The Batman

2022, Mat Reeves (Cloverfield) -- download

I had no interest in seeing a new Batman movie. To be honest, and this is kind of hard to admit, but I was actually looking forward to seeing a proper Bat-fleck movie, as his whole Frank Miller look appealed to me, and I liked his Bruce Wayne façade. It was all proper "superhero". I saw this new movie being just a desire to resurrect the success of the Nolan Batman-s, which were also a resurrection of a previous incarnation, and in some ways it was. But from almost scene one, I was caught. Sure, this was "dark & gritty" but (almost) twenty years later D&G, but its also so fucking cinematic.

The opening narration sets the tone. This is not superhero Batman, this is the Dark Knight detective Batman. And the whole movie is a proper detective story, drawing an, "Even without Batman, this would be a decent crime movie," utterance from me once we were deep in. A crime happens, there are clues and suspects, he investigates and begins to unravel a bigger conspiracy, like all these movies do. But that narration, establishing that his day-to-day (night-to-night?) is more about the street level crimes, the thugs and drug dealers and criminal element preying on the average citizen. The DNA of that narration is noir, and more directly, the Rorschach journal entries from The Watchmen.

I am just starting my first rewatch. I, like with Dune, am taking it slow, so I can notice things, make note of things, think about things, for this post. And after that, I will probably watch again, so I can just enjoy it again. Notice things like focus pulls, and the parallels, and those intricately designed scenes that are just so wonderful. For decades after Bladerunner came out, there were stills of scenes from the movie that people framed and depicted like individual art pieces. If it wasn't for our over-saturation of imagery these days, I can see how the phenomena would take again.

There are just so many shots where I paused to look at the colours, the lighting, the angles and scope. Even the most mundane shots, like headlights on motocycles or coffee cups on cafe counters were so ... considered. And these days I really enjoy when I can be pulled out of my distraction prone/need to be distracted state.

a bit later as I finish.

Maybe it's my over exposure to crime fiction, or more likely my over exposure to superhero movies and how the average lives of average people, even politicians and the movers-and-shakers of a city are so second fiddle to the other things, but the Big Conspiracy doesn't seem all that big to me. One crime boss takes down another crime boss, while wrapping up the corrupt officials of the city into it. When you look at the world IRL and what the ex-President of the US got away with, and continues to get away with, some rich and powerful assholes doing what rich and powerful assholes do is not all that surprising or foundation shaking stuff.

The more The Batman reveals, the more he realizes he is being led, eventually culminating with the final unveiling, the final piece in the puzzle (riddle) and the capture of The Riddler. The parallels are obvious, one broken orphan up against another broken orphan who sees some sort of kinship. Riddler is a character torn from the headlines, a man created and destroyed by his past, one who finds fellow compatriots online, and organizes a larger conspiracy, one that breaks The Batman out of his mould as street level crime fighter, and into ... a next phase?

We end the movie with a character that has been brought into the light, much like the city has been around him. He is no longer (only) the feared vigilante, but a superhero who saved many lives. From fear, to hope.

I never thought I would like anything with Robert Pattinson (Twilight), but he does this movie justice. Mind's-eye Batman has always been in his early-40s, a powerhouse of muscles and ability. But Pattinson brings him to us maybe mid-30s, more lithe, less invulnerable (despite that suit that can take automatic fire point blank) more akin to Daredevil and the Old Boy hallway fight, full of grunts, pain and growls. He is also such an obviously broken man, more the mask than the billionaire playboy.

Selena Kyle (Zoe Kravitz, High Fidelity) - Catwoman. Her role is lacking, but she exists more to be the mirror that Bruce looks into. She is all sex appeal and capability, but I do wish they had done more with her as a character.

Sleazy crime boss Ozwald (Colin Farrell, After Yang) - The Penguin is a marvel. Underneath all that prosthetics, Farrell just inhabits the role. He emotes more in his few scenes than most characters do in the whole movie.

Gordon (Jeffrey Wright, Westworld), the inveterate cop, the One Good Man is just so fucking perfect. He is wry, focused and never far from pointing out the humour in the ridiculous situation he is putting himself in, by allying with The Batman.

As the movie came to a close, with a boom, I found myself seeing those purple suited producers again (perhaps Oz is the embodiment of them?) and the parallels to the Nolan films. The final plot, the Biggest Reveal, is so final Nolan act, with destruction on a grand scale, and body counts to fit. I wanted to be more bothered by these parallels, like the car chase scene which even begins under the Chicago-style train supports, but then I noticed how much Reeves made it his own. That car! The race through city environs and onto the highway system, out of the canyons of the megacity that is Gotham. This was Reeves applying the hallway fight to a big, bruiser of a car. It was stupendous.

In the end, I am left with a movie I marvel at, am VERY pleased with, happy to have something that pulls me away from my phone. I cannot wait for my next few viewings where I will settle into the enjoyment of key scenes I love all the while noticing more and more of the details.

P.S. We pretty much agree?