So last night I went to go see Matt Reeves' The Batman.
And it was worth every penny I paid for the ticket. This is a different kind of Batman movie. You want to come into this movie pretending like you have no prior knowledge of Batman or any of his rogues gallery. Because this is a very unique interpretation.
The Characters
Firstly, Robert Pattinson does an amazing job as Bruce Wayne/Batman. This movie is set in the second year of Batman's career, so he isn't really the grizzled Caped Crusader, yet. No one trusts him, and criminals mock him instead of running away. Bruce Wayne is just a character he plays to gain leverage against criminals. Most of the time we see Bruce Wayne, he still has his eye makeup on and is covered in sweat and dirt. And despite the fact that no one is really scared of him yet, this movie does a great job of painting Batman as a slasher villain to criminals. He has his own musical queue, he walks slowly, and you can hear every press of his boot against the ground. And no one can beat him hand-to-hand. At this point in his career, Batman is more of an obsessive rich guy running around in a suit beating up criminals.
Alfred is far more of a father figure to Bruce than we've ever seen him onscreen. Even moreso than Michael Caine in The Dark Knight trilogy. He doesn't really believe in all of this Batman stuff, yet, and he's reluctant to help Bruce out.
Selina Kyle (who's never referred to as Catwoman) is also there for most of the movie. She's a perfect character - except when both her and Batman are onscreen. The romance between them feels really forced, however the movie leaves it ambiguous whether she actually likes him, or if she's just playing him to get what she wants.
But the best character in this movie by far, is the Riddler.
Matt Reeves was the perfect director for this movie. This interpretation of the Riddler is more of a hodgepodge of a couple real-life American serial killers and criminals. He stalks people and breaks into their houses like the Golden-State Killer. But he's also an insanely intelligent, yet disturbed outcast who's deeply obsessed with ciphers, bombs, and riddles. Like the Unabomber. And then he hosts insane livestreams, and has his own radicalized online fanbase like more modern killers. Make no mistake, he's still terrifying and unpredictable. Whenever he's physically onscreen, he hides in the shadows, and is brutally violent. And Batman doesn't even catch him. He gets caught on purpose and stays in Arkham for the rest of the movie. This is probably the most grounded and realistic interpretation of the character. He's a mixture of some of the most insane and unbelievable real-life criminals, and those twisted fucks you meet on an online chatroom at 3AM. Once he's unmasked, he starts making these insane facial expressions and repeatedly screams like he's autistic. And at first, its hard not to laugh at the absurdity, until you realize that its not supposed to be funny. The movie is just conveying that this guy has more than a few screws missing.
Picture this face, but more goofy looking...
The story is also pretty solid. It's early in Batman's career and there's a crazy guy in a mask terrorizing the city. This movie really knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat. It leaves a lot of things ambiguous, and is really good at pulling the rug out from under you. The opening scene of this movie is a first-person view of some binoculars spying on someone in a big house. Clearly this movie is getting right into the action, with Batman hot on the heels of an obvious criminal. Then the guy gazes up at the skylight, and you slowly start to realize that this isn't Batman.
At one point, you think that the Riddler has just brutally killed some random rich guy, but the next scene reveals that it was THE MAYOR of the city. There's a scene where Selina comes across a heavy-hitting criminal and he treats her like an old flame. And you obviously would conclude that she's probably seducing him. But then it turns out to be something completely different. Sometimes the movie fakes you out for what seems like no narrative reason. This movie is a thrill ride, and feels far closer to Seven or Zodiac, than any other Batman movie. Which is strange, because David Fincher has nothing to do with this movie.
My favorite thing this movie does is not treat the audience like they're stupid. This is probably the first on-screen movie that even features Batman, that doesn't show us the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. The movie assumes that you've seen a Batman movie before, and don't need to know where he came from. Also, the aspects of the story that are grounded in realism (no one saying "Catwoman", and people thinking Batman is just a crazy LARPer) make the fantastical parts (Riddler screaming like a madman, the Batmobile) stick out far more than they would in a regular comic-book movie.
Also this movie ends with the first (unless you count The Dark Knight Rises) on-screen adaptation of No Man's Land.
Everyone's least favorite Batman story...
Flooding the city and causing rampant death and chaos is the Riddler's ultimate goal. And he succeeds. From behind bars. This Riddler is a perfect representation of a Batman villain in a realistic setting. He's obsessive and insanely intelligent to a point where he's interesting. But he's also strange and violent enough to be revolting. You wouldn't want to come across this guy.
Final Verdict
GO SEE THIS MOVIE. 7 out of 10.
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