The Batman

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I like how Batman is depicted with a naive and loser POV from his rich high tower, a rich trust fund baby called out by both sane (Catwoman) and insane (Riddler) people while he remains oblivious until the consequences are literally flooding the city. While he uses the idea of Batman as a mantle for him to process trauma, his obliviousness to his own celebrity status and image creates unintentional side effects from his parents' death hogging the spotlight away from the people that mattered to his own nebulous idea of "vengeance" being co-opted by the goons, a heel-turn realization that eventually changes the rack focus, ultimately leading to a wider perspective and a selfless act of cutting the cord and helping others. Hope is more important than his idea of justice, in the end, empathy being the missing piece throughout. Instead of being a voyeur like Riddler during his master plan (Riddler binoculars on the mayor, Batman binoculars on Catwoman), he switches to being on the ground to help, no longer from his high castle. It's interesting how this arc plays out. At the beginning, it plays into this "badass" idea comic book fans love to gloat about Batman of striking fear into crime, but the way it's portrayed is frightening to everyone. It's a better criticism of Batman's fascism than BvS was going for, showcasing his fear to people who don't even deserve it, such as kids doing vandalism who probably believe the system is failing them, but to him at the beginning crime all looks the same. Honestly this film goes harder than Phantasm on the tragedy that is Bruce Wayne. They're inseparable by choice, to the point that Bruce basically is Batman even when not in the costume, a social recluse who can barely function in real life, listening to emo music and having rings around his eyes, a night owl to the extreme. The struggle is there even as Batman, literally smashing his face on a truck. There are some contradictions throughout thematically, however. It's weird how it goes between "it's the WHOLE system, all cops are pigs" to "it's just bad apples" simultaneously, displaying a somewhat cringe centrism. Catwoman by the end basically points it more to systemic (and Batman and Thomas Wayne's criticism of thinking they know better and actually makings things worse isn't undercut, which by itself is also institutional criticism), although it still feels like they could've done more. Maybe out of their hands by the studio or this as far as they could get away with vs. the producers (it almost felt like a struggle for Catwoman to outline her "eat the rich" mentality). Gotham itself is a mess of contradictions and it's OK to let the viewer lie between it all I guess. Also the relationship between Catwoman and Batman is kinda slimy and male-centric. Catwoman, while great as a character, functionally falls to Batman's controlling force with a forced romance in the second act. Sure they're both suffering from trauma but Batman was literally using her despite it all, it at least understands the power gap more in the third act. The end of the second act also spins its wheels a bit too much, the mystery pace kinda suffers a bit from focus and scenes get too drawn out (Riddler just disappears for a while). The movie could've been 20 minutes shorter. Doesn't stop it from having a terrific third act since most blockbusters have kinda sucked on that note Although speaking of Riddler, master class. Probably my favorite villain in a Batman film. The aesthetic was gorgeous. I love its color grading and architecture, still thinking of the Wayne tower and its metal grates, goth hallways, and insane attention to detail that gets blurred out intentionally in the frame for most of the movie by Bruce's obliviousness to the world. It also keeps a balance of evoking the black/white movies while still being colorful, more of flooded black and oranges. I think of that sequence with Penguin not mainly for the fight itself (which to me was a bit messy) but moreso the flooded orange of the fire being the only color creating a sorta gradient on the black car, and how the flare at the end matches that aesthetic, that one color illuminating Batman leading everybody else to exit the frame, like a light in the darkness. Lovely The music.... Giacchino just beat out his Incredibles score for me, masterful work with motifs, percussion, and rhythm. His mastery of percussion and horns during the lights out Batman hallway fight and how the horns blast, how well edited the percussion beat subtly goes through the Penguin chase and other fight sequences, Batman doesn't quite have a dance like Hong Kong films but the music makes it come close. The timpani and strings are so well used!!! Great use of Ave Maria both as soundtrack and score. Catwoman's motif? Amazing. The performances are great all around. Finally a film with Turturro that I don't hate him. He's well restrained and perfectly cast, his dickish attitude now a strong point making him very memorable with very little screen time, much like Farrell in the same film. Kravitz made me the closest to tearing up with how she visually handles conflicting emotions, I still think about that scene with the voicemail where her eyes are all over the place and has trouble keeping it all together. Dano as Riddler is terrific. Yep, this is my fav Batman film now.

“The Batman” Is A Very Engaging And Unforgettable Tale That Is One Of The Best Adaptations Of The Character Ever In 1989 Michael Keaton was seen as a very controversial choice to wear the Cowl of Batman but soon proved his doubters wrong by turning “Batman” and its subsequent sequel “Batman Returns” into massive Box Office success before leaving the cape behind. While four other actors have taken up the cinematic version of the character in the subsequent years, Keaton has remained for many the Gold Standard with Christian Bale likely being his biggest rival. When Robert Pattinson was named as the new Batman, there was interest but concern as an actor who is largely known for playing Edward in the “Twilight” films seemed to be an odd choice. However, I would say that anyone who has seen some of his recent work including his performance in “The Lighthouse” would be playing him a disservice by saying he was not up to the part. In “The Batman”, audiences are given a darker and more broken Bruce Wayne, an Emo recluse who is far from the Socialite he has been portrayed as for decades and a very sullen and withdrawn individual who does not exude charm or grace and even shows issues making eye-contact. When the Mayor of Gotham is killed shortly before the election by a mysterious individual known as “The Riddler” (Paul Dano), the vigilante known as “The Batman” is called in to help the police by Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). Gordon has been working with Batman for some time but it is clear that his association with him has not won him any favors with his fellow officers, many of which openly question his use and involvement in the crime scenes. Further complicating matters are clues left at the various crime locales that are addressed to The Batman and cause many to believe that he may be working with the very killer they are attempting to stop. As the investigation unfolds, the seedy side of Gotham City comes to light in the form of a missing girl who was photographed with the married Mayor and may well be the key to the investigation. Her disappearance leads her friend Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), to take on her Catwoman persona and delve deep into an underworld that features deadly individuals ranging from Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and The Penguin (Colin Farrell), amongst others as she and the Batman conduct their own investigations that at times overlap and further complicate matters. As the body count rises and Batman races to find the true method behind the madness of The Riddler, the tone becomes darker and more sinister in a deadly race against time. The film eschews the usual abundance of action sequences and glossy special effects which are common for Comic Book related films and instead gives audiences a slow-burning murder mystery that holds your attention from start to finish over its three-hour run time. The dark and foreboding tone of the film is brought home by the haunting and sharp piano keys of the film’s theme that permeates the film and punches home that this is a film clearly aimed at a more adult audience. Pattinson does a great job showing the deeply broken individual that is behind the mask and that Batman is the only form of escape or therapy that Bruce Wayne has due to his insistence on saving a city that many argue cannot be saved. He has strained his relationship at times with Alfred (Andy Serkis), caused damage to the financial stability and reputation of the family company in his quest for vengeance and justice, and has become a bitter and broken recluse in doing so. In many ways, it could be argued that his only socialization with others is as The Batman and his single-minded obsession is chilling to watch. Pattinson also handles the action sequences well as the film spaces them out to put the emphasis more on the man than the gadgets as they are kept to a minimum even during a thrilling chase with the new version of The Batmobile. The strong supporting cast works well with the film and Paul Dano gives a very compelling and disturbing version of his character which makes the film even darker and more engrossing. Director Matt Reeves has crafted a dark and foreboding tone and visual style as a good portion of the film takes place in the darkness and his screenplay is not afraid to take chances by putting the emphasis on the characters and their flaws versus an abundance of action and effects. I found this version of the character and interpretation more engrossing than prior versions of the film as the bold move to do a slow-burning and dark murder mystery versus an effect-laden action film reminded me of some of the better Batman stories such as Batman: The Killing Joke or Batman: The Long Halloween. The film is not going to be for everyone, especially younger viewers and some may take issue with the casting choices, but their performances shine and as such, “The Batman” was a very engaging and unforgettable tale that for me serves as one of the best adaptations of the character ever. 4 stars out of 5

> Enormous mass that is per se a riddle. Forget screenplay, it's a comic storyboard; Do you remember Rorschach, from Moore's Watchmen, ruminating in the sewers?, ok, transpolate Batman and it works! No way, here I go-monologue and comic dialogues (effective and practical like instant soup, with 2 percent protein), comic narration, that is functional, utilitarian, Bentham would say, with the ellipses and any speech or reasoning that requires 2 minutes of reflection, at most!, ""this whole city´s gonna come apart" says a District Attorney, scenic cuts and messy complexity...-entertaining but messy-comic, etc, ...it is a comic turned into a movie by someone who - I'm speculating, any resemblance to reality is purely by chance - was advised or made, or made comics in his life, don't you believe me? Ellipsis of all ellipses: "Alfred, you're not my father "At 23 minutes of tape, all the conflict of identity and belonging, as well as the purpose of the hero, under the sieve of the most selfish and mean son of millionaires, but let's forget this, let's continue. A Batman beating Kurt's velvety drum Cobain, -didn't tell the subversive c revolutionary adence of Cobain, to think like that I would have to know that grunge swept hardrock -finally in the 90s- and buried Motley Crue, Guns and Roses and others, (yes, I mentioned him, Cobain, and not Nirvana that did not exist, that's why when we die we are left without this specific type of grunge, I already digressed, anyway) but yes, this Batman is doubly omniscient, an ego the size of Gotham City authorizes him (a) not only to -his first omniscience- speaking in the first person of himself when running the plot, that is to say in the events, "I am revenge" he says to the subway gang members, (scene that is not better than Todd Phillips' Koker subway, for give another example) that this happened -the first person- almost in all the other versions that precede it,it is also included here -its omniscience, obviously- dominating forensic or medical terms: "eschimia"? ask Batman of course!, but to (b), his second omniscience, being the narrator of his exploits in the first person, this again leads us to an Alan Moore influence but, with all due respect, as a clericot of Alan's genius Moore. When Batman wants to see the Penguin, he just has to be like the Penguin, appear in the doorway and announce himself, and please, for the fun of the plot, Batman almost spouts a sentence "please tell me you won't let me in to unfold my money in the form of weapons hidden in my suit, and get in anyway. That is to say, the theatricality and the shadows of the bat, remained in the Babyboomer Generation or Generation X when the entrance was an "appearance" through shadows, suspicion and myth. The film is a complex mass because it is as if The Batman, The Batman 2 and 3 had been compressed and I am not only talking about the exhausting time of almost 3 hours, but also because of the number of common threads in which it was woven into a single feature film. For example, the plot increases its complexity first with a Riddler who is an anti-hero, because he indirectly helps Batman and the supposed common good and because of the premises that justify his murders, unmasking the big shots of the underworld at high levels of government, but later, arrested as Edward Nashton, he unmasks himself, that is, he turns himself in, sitting in that cafeteria just when, then yes, we will understand his "fine" intentions, and he becomes a true public order villain because he incites the revenge to the uncritical masses and followers of the disorder who have suffered or have resentments for any type of discrimination or corruption that they have suffered in Gotham city, (no more and no less than similar to the end of Todd Phillips' Joker);another complexity is with the cat The cat, I will not say Catwoman, who has her own drama for Kyle and at some point Batman leans on her, to spy on the Prosecutor and at least 2 times saves her from murdering her father Carmine Falcone and the his father's henchman. On the other hand, there is the added density or complexity of transcending and publishing the videos that show that the mother of Bruce Wayne, the mother of Batman had psychiatric problems in Arkham and hospitals and comes from a family that descendants who also had these difficulties and Thomas Wayne , trying to silence the journalist, he used the biggest thug Falcone. In other words, there is a possibility that Falcone, Catwoman's stepfather, is the one who murdered the Waynes that night because Batman's father was about to pity or denounce the next day that he only wanted to silence the journalist and NOT murder him as Falcone did. . In short, it is entertaining but poorly planned for a single feature film due to the enormous amount of detail that is handled.

I am so tired of superhero movies. Still, being down with a mild case of Corona, I wanted something to watch that'd go down easy, and The Batman was available, so I picked it. I have to say that this, to me, is one of the rare superhero movies that appeal to me. And that's after having seen every other Batman movie since Tim Burton's 1989 one. And, I dare say, even with me being fed up with superhero movies, I think this is the best attempt. At three hours, it feels like binge-watching a three-part miniseries. And by that I mean both that to the extent that it is three acts, they almost perfectly align with an hour each, and also that the pacing is great, and I never got bored. The cast is excellent. Also, for the first time ever, I'm not thinking that it's ridiculous that no one recognizes Bruce Wayne as Batman. The half-mask actually makes Bruce Wayne unrecognizable. I'm not sure if they thought of that during casting, but it's really quite impressive. It's also nice to not have to suffer through a pathetic attempt from Batman to make his voice sound cool. Oh dear, Christian Bale trying to look and sound cool was just so cringey. Robert Pattinson is by far the best Batman I've ever seen. The almost depressive mental torment he conveys does not come off as fake or pretension, and that's a first for the Batman franchise as far as I'm concerned. The mood is bleak without being depressive, the score is fantastic, if a bit too much, the cinematography is amazing, I really have very little to fault here. If anything, it may come off as a little pretentious and self-indulgent, but that's also part of the attraction, and if I'm being completely honest, I think it's more to do with my own "people need to grow up and stop watching these childish things" prejudice I have, when in fact the 15-year-old inside of me f...ing loves it, and I need to embrace that childish part of me rather than hate on it. If there's anything I would change about this movie, it's what I feel is somewhat of a PG-ification of Batman. I would love to see this movie with all its bleak desperation and lust for vengeance on the depravity and evil in the Gotham world, but with a seriously anti-hero, all-violent, bringer-of-death Batman. I would love to see him - in a more crude outfit, with less bells and whistles, and definitely without the cape - destroy, slay and kill, with exploration of the terrible aftermath it would bring, including the impact on his psyche, rather than the beat-up-and-let-go strategy that he is using in this movie. That part just feels to not align with both the doomish mood that sets the story and the seeming existential depression of our masked protagonist. I think that would warrant yet another installment in this franchise. I'm actually surprised how much meat there is on this character. Also, if the movie overall is consistently a bit too much, the ending takes it one notch further on that scale. Regardless, I now have two superhero movies that I keep in my movie collection. The other is Watchmen (Director's Cut). 1 star deducted for Catwoman being racist without it being presented as a problem. The casting of her is perfect, by the way. Much better than Michelle Pfeiffer.

The Batman is not a terribly bad movie, but it would be twice as good if it were half as long. How a film that likes to take shortcuts – especially with the Riddler’s ‘riddles’ – can still take almost three hours to get to where it’s going, I haven’t the foggiest (but then this is a rather strange enterprise that gives us Andy Serkis in the flesh and covers Colin Farrell in prosthetic makeup and a fat suit). Director/co-writer Matt Reeves very wisely avoids origin stories and takes for granted relationships, which have already been well established in a decades-long canon, between certain characters; on the other hand, he allows his movie to become bogged down at the halfway point in a deluge of backstory. The obvious problem is that there is enough material here for at least two films, and Reeves attempts to cram it all into a single one. Why? We all know there are going to be sequels, so why not save some for the next chapter? Or better yet, why not leave some of it on the cutting room floor? There is absolutely no reason for the Penguin to be in this movie; he might as well be the Imperceptible Man (an actual Batman villain, mind you) for all that he’s given to do. Catwoman has been pretty much played out, and as far as the Riddler, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Jim Carrey did a much better job with the role than does Paul Dano – an otherwise fine actor that inexplicably chose to play the character as the bastard child of Heath Ledger’s Joker and Tom Hardy’s Bane. That leaves Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), who provides the most intriguing plot points; why not make him the main, or even – dare I say it – only villain? Now, The Batman is long enough to try the patient of a saint, but at least it’s great to look at. Like the first Tim Burton Batman (as described by the unerring Roger Ebert), it “is a triumph of design over story, style over substance - a great-looking movie with a plot you can’t care much about.” Gotham City in particular is a winning combination of Burton’s faux noir texture and Christopher Nolan’s plausible architecture. The best scenes involve Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) – and indeed Pattinson has an uncanny knack for playing off veteran character actors – as a sort of pre-Robin dynamic duo; their adventures are poignant because they appear to happen in the real world, or at least as real as a world can be wherein a grown man disguises himself as a giant bat (compare last year’s Zack Snyder's Justice League, with its unending CGI assault on the senses).