I won’t make you read very long before I give you my reaction, this is The Batman we have all grown up reading in the comics and wishing we could see on the Silver Screen. Robert Pattinson turns in one hell of a performance as the Caped Crusader, but what makes this movie so special, is how realistic it is.
This movie is a combination of Seven and Saw, bringing a gritty detective noir film in the guise of a superhero movie.
All that is great and all, but can we talk about Collin Farrel for a second?
Colin was unbelievable in this movie. He disappeared into the role of the Penguin. From the facial prosthetics to the accent and how he moved. It was a refreshing take on the often over cartoonish character, Colin brought to life a disfigured gangster, power-hungry, and never one to miss an opportunity to seize the moment. He captured the essence of Oswald Cobblepot without the over-the-top fish-eating, and not an umbrella to be found.
Inside the Article:
Riddle me this
The main villain of the movie is The Riddler, and Paul Dano brings a performance not seen in a batman movie to date. Not even the psychotic Joker played by Heath Ledger was as calculating, vicious, and frankly terrifying. The Riddler never has been given his due on screen, often played as a bumbling idiot whose riddles are easily solved by Batman and constantly foiled at the last moment.
In The Batman, we see a Riddler that is unhinged but always seems to be one step ahead of the Caped Crusader. While this film showcases Bruce Wayne’s detective skills, The Riddler seems to have always known just how to shepherd the Dark Knight along in as Heath Ledger put it “It’s all part of the plan”.
The Riddler is ultra-violent, bringing in traps straight out of Jigsaw’s playbook and taking joy in beating in the heads of his victims before duct taping them like crazy (The man is crazy for Duct Tape).
What I most enjoyed seeing (beyond the pure unadulterated, no holds barred ass-kicking that Batman dolled out to his enemies) was an inperfect Batman. He made mistakes. He missed jumps, he stalled his Batmobile in a critical moment (*THE BATMOBILE IS FREAKING AWESOME).
Rounding out the rogue’s gallery is Cat Woman (Salina Kyle) and Mob Boss Carmine Falcone. Salina is beautiful and deadly and in my opinion, this was the best incarnation that we have seen of her on film. The Chemistry between her and Bruce Wayne is clear and convincing, and she can definitely hold her own without overplaying the whole cat bit.
If you didn’t have a guy in a bat suit walking around, you could almost get lost in the dirty, gritty streets of Gotham and think it’s just another New York detective movie.
Let’s talk about the Bat Suit
One of the most challenging obstacles for filming a Batman movie is the maneuverability of the Bat Suit. Due to the design of the Tim Burton bat-suit, Michael Keaton was unable to turn his head without turning his whole torso. This move was both a dramatic flourish sued by the director and a stiff, awkward reality that needed to be shot around. Eventually, a bat-suit was designed with a turnable head, but only for Nolan’s reboot, long after Keaton moved on.
In The Batman, Matt Reeves seems to have nailed it. The movement is fluid and believable, the fight scenes are clean, and with the design of the cowl, easy to turn his head
Apparently, it is quite bulletproof as well.
This movie is very long, coming in at 2h 56m, so make sure you check https://runpee.com/ before you go so you know the best times to take a quick piss.
Get out there and go see this movie! I hear it’s even better the second time around.
