight Rises vibes from its awful football field destruction). But I dug Pattinson as Batman. He's not a Bruce, but he's really solid under the mask and performing under all that hardware. Zoe Kravitz probably gave my favorite performance. Their chemistry was there and her ability to somewhat tell the backstory for all of this from her presence alone, without feeling forced in as a device, was admirable. Mob stuff wasn't well written, yet Penguin's brief moments showed me a glimpse of how better off the movie would have been by having him in a more central role. I wouldn't mind a sequel... a shorter one, please. And give Jeffrey Wright more to do as Gordon.

[StuSmallz]

Valid point. I guess it ruined that moment a bit for me because it was visually insane. Also because it looked like for a brief moment this immensely grounded superhero movie turned into a road runner cartoon, where the nastiest falls/collisions do virtually nothing.

Don't forget about the moment when [

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Penguin's car did a million crazy flips when the Batmobile rammed it, and yet he walked away with seemingly zero injuries; c'mon, movie...

]

[Morris Schæffer]

Don't forget about the moment when [

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Penguin's car did a million crazy flips when the Batmobile rammed it, and yet he walked away with seemingly zero injuries; c'mon, movie...

]

Yeah, it fell just on the wrong side of crazy and I'd be more ok with that if this was Fast & Furious 14.

[Philip J. Fry]

[Skitch]

Really enjoyed it. As for runtime, I expected lots of long sweeping shots of Gotham, but I only saw a few shots that needed trimmed. I would maybe cut 10 minutes. I thought it was actually fairly dense for its runtime.

[transmogrifier]

You don't think that entire third act was tacked on and generic?

[Skitch]

You don't think that entire third act was tacked on and generic?

Generic perhaps, I wouldn't argue that. I thought it was a bit of a copy of TDK 3rd act, in that, villain attempting to manipulate others into doing villainous stuff. I didn't think it was tacked on though, because it followed through on the vengeance theme and altered the arc of the character.

I'm not really defending any of this, I'm just giving first impressions and I know I'm the literal worst person to ask for critisms of this stuff lol

[Milky Joe]

That's a problem throughout the film. Like...why do you even need to have bad guys shoot him point blank in the chest with a shotgun and have him shrug it off in the first place?

To be fair, he was entirely immobilized from that blast until he forced himself to use the adrenaline shot. I liked the fact that all the goons brought rifles ("rifles are good"), so Bats was probably not expecting a shotgun in that moment.

I had a lot of problems with the plotting, but man what a great production overall. It was too long but I could have watched more of it, if that makes sense. Great noir vibe, great music. I saw this in Dolby cinema and the place was absolutely quaking for the car chase.

[Grouchy]

I feel like I owe it a second watch to fully digest a lot of stuff but overall I really liked this. It's no masterpiece, and it's certainly long to a fault, but Reeves succeeded in building the noir, pulpy atmosphere I anticipated. It only goes "beam in the sky" at the very end, in which literally the Bat fights a hanging wire. The marketing around the Bat and the Cat is well justified because they had genuine chemistry together. Farrell/Penguin MVP, look forward to see him chompin' on a cigar.

[Skitch]

I described it to a friend as "It's like Dark City and Seven had a one night stand and the basterd came out wearing a cape."