It is THE movie which I have been waiting for longer than ever. I have been a batman fan since my childhood and have seen and read about this character in almost every form of media. The reason why I’m going through this is because this movie felt like it was made by a fan for the fans someone who understands the character to its entirety. Matt Reeves has done a wonderful job with this movie and it’s characters and I hope he continues doing so.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD !
The movie before its release was scaring me a bit cause of the castings. But I’m glad to say I was wrong and the castings were one of the strongest suit of this movie. With every actor and actress nailing their role and I honestly can’t praise them enough for their performance.
Now coming to the movie, they’re are a few prerequisites to remember before you go into this movie.
The 1st one being that this isn’t quite your typical veteran batman here. He has only been batman for 2 years which means he is at his broodiest and angriest in his crusade which also means he isn’t that mature and is still learning. He doesn’t quite have that split persona between Bruce and Batman and he is basically batman the entire time(even when he is not wearing the suit). Some people though were a bit disappointed not getting to see that from Pattinson but again this his starting years as the bat. I truly believe that in the later films (which we will be getting ofc) we’ll get to see more of Bruce Wayne and I’m sure that Pattinson has that range to play such a character.
The 2nd thing is that this is not quite a typical superhero movie and is more of a detective-noir movie and in the recent times people have forgotten that not every superhero movie has to be this big, colorful, high stake, crazy movie (*cough* Marvel *cough* Ly btw) and people are too used to these kind of movies and have kind of forgotten that stories like these are equally if not more effective in a superhero movie.
The 3rd thing is this movie is neither a sequel to the Nolan trilogy nor a continuation to the batfleck adventures. This batman is actually from another earth. (earth-2, Multiverse stuff)
The cinematography and the fight choreography have been done very well and the score for this movie by Michael Giacchino has hit it out of the park with this one here. The music in this movie helps a ton bringing that extra oomph to the characters which we could be felt from the very first entrance of batman. The movie introduces us to the streets and subways of Gotham. It being one of the darkest, dirtiest and violent cities to be ever there, and the movie successfully shows us that. Most of the movie is shot in the night which reflects these aspects of Gotham. The director always wanted Gotham to feel like a character and has done something which no other movie was able to do. I like how Batman monologues it feels very comic booky. Batman’s crusade though has not brought any effect to the city but has at the same time has understood the meaning of fear and how to use it as a tool. Nevertheless the city seems to be going further down the rabbit hole and feels helpless as ever.
Batman has a well-established a friendship with Jim Gordon and helps Jim out on certain cases but the GCPD is not too fond of the vigilante. People tend to forget how important Jim Gordon is to the batman mythos and how Gordon and Bats are kind of partners and friends. Jeffery Wright for me has taken the award of best Gordon portrayal on the big screen. I could see the honesty in Jim’s work and his ambition to make Gotham a better place. I also loved the detective aspects of this movie where we can see batman slowly walking around the room and just observing and going through every small detail in the environment he is put in. He is still not THE Detective and makes mistakes along the way but he seems to be getting there. The video recording contacts were a nice addition.
The next important character which we are introduced to is Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. The batman and catwoman have amazing chemistry in this one and I feel like their relationship might take the center stage in the next movies. Selina has always felt like the perfect love interest for Bruce. She has always been an anti-hero of sorts and this movie portrays that well in its own way. With her and Batman having conflicting ideologies and him being too focused on his mission has to pass catwoman’s tempting offer in the end. Though this batman is broken and stripped of his humane side devoid of emotion, we can see that urge and need in his eyes to convey those emotions to Selina but finds himself unable to do so.
The Riddler is no longer that over the top, loud and goofy villain but is more of a serial killer on a mission to reveal the truth, to expose the lies of this city and its rich. His portrayal seems like someone who you might see in the real world which makes it even more frightening. He is a victim of this city’s failure and his actions are portrayed in a way so that he doesn’t feel like a generic villain. He shows us this contrast between himself and batman and makes us realize of a what if for batman and I love it when movies do that with their villain. He is also victorious in his plans but also fails at the same time. I feel like Edward’s character was done so well that his character might just also become the mainstream depiction of Riddler in the coming future. Falcone is depicted as the kingpin of the city with him being the center of all corruption and crime. Now with Falcone out of the picture, Oz (The Penguin) will look to fill in that gap. The penguin was a very interesting character and I hope to see more of him in the spinoff series.
The movie ends with the Riddler succeeding in his plans and floods the entire city. But the movie was never about winning the battle, it was about winning the war. The interesting thing about this ending is that Batmans character develops and transforms from a vigilante to a Hero, a hero which Gotham needs, a symbol of vengeance and hope. This feels very fresh for some reason though sounding very generic, but the way this movie did it makes it so very satisfying and shows us what the true essence of batman is. Got goosebumps in that scene with him leading the people in that flare.
Now this movie is 3hr long and you’ll feel it. Now this doesn’t affect its pacing and stays fun the entire time without getting boring. But some people might lose interest mid way of the movie and it will feel like a drag for them. Now yes the movie could have been shortened but I honestly didn’t mind the length. Now there is no end credit scene in this movie but rather we get a puzzle/cryptic message in the form of a web address. I find things like this to be very engrossing cause the movie seeps into the real world and allows the audience to be a part of the fiction. What we do get as a replacement is a Joker tease and well I would be lying if I say I’m not excited about it. As what matt reeves is doing is building a world and showing the early days of Gotham and a younger/early renditions of the classic characters. But but but the joker character has been done so many times with so many different interpretations that I feel like the character is losing its shine and it’s importance. I’m worried that he’ll soon become a bland and boring in the coming years and that would suck.
Now if y’all have heard the rumors. The next movie might be about the court of owls and that will be very interesting to see cause it’ll help flesh more of the Bruce Wayne persona and his family legacy which we saw glimpses of in this movie. I would like to see a hush adaptation in the later future. Even though this movie had some of that aspects of that comic. I just feel like it will be a good story for the Riddler to make his return and it will also reignite the romance between Bruce and Selina. It’ll be a tough task to pull but if it is done successfully, it’ll be an absolute gem to watch. I have also heard about a spinoff from this universe centered around Gotham which might help introduce characters like, Harvey Dent. ( which might lead to a Long Halloween story ?) I’m just speculating here, I honestly am very excited for this franchise and want it to do it’s best.
This movie seems to be taking the no way home route in terms of its character and world building where it’ll be a slow origin story, where we’ll get to see a veteran Batman in the end with probably a bat family. (Give me a nightwing movie or TV series form this universe….please !!)
I could honestly talk forever about this movie and it’s characters but I got to end it here folks. This might be just my favorite Batman movie to be ever released with Robert taking his place as the definite on-screen Batman for me.
ComicBuff 