About the film (courtesy of Warner Bros.):
Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies—Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright)—amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.
When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
If I’m being completely honest here, I’ve been slightly irked for some time with how DC Comics and Warner Bros. just can’t get out of their own way and stay the course in terms of casting and timelines with their cornerstone franchises. For a while there was hope with the commitment (at least on the surface) to building the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) in a singular cohesive way with actors in their respective movies making appearances in over connected franchises, thus building a stronger base in which to grow.
Sadly, that has not been the case over the last decade, with Man of Steel (2013) kicking off this current iteration. In 2019, successful and well-received as it was, the Oscar-winning Joker was released into the wild but was not part of the DCEU. I suppose due to its success, why not step outside the DCEU again to see if lightning can strike twice? The Batman is the latest DC Comics/Warner Bros. release to try to blaze its own path to paydirt.
I’ll start by saying this, Matt Reeves won favor with me by not completely rehashing the origin story of Bruce Wayne, and more annoyingly, the demise of his parents. Been there, done that far too many times. Instead, we’re introduced to a Batman (Robert Pattinson) only two years on the job and is definitely still finding his way. In that regard, the story that Reeves is telling feels rather fresh.
Joining Robert Pattinson are Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano as this film’s main villain. The casting choices are a little up and down for me, starting with Pattinson. I was leery of the idea of him playing the role of The Batman, much in the same way I felt about Ben Affleck in the same role. But, after recalling his stellar work in Good Time (2017), I became more curious due to the dark, demanding intensity in which he had to bring in that film. And for the most part, he pulls of exactly what this violent vigilante needed to do to carry the scenes and win people over.
On the other side of this coin, his portrayal of Bruce Wayne is less inspiring. The saving grace here is that he’s behind the mask a lot more than he is being Bruce. I don’t know if he didn’t have that familiar feel to that alter ego, or if Reeves just decided that Bruce’s story and subsequent behaviors are just a footnote. Either way, color me not impressed. The same goes for Andy Serkis as Alfred. He just wasn’t given enough time and space to solidify his performances. Aside from that though, everyone else is solid, with Paul Dano being pretty much spectacular with his unhinged behavior. And if you didn’t know Colin Farrell was in The Batman, he’d probably go unnoticed. They did a wonderful job with his makeup.
Tonally and visually, The Batman is a very dark film. The sets and backgrounds are nicely done matches up very nicely with the vibe of what’s going on throughout. Even though this feature is “only” Rated PG-13, it plays much more mature than that. Keep this in mind if you’re planning on bringing younger children. The theme is definitely of an adult manner. Then there’s the massive runtime of almost three hours. You’ll want to account for that in your plans as well.
The Batman reminds me of Casino Royale (2006) in the way that the storied franchise wanted to bring in a new James Bond that didn’t exactly match up with what audiences were used to seeing in previous films. It took a beat for some to accept a less-polished Bond, played by Daniel Craig. When all was said and done though, the Craig era of Bond has become one of the most revered. And who knows, as long as DC Comics and Warner Bros. doesn’t cut bait and run, maybe we’ll be singing the praises of Robert Pattinson in the years to come. For now though, just sit back and watch this one with an open mind.
The Batman is opening up a bit earlier than the March 4th date that’s been plastered everywhere. You can see it starting this afternoon only in theaters.
