So I saw The Batman this weekend and it was incredible. It’s a great detective thriller with some incredible moments. The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/ The Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as Lieutenant James Gordon, Colin Ferrell as Oz/The Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and Paul Dano as The Riddler. The film sees The Batman in his second year of duty, already having the city’s criminals fearing the signal of his calling, and having a relationship with the Gotham City Police through Gordon, now having to deal with a new threat. Batman must face this threat, along with realizations about his past that will challenge him and his code.
I think the story and plot of the film are effective. The mystery of what the riddler is doing and why is very well done and interesting. It really makes the city of Gotham a character in its own right with how much the mystery deals with the history of the city. I also enjoy how it’s also about Batman learning that he can’t keep just being the creature of the shadows, that to make true history in Gotham he needs to be out there and scene by the people.
The characters and performances of this film are all incredible. Everyone brings their A-game to this film as everyone was great and effective in their roles.
Robert Pattinson was incredible as The Batman and as Bruce Wayne. He’s intense and brooding as this is a Batman that is still learning and hasn’t evolved into the playboy Bruce persona, he’s focused on being Batman, on being out there and protecting the streets. This new Riddler murder spree consuming him as he tries to figure out the game here. He brings a great physicality to the role and works great for all the things this version of the character does. This is also one of the few times where he’s a straight up detective in this film. He goes over evidence, he’s great at riddles, he reviews footage shot, but he’s not the greatest yet. He’s young and while he’s got a keen eye, and is very observant, he’s still got a lot to learn. In all aspects of the job he’s still learning, which really works for this version of the character. He’s learning in all aspects of his life, even down to how to deal with people like Gordon and Selina. It’s interesting to see.
Paul Dano was also incredible as The Riddler. Super intelligent, terrifying, and incredibly creepy. He’s a very effective villain and is possibly the best batman villain we’ve seen live action. He might be better than Heath Ledger as Joker was. They’re similar but very different villains. He’s a much less physical villain than Joker was. But his strength is that we don’t see him a lot, and when he does it’s always creepy. A good example of this is his introduction. It’s so tense and creepy it’s incredible. He’s very inspired by the Zodiac killer, which isn’t really a secret but still works for this story.
Zoë Kravitz is great as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. They did some interesting things with her character relationships and her place in the story. She’s very much what we think of Catwoman as she still has that kind of sexual nature to her character and her relationship with Batman. She’s badass and has her fair share of great moments in the film.
Jeffrey Wright was great as Gordon. He gets involved in the action and has a great relationship with Batman in the film.
Andy Serkis makes a great Alfred, the badass surrogate father to Bruce that tries to help him as much as he can. While he isn’t in the film much, he has an impact on Bruce and helps him see to a major part of the riddle.
Colin Ferrel was insane as Oz as you can’t tell it’s Ferrel in the role. He’s a little bit Italian mobster but he was still incredible. The make-up they did made it a complete transformation.
Everyone else in the film did a great job as well.
The film is beautiful, every shot really is a work of art. It’s probably one of the best looking superhero films period. A lot of the best shots are in the trailers, but one of my favourites has to be the shot of Batman walking towards Oz at the end ion the car chase. Speaking of that, the action in this film is incredible as well. The fights that Batman has are great and different from anything we’ve seen in the past from the character in live action. The car chase was incredible as well. The finale was great as well. Both sequences full of tense moments.
Another aspect of this film that I love is the music. The choices for character music are great, and the score itself is incredible. Michael Giacchino really outdid himself with this one. A great mix of the quite sincere moments, tense moments, sad moments, and big epic bombastic moments. All shown within the main Batman theme of the film, which is incredible by the way. I honestly think that it might be the best Batman theme. What I mean is that I think it’s the theme that works the best for the character, especially when he’s after a criminal like we see in the movie. It’s used very well.
One thing that is being understated by a lot of people is the nature of the film. This is still a comic book film with comic book elements with humour in it. It’s there, it’s understated but it’s still there.
Now I’m just gonna talk a bit more about some things in this film that I love. I didn’t touch on it before but I love the opening of the film. It’s intense and creepy and kind of scary. This film also has some of the best introductions out of any comic book movie out there. From the Riddler’s first murder, to the Batman’s intro, to the first time we see the batmobile. They’re incredible. I’m going to go a bit more into the Batman’s intro. Its perfect. The montage, the monologue, to Batman’s reveal from the shadows. It’s just *chef’s kiss*.
Over-all The Batman is an incredible film and adaptation of the Batman stories and mythos. Matt Reeves did an incredible job with this film and I can’t wait to see what else he and his team does with the characters in the future. Two-Thumbs up, 5 stars, 10/10 it’s amazing. Go see it in the theatres !
Andy's Thoughts 