Fourteenth Review: The Batman
It’s been almost a month since this movie came out, which is pretty early to be talked about on here, but late enough for me to talk about spoilers. I will try to keep most spoilers in the second half of this post.
Plot Synopsis: In his second year of being the Batman, Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) faces a new threat in Gotham city: the Riddler (Paul Dano). With the help of Police LIeutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), his butler Alfred (Andy Serkis), and Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), the Batman has to solve the Riddler’s riddles to protect his city.
I’ll start this review by saying that I am a Batman fan. I’ve read some Batman comics, seen many animated and live action movies, and I even dressed up as the Bat for Halloween as a first grader. So on one hand, I feel very qualified to review this movie, but on the other hand, I am (definitely) biases toward this movie (also, Riddler was one of my favorite Batman villains before I even saw this movie). I’ll do my best to be a fair critic, but long story short, I thought this movie was exceptional.
I’ll start without spoilers. First up, acting. Every performance in this movie fit perfectly. Pattinson plays a young, violent and vengeful Bruce Wayne who is still figuring out how to be the guardian that Gotham needs. Paul Dano steals any scene he’s in with his creepy yet strong voice. No actor stood out as someone who was just phoning it in or putting on a goofy performance for a superhero movie. Second, setting. This is the grossest, dankest, and crime-ridden Gotham to ever be shown on screen (including the one in Joker). This vision of Gotham perfectly reflects the corruption that unveiled throughout the course of the movie. Instead of looking like New York City or a set, Gotham looks like a unique city whose only possible saving grace is the Batman. One more thing before spoilers, the soundtrack. The music to this movie fits the look of the movie flawlessly. Batman’s theme is dark and epic, but is also is used more subtly throughout the movie. Ave Maria is used multiple times throughout the film with its beautifully sounding melody contrasting the dark and gritty Gotham.
I will now get into spoilers. If you don’t want anything spoiled, skip below the picture of the Riddler.
One of the best parts of this movie was Batman’s character. In most Batman movies, Bruce Wayne gets more character development. In this movie however, Bruce Wayne’s character is secondary to the Batman’s. One of the first scene in the movie shows a bunch of different criminals around Gotham who are so afraid of Batman that they start to see him in every alley and shadow. The scene ends with Batman coming out of one of the shadows, revealing himself to be “vengeance”. The Batman wants the criminals of Gotham to fear him. Near the end of the movie, when asked who he is, one of the Riddler’s followers responds with “vengeance”. In this moment, the Batman realizes the true influence that he’s had on Gotham. In the scene following, Batman helps injured Gothamites in stretchers, trying to show a more peaceful side to Gotham. I’ll leave my review at that for now (I’m running out of words).
I was waiting for this movie ever since the first trailer dropped and the pay-off was definitely worth the wait. I don’t like giving half scores, but I’m going to give The Batman a 9.5/10. Go watch this movie.
I am so excited to actually see this movie in theaters! It has been so long, what with COVID and all. The degree to which reviews on this movie differ are insane. I have not seen anyone act like they hate the movie, but mixed reviews are prevalent. A great deal of people probably have a bias against Robert Pattinson for his past (“Twilight”). I’ve noticed a large amount of anti-Pattinson rhetoric is tied to the “Twilight” franchise, which is not fair to him as an actor when he has so many more movie credits than just that. I like that you differentiated the character development between the Batman and Bruce Wayne in this movie and other Batman movies as well. That definitely gives me something to look out for when I watch this movie for myself. Great work!
I actually watched this with my brother over spring break and for the most part I agree with you. I really thought the setting stood out in the sense that this movie finally seemed to portray Gotham accurately in comparison to previous DC projects. The city absolutely showed how it needed someone to step up and help. Paul Dano stood out to me as The Riddler. I think something about how he portrayed him as both calculating and menacing, while maintaining the strange and unnerving childlike behaviour really sold the character. I also really like that you mentioned the soundtrack, I agree that the use of Ave Maria was genius because it was kept versatile even though the nature of the piece makes it seem like it would be an ill-fit for Batman.
In any depiction of Batman, I feel that the portrayal of Gotham City is really important. Driving home a stereotypical grimy, dark, and crime-ridden American city lends itself well to the overarching theme of any superhero film, Batman especially. I also appreciate the movie’s depiction of Bruce Wayne’s earlier years as Batman. It drives the plot very well to see him start to dynamically transform as a character into the quick-witted and intelligent Batman we’ve seen actors such as Adam West play. All in all, while I’m not too terribly interested in superhero movies, the memories of watching the old Batman tv show with my dad will always be with me, so I’ll always appreciate the world of Batman.