There have been so many iterations of ‘The Batman’ on the big screen but I have to say that Robert Pattinson’s take and under Matt Reeves’ direction, this has to be my favorite one. A thrilling mystery where important people in Gotham are violently killed has ‘the world’s greatest detective’ working on the clock to capture the menacing Riddler. Along the way, he meets an uncertain accomplice in Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), further cements his partnership with James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and I love the chemistry that the Batman has with Gordon and Selina. With the former, it’s a good-cop, bad-cop, duo where the bad cop is actually a vigilante. I love how Gordon calls him ‘man’ it makes their partnership even more believable. Speaking of believable, the sexual tension between Selina and the Batman, is just so palpable and that friend or foe question is always hanging in the air. The bittersweet moment in the end when Pattinson looks back ~ ack! You can just feel what’s he’s giving up on!
I think it helps that this Batman has voice overs, so we hear his thoughts and realizations. I couldn’t help but to take down notes. It’s two years since the Batman started appearing on the streets of Gotham, he asks himself: “Is (this city) worth saving? I have to try.” Later on in the film, he recognizes “having an effect here,” he realizes that he needs: “to become more than vengeance, he needs to become (hope).”
There is a lot of question as to the Wayne legacy, which Bruce feels the burden to carry on. He insists that being the Batman is his way of continuing on the Wayne legacy. As the film progresses, he comes face to face with ghosts from his past and may have to reconsider what the Wayne legacy is all about.
Though not an origin story, the film was able to effectively have the spirit of Batman’s origin present, in the guise of a boy, who lost his father. His woeful stares at Pattinson’s Batman, no doubt echoes of his own sorrows when he lost his parents.
In an eerie way, Gotham reminded me a lot of Manila, the littered streets, the corruption, the drug use, the rains, the flood, the traffic! Elections! The Batman is a dark, gritty hero-genre film but it echoes so much of real life that no matter how absurd some elements of the film are, I’m afraid that they can actually happen. The Riddler’s costume being so simple? There’s actually a reason for it – a terrifying one.
Speaking of costumes, much praise deserves to go to the hair and make-up departments for making Colin Farrell unrecognizable as the Penguin-and of course to Mr. Farrell himself for an impressive performance. Paul Dano was the Riddler also gave a very inspired delivery of the character, truly making it his own.
There was just this one camera angle, was Batman was going around the city that I wasn’t a fan of, and I also wanted more of the Bruce and Alfred relationship. But that’s just me nitpicking and asking more, despite already being given a lot. The film teases a possible sequel or continuation and well, if you’d ask me, I’d love to see Pattinson put on the cape and cowl again. He played a young Batman really well, despite earlier misgivings on his casting.
As the film came to a close, I relaxed a bit, and sat back on my chair-only to sit right back in horror upon realizing that it wasn’t over yet. What have you done?! I shamelessly exclaimed out loud in the cinema. So, make sure that you grab a meal to eat and make that trip to the comfort room, as the movie is about three hours long! And just when you think it’s over -a much bigger threat awaited the world’s greatest detective. Yes, Batman has been called the world’s greatest detective in comic books but not until Matt Reeve’s ‘The Batman’ has that aspect of his character been given emphasis on, for the big screen. Even the film’s tones and color grading, give an atmosphere of mystery and noir.
So yes, there have been so many iterations of ‘The Batman’ on the big screen but Matt Reeve’s ‘The Batman’ is a whole new playing field for the character and it is just glorious to see on screen. There are a couple of hauntingly beautiful shots, one of them, Batman leading people to safety amid the glare of a red flare. And I think this is where he realizes that he must let go of his anger, of the vengeance in his heart. His heart filled with pain and wounds, wounds that have turned to scars, which in turn can be a source to draw out the strength to fight, and in his own terms that means answering that signal that is flashed across the dark of night. The signal, which is a call for the Batman but also serves as a warning, to those who might do a misdeed in Gotham City, tonight.