The Batman Review (Spoilers)

 

So I had the pleasure of seeing Matt Reeves' The Batman early on March 1st and I couldn't contain myself to talk about this film in detail. I've been a fan of Batman since my childhood and I've watched every live-action movie, most of the animated movies, and read a few comics as well so it's no surprise that I was so excited for this film. This review will contain spoilers so read at your own caution.

The thing I enjoyed most out of this film is the atmosphere. I know a lot of the film critics out here compare it to Seven or Chinatown, but I never seen any of those movies so it just feels wholly unique to me. This is a noir film. The lighting is dark and there's constant rain throughout. The Batman also focuses a lot on Batman's detective skills. Other live-action films in the past have barely touched on that part, but this is a straight detective story. Batman is analyzing clues, solving riddles, and casing buildings. It feels so great to see Batman actually be a detective in theaters for once. This is his first case however so he does make mistakes and gets things wrong sometimes, but it's so exciting to see him work his way through the case. I do wish however we could've seen Bruce work through the riddles and clues a little longer. It felt like he figured things out a bit too quickly. Matt Reeves did say there was a longer cut so I hope when this comes to Blu-Ray there will be a four hour version where it elaborates on the detective work.

Zoe Kravitz does a superb job as Selina Kyle.

The Batman also takes some inspiration from The Long Halloween and not in a superficial way like with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. There are some plot elements taken directly from the source material without making it an adaptation like for example the first murder taking place on Halloween. Selina Kyle at one point in the movie wears one of her outfits from Year One. There were probably some other references and Easter eggs from other Batman media that I didn't catch, but that'll leave me with something to look for on my second viewing.

It should go without saying, but this film is not for feint of heart. It's not really kid friendly. This is Batman. I feel funny typing this out, but I saw a couple of early reviews that gave it a negative score just because it wasn't kid friendly. I thought the trailers would've given that away along with the last few live-action Batman films. This film is dark and exuding with style. It honestly feels like a horror movie at parts with some of The Riddler scenes. The opening scene where Riddler appears in the mayor's house and he's just eerily standing behind him in the shadows, and then proceeded to beat him to death with a carpet tool felt straight out of a horror movie. The score also contributed to the tone. Like other Batman films the music is spectacular ranging from bombastic, to solemn, and creepy each piece is engaging pulling you into the scene and world of Gotham City. Michael Giacchino did a superb job. 

The sound team deserves praise here as well as the sound effects are one of the best things about this movie. Punches feel brutal due to the crunch sound effects and the introduction of the Batmobile is so great in partial due to the loud engine revs. You feel every sound in your bones. Phenomenal job on the sound design.

Colin Farrell unrecognizable as The Penguin and Robert Pattinson as Batman.

The cast is also a strong point here. Robert Pattinson portrays what is possibly the best live-action Batman to date. This Batman is in his early years only being a vigilante for two years and has not yet gotten his Bruce Wayne persona yet. He doesn't like being Bruce Wayne and just wants to spend every moment being Batman. I also like how it touches on Bruce being a bit out of touch with most of society and sees a lot of crime as just black and white. There was a conversation between Gordon and Batman where Batman told him another cop was dirty and he ended up dead and Batman says "Maybe he wasn't the person you think he was," and Gordon says "You're saying that like he had it coming." Selina also criticizes Batman's views when she says something to the effect of "You must've grown up rich if you think like that." This Batman is going to have room for development when the inevitable sequel comes.

Speaking of Zoe Kravitz, Zoe does a damn good job as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. She gets the sexiness down pat and the toughness. We even get a bit of the seduction aspect of Selina during the club scene. In this story she is not Catwoman yet, but the seeds are planted and I'm sure at the end she'll be building a reputation in Bludhaven. Zoe and Rob have great chemistry. Right now Zoe Kravitz is probably in my top three actors to portray Catwoman with Michelle Pfeifer and Grey DeLisle being the other two. Also, rest in peace to Naya Rivera whose last role was Catwoman in Batman: The Long Halloween. Selina in The Batman fits well enough into the story, but I do feel like the kiss was rushed. It was hilarious however when the audio of Thomas Wayne's campaign ad kicked in right afterwards with "I'm Thomas Wayne and I approve this message." Although this movie is dark it still has a few funny moments throughout. The kiss was a small gripe. If it was me I would've saved it for the end of the movie or for the sequel.

 

The Riddler's first victim.

 

Another outstanding performance is Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon. Jim and Batman feel close in this, like partners really. Their interactions with one another is a joy to watch and I also have to give credit for the script for that. Most of the dialogue feels natural which sometimes even in the Nolan movies it could try to sound poetic at times. I've watched this once so far, but I can't remember anything sounding too much like the writer was trying to be cool, but yeah Batman and Jim Gordon are really good in this. This is my first time seeing Colin Farrell in anything, but he did a great job as The Penguin. His portrayal of Penguin is more like an Italian mobster which is way off from Danny Devito's sewer freak Penguin. Actually, if Tim Burton didn't direct Batman Returns and it had a more serious tone I could see Danny Devito doing just as good of a job as Colin Farrell does here. Danny Devito was in The Goodfellas after all. I was also surprised by John Tutoro as Falcone. I guess I just couldn't get his roles in Transformers and Do the Right Thing out of my head, but he gave convincing gangster in this and Paul Dano as Riddler, outstanding. Just outstanding from a physical point he's creepy and he also comes across as weird. Everyone in this movie does a great job.

The cast at the red carpet premier.

As far as the story goes The Batman touches on the theme of vengeance. The most obvious part being Batman inflicting his own vengeance on the criminals of Gotham as a way or working through his trauma and holding up the legacy of his parents. You also have Riddler who was inspired by Batman to clean up the corruption in Gotham and then there's Catwoman who wants to strike vengeance upon Falcone for killing her mother and abandoning her as a child. The way all of this ties together is cool, but I'm not certain how I feel about the flood at the end of the movie. If Riddler's goal was to kill politicians and corrupt people then flooding the city would've killed a bunch of innocent people. You could waive it away as just it doesn't have to make sense Riddler is crazy, but that comes across as flimsy. The Joker does stuff like that just because, but The Riddler had a goal and was trying to make a point and that part didn't align with it. It's not a big issue and I still enjoyed those scenes, but I just wanted to throw that out there.

The pacing of the movie was excellent. The movie didn't feel like it was three hours long at all. There were just a couple parts where it felt like the movie was about to end, but it didn't but I was believe that was solely because of the music selection in those scenes. I'm not sure how to describe, but the song they used a couple times towards the end sounded like those songs many movies use when the credits are about to role. It might've been the opening theme of the movie, but if you use it again towards the end it gives the impression to the audience that the movie's ending. If they just used a different piece I doubt a lot of the critics would be saying that they felt the length or that it felt like it was going to end a couple times before it did.

All in all I definitely recommend everyone to go see this film. You'll have a great time and won't regret spending the money. For those interested I made a tier list video ranking every piece of Batman media I've seen in anticipation of this movie. You can check it below: