Synopsis

From Rotten Tomatoes:

Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

Review

I wanna start this review with a quick poll… 

Question 1: who here has seen the 2019 film Joker? (*Everyone raises their hands cuz everybody and they mama went to see that damn movie) 

Question 2: Who here has seen the trailer for this new Batman film? (*again, everyone and they mama) 

Question 3: Who, when they saw the trailer for this Batman, thought “Are they trying to make another Joker?” (For this one, I anticipate a slow hand raise from most everyone because I don’t know if people will want to admit it)…

When I first saw the trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, I was astonished. I loved the trailers for this movie, but especially the first one (The shot where Batman is fighting some guns and the scene is completely lit by gunfire… gorgeous). I loved it, but I couldn’t shake the worry that this would be derivative or familiar. I know that Joker was not the first movie to have a dark tone, but for comic book movies, a tone as dark and disturbing as that film’s was unheard of. So, I was very pleased to find out that while The Batman has a similar dark, gritty feel, it stands alone as it pushes the idea of what we know comic book movies to be. The dark tone is so right for the movie  and so addictive. There were honestly some moments that scared me (the opening scene, especially). This new Batman film is, in my opinion, the best Batman film, aside from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. 

On every level (save for writing…. This film is not without its problems, unfortunately), this film excels. I want to start by looking at the technical aspects of the film. Visually, this is possibly the most arresting comic book film I’ve ever seen. I think the cinematography from Greig Fraser (who also did the cinematography for last year‘s Dune… yea) is absolutely gorgeous and unique. I will say that there were three or four shots that annoyed me because of how shallow the focus was, but that’s really nitpicky. Every single frame in this film is stunning, honestly. I am a sucker for good visuals, so I really appreciated that. Also, some of the big action set pieces are astonishing. The car chase between the penguin and the Batman is one of the best action scenes I’ve seen in recent years. That was stunning. The score also is very foreboding and strong but also very effective. 

The design and look of the film is also interesting to discuss. Because the film is set in the earlier stages of Batman‘s life (the focuses on a younger Bruce Wayne), we see Gotham city before it hits its point of no return. Strangely, The city still has some life. It’s not the completely drab and gloomy Gotham City from Batman films past. I thought it was very interesting to set and design the film in that way.

Now we have to talk about the writing… The film is not poorly written. I just feel that the film is not structured in an affective enough way. In saying that, I mean that many of the chunks of the film that involve dialogue and exposition are placed close to each other and are too plentiful. The film is really exposition dump-y. There’s a chunk of the film in the middle that is almost an hour long and has very little action and a lot of talking. The talking is not bad talking, it’s just that there’s a lot of talking which is more the issue. 

That leads me to my next critique (more of a question than a critique, honestly)… I am not sure if this film needs to be as long as it is. The film sustains a two hour and 55 minute run time, and while that two hours and 55 minutes is very entertaining, it is still very much two hours and 55 minutes. I only say that it’s more of a question, however, because though I feel that it could be shorter, I don’t know what I would do to make it shorter. Nothing feels like it’s extra or superfluous. Everything feels purposeful. Everyone feels relevant. It’s just a lot, and it may or may not be too much. I honestly haven’t decided yet. 

Enough of the negative. Let’s get back to the positive. The performances are all great. Robert Pattinson does an excellent job as Bruce Wayne and Batman (they’re essentially 2 different characters). I slightly wish we saw a bit more of him as Bruce Wayne than as Batman, but his performance is so effective as both that I didn’t mind it. Zoe Kravitz also does a fantastic job. The two of them work very well together, but I will say that their teamwork chemistry is a bit stronger than their romantic chemistry. I will leave it at that. All of the villains also do a great job, but I have to shout out Paul Dano who plays the Riddler. He scared the fuck out of me. I am going to be honest. The opening scene… I was kind of terrified.

All in all, Matt Reeves’ The Batman is an imperfect but still stunning achievement. I don’t know that I’ve seen a PG-13 film that has pushed that PG-13 boundary more than this…