Batman in its newest form directed by Matt Reeves is probably the darkest instalment of the dark knight we have seen and I love it. This new film focuses on Batman and makes Bruce Wayne’s story take a back seat which I loved. Although some may disagree, I enjoyed not seeing the death of Bruce’s parents for like the 10th time in this movie purely because we have seen it in every other movie so many times. This new Batman-centric approach came with a sort of detective-type theme to it with a lot of really dark moments that kinda freaked me out a lot, like the scene where batman was on top of the tower with Catwoman and they were playing back the recording of one her friends getting strangled. That scene freaked me out and I know that Nolan would have never put something like that in one of his Batman movies. The amazing soundtrack only added to this whole detective-type theme throughout the movie, Hans Zimmer makes some killer soundtracks but this new one called “Something in the way” by Nirvana was amazing it was really different compared to the one in the Nolan trilogy.
Now we can’t talk about a Batman movie without talking about the villains and in this one it was the Riddler, my personal favourite. There were a lot of comparisons to the Joker but the Riddler and the Joker are completely different villains, the Riddler is a planner and schemer whereas the joker is quite the opposite; he lives for pure chaos with no goal in sight. I thought this portrayal of the Riddler was done quite well because he carried a very ominous and scary tone throughout the movie. After all, we didn’t know who he was or what he was after for so long which left the audience guessing just as much as Batman was. The main criticism of this movie was there was too much Batman and too little Bruce Wayne but I think that was the whole point of the movie and at the end even the Riddler kind of acknowledges this by saying that there was no point to find out who was under the mask because Bruce was consumed entirely by being the batman he knew nothing else, the Batman was truly was his real identity. Now as with any new Batman film it will probably always get compared to maybe the greatest movie of all time which is the Dark Knight.
Ranking-wise I would say that the Dark Knight is probably a little better than The Batman purely because Heath ledger’s Joker is just so hard to beat. The plot in this new movie is a little thinner than that in the dark knight with more of a basic predictable course of events whereas the dark knight was a lot more unpredictable with characters being extremely dynamic throughout. The Batman is a very different film and if you liked the purely Batman-focused approach that they took then I could see it being better than the Dark Knight for some people.
For me, however, I liked to see Bruce’s character in the limelight more like in the Dark Knight rather than him and batman being mixed together as they did in this movie with there being no separation.
The ending of the movie was also truly beautiful because it shows us what being the Batman all about and that’s saving people. Bruce learns a lesson about what being a hero is all about; that he should try to inspire and help people rather than just being VENGEANCE and then disappearing into the starry night as so many heroes do. He truly finds out what batman is supposed to be
about and not just doing it for vengeance’s sake. The cinematography in this film was also really good, I think films nowadays a lot of films like to slap as many VFX effects as they can onto something and not really go the old fashion way with real props and more organic-looking video which is what this film did really well. Although the Nolan films looked stunning I liked the look and feel of this one more. I really hope we see a sequel for this film with the same young and stubborn Bruce who is chasing down the baddest criminal in Gotham.
I liked the Batman film as well and agree with many of your points. I am happy that we didn’t see his parents die as there have been so many Batman movies and television shows where we have seen the same thing happen. I like that this film focused on the detective aspect of Batman and how he needed to use his brain and not his strength to deal with the Riddler. I am excited for future installments with this franchise as even the villains will be getting their own shows. I also think that the Dark Knight was better than this movie as you did simply because of the performance of Heath Ledger. I do not think that anyone will be able to outdo his performance as the Joker and I don’t know that I want to see the Joker in Matt Reeves’ trilogy because he is overused in all Batman content. The fight scenes and action scenes in this movie were well done. I liked how Bruce just disregarded bullets at close range with no regard for himself at all. The scene where he chased the Penguin was also extremely awesome and showed that he was willing to go the limit of breaking his no kill rule by injuring them severely.
Myuren, I found your post to be incredibly informative and interesting. While I have personally never watched any Marvel movies, the Batman movie included, I felt as if I had a deep understanding of the plot and characters simply through reading your blog. Often, we possess very strong connections to film as viewers. The character development that is present in many film characters can often be relatable to the viewer and cause them to become emotionally invested in the wellbeing of the character despite only seeing them in a film. Your post truly brings to light the passion which you and many others have for film interpretation and the subtle details that many directors place into the media. To most, these details simply go unnoticed in the background of the film, but for the select few individuals who genuinely take the time to decode and understand these details gain a significantly deeper understanding of the film as a result. In your future posts, I would be interested to see if you compare the differences between analyzing film and analyzing literature. There are many similarities amongst the two, but also many differences. It would be intriguing to read insight on the matter.
Hi Myuren.
Nice review. You make a few points that I agree with.
First, on the comment about the cinematography. Reeves’ aesthetic choices to use black and red colors throughout the movie give Gotham City a cold and cruel overtone, setting the stage for an equally cold and withdrawn portrayal of the titular character. I think this characterization of Batman arguably opens the character up to unexplored trauma, growth, and challenges that the gruff predecessors’ performances in prior films (re: Christian Bale and Ben Affleck) failed to tap into. Not that this is necessarily sine qua non.
I also thought Pattinson’s Batman was a more humanizing and ultimately, more authentic portrayal of the famous hero. Those unfamiliar with the version of Batman developed as a comic book character may find the portrayal off-putting or even orthogonal to their basic understanding of the character. He’s not a one-dimensional intimidator and an action-driven vigilante. This movie is three hours of young Bruce Wayne realizing the deep-seated vulnerabilities that he harbors. However, it is because the movie and director Reeves’ vision for it stays unflinchingly true to the authentic origin story of a young Bruce Wayne only just beginning to assume the Batman persona that it is so compelling.
Hey Myuren, I completely agree with your review and also thought the cinematography was by far the most impressive part of the film besides the storyline itself. I also agree that the new detective type theme was more scary, but I actually liked it a lot more and felt it made the characters and plot as a whole feel more real. I do not agree as much with the overall soundtrack being as integral to the movie, but I do think that the scenes paired with Something in the way where very good and well planned out cinematically speaking. I also thought that this movie did a great job with the Riddlers’ portrayal because he was much more scary and realistic to what a more modern psychopath would look like as a supervillan.
Hey Myuren, I also really enjoyed The Batman and would say it is my favorite depiction of Batman out of all of the Batman movies so far. I can attest that The Dark Knight had an amazing Joker played by Heath Ledger and that the plot was amazing. I think that The Dark Knight definitely did have better CGI just because of Batman’s bike, helicopter/plane, and the way his car was shown as a literal tank. Though I wasn’t a fan of Christian Bale’s depiction of Batman just because of his suit and his weirdly exaggerated voice. I think that The Dark Knight had a good plot, good CGI, and a good villain. The Batman, on the other hand, had better music, Batman suit, and darkness/down-to-earth feel that Batman should normally have. I was not a big fan of how sometimes it was way too down-to-earth though like the way his car was designed as a revamped Dodge Charger and how he had a weird flying squirrel suit and how he had to run from the police instead of just disappearing into the shadows. Though I did like when Reeves showed Batman with mud dripping from his suit as he wasn’t just fighting bad guys but was actually helping the people of Gotham. Even though the plot and villain were better in The Dark Knight, I still think that The Batman was a better movie because it showed several new aspects of Batman we had never seen before (detective & man of the people) and because the music just gave off dark, moody, energy that just fit incredibly well with the character.