Robert Pattison and company deliver a compelling, dark, and refreshing addition to the franchise that warrants more.
I love Batman. By far he’s my favorite superhero. He’s human, he’s intelligent, he’s naturally built his strength and tactical responses, and he maintains his personal life to a degree. He is the everyman.
In this addition to the DC Cinematic Universe, Director Matt Reeves shows us a period we haven’t seen before. Not so much an origin story but rather the middle piece we often gloss over. We’ve seen the childhood struggle in flashbacks, the parents killing in the alleyway, and then his ascent to a great superhero – what we haven’t seen are his teen years and the years he hid away from the public eye while building himself up after his tragic loss.
The Batman – picks up with a dark, broody teen/tween batman trying to find his way through the pain and forge a path all his own to right the wrongs in his city of Gotham. We see some familiar characters but in different capacities. Commissioner Gordon isn’t commissioner yet, Catwoman is just becoming herself, Penguin hasn’t risen to the heights of Danny DeVito’s portrayal, and The Riddler sets forth a plan unlike any other.
As the main baddie, The Riddler ushers in a plan that literally brought me to the edge of my seat. Combined with a runtime of two hours and 56 minutes, Reeves’ interpretation delivered a powerful story of redemption, family, corruption, and new beginnings.
This film wields its star power masterfully as each participant manages individual and ensemble scenes with edge and grace. Starring Robert Pattison as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nash/The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot/Penguin – the entry into the lexicon packs a punch.
Unlike earlier iterations of the Batman story and even the Gotham tv series on Fox, this entry moves the story for3ward with new information that sets in motion what’s really happening in Gotham in real-time.
Much like what Christopher Nolan did for the titular character by making it more real and less campy, Reeves doubled down and added: “a more personal narrative that rocked Batman to his core.” He has stated in interviews that he wanted to explore how the “Batman mythos could exist in the real world,” and chose to set the film during the “second year of Batman’s career rather than retell the character’s origin story”, as he wanted his take to be different from previous Batman films.
He succeeded.
The tone, message, and visuals definitely set this entry apart from the rest. If you are a Batman fan, I believe you will love or grow to love this story despite its existence in Earth-2 outside of the DCEU.
So many moments in this film do the work of moving the story further along than those stories canon to the DCEU. We learn so much more about the villains and how the heroes, villains, and antiheroes are connected – a big plot device – CONNECTION.
So many unexplored connections are revealed in this film. I won’t give anything away, but pay attention to who knows who and why – It’s a real scene-stealer.
This film is worth the hype. I have to admit I wasn’t sure how this was going to go and I hoped I wouldn’t be bored with origin details played by different people. I have to say I left the theater in the dead of night very excited by what I saw.
Check out The Batman today and treat yourself to a deep, twisted tale about a familiar family and an undeniable hero.
The Batman is now playing and only in theaters.
