THE BATMAN
****
Director: Matt Reeves
Screenwriters: Matt Reeves & Peter Craig, based on characters created for DC Comics by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
Principal cast:
Robert Pattinson
Zoë Kravitz
Jeffrey Wright
Colin Farrell
John Turturro
Andy Serkis
Country: USA
Rating: M
Runtime: 176 mins.
Australian release date: 3 March 2022.
The latest iteration of the story of DC Comic’s human (i.e., no superpowers), black-clad vigilante Batman is helmed by Matt Reeves, who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), so you can bank on it being something special. The Batman sees Robert Pattinson follows in the footsteps of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck as the caped crusader, the sixth cinematic incarnation of the character in just over three decades. Of these, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy performed best at the box office (The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 each took over US$1 billion globally) and it’s possible that Reeves’ new take will do as well. It’s certainly as dark as Nolan’s vision and it is also the start of a planned trilogy. Having said that, will it be as successful at the box office as the MCU’s recent Spider-Man reboot, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the highest grossing film of 2021 and, so far, 2022? I suspect not, simply because it may be too grim for a lot of people. Spidey was pretty bright and more ‘comic’ whereas The Batman is like a black hole – there’s not a chink of light escaping this shadowy universe. Maybe, though, it will suit these dark times. As Batman says at the start of the movie, referring to the criminals in Gotham City, “They think I am hiding in the shadows. Watching. Waiting to strike. I am the shadows.”
We enter Bruce Wayne/Batman’s world on the night of Halloween and learn that this is early in his career as the caped crusader. He’s been fighting crime for just on a year and the jury of public opinion is still out as to whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. On this particular evening, the mayor of Gotham City (Rupert Henry-Jones) is brutally murdered by a masked killer (soon to be dubbed ‘The Riddler’) and the murderer has left a card at the scene addressed to ‘The Batman’, which poses a riddle for the crime-fighter. Thus begins a series of assassinations of prominent establishment figures across the city and at each one another riddle is left for Batman. The search for The Riddler involves Lieutenant (he’s not yet Commissioner) Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), the only cop convinced that Batman is on the side of the angels, and loyal Wayne family manservant Alfred (Andy Serkis), but otherwise he is on his own. His investigations lead him to Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), a hostess at a mob-run nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, which is frequented by Gotham’s upper and lower echelons, and she turns out to have quite some sleuthing skills of her own… and a thing for cats.
Reeves and his co-writer Peter Craig have come up with an exhilarating screenplay for The Batman, part thriller, part whodunit. Their Gotham City is a murky world, both physically and metaphorically, in which it always seems to be raining, à la Blade Runner 2049 and its predecessor, and for this credit is also due to Production Designer James Chinlund, who worked with Reeves on his two Planet of the Apes films. He’s not the only creative to have worked with Reeves before, either – Michael Giacchino collaborated with the director on his Ape movies and has returned to compose the darkly fitting musical score of this one. The great Aussie cinematographer Grieg Fraser has worked with Reeves in the past, too, and he’s excelled himself here. There’s a car-chase in The Batman that has to be seen to be believed! In the acting stakes, Pattinson makes a great Batman. He’s tall, forbidding and depressed, sporting an emo look that always has his long fringe falling over his face – when he’s Bruce – but he has the gravitas to pull it off. Kravitz’s bisexual Selina is also pretty dour but gets the occasional snappy comeback line. Colin Farrell is unrecognisable as The Penguin and I suspect we’ll be seeing more of him in the next film; and the other supporting actors in the cast (John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Serkis, et al) are all very good.
Regrettably, the co-writers weren’t quite sure when to call a halt to the proceedings and, at just under three hours, The Batman almost wears out his welcome. Almost, but not quite. For the greater part of those 176 minutes, it’s great to be back in Gotham City.
Screenwriters: Matt Reeves & Peter Craig, based on characters created for DC Comics by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
Principal cast:
Robert Pattinson
Zoë Kravitz
Jeffrey Wright
Colin Farrell
John Turturro
Andy Serkis
Country: USA
Rating: M
Runtime: 176 mins.
Australian release date: 3 March 2022.
The latest iteration of the story of DC Comic’s human (i.e., no superpowers), black-clad vigilante Batman is helmed by Matt Reeves, who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), so you can bank on it being something special. The Batman sees Robert Pattinson follows in the footsteps of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck as the caped crusader, the sixth cinematic incarnation of the character in just over three decades. Of these, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy performed best at the box office (The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 each took over US$1 billion globally) and it’s possible that Reeves’ new take will do as well. It’s certainly as dark as Nolan’s vision and it is also the start of a planned trilogy. Having said that, will it be as successful at the box office as the MCU’s recent Spider-Man reboot, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the highest grossing film of 2021 and, so far, 2022? I suspect not, simply because it may be too grim for a lot of people. Spidey was pretty bright and more ‘comic’ whereas The Batman is like a black hole – there’s not a chink of light escaping this shadowy universe. Maybe, though, it will suit these dark times. As Batman says at the start of the movie, referring to the criminals in Gotham City, “They think I am hiding in the shadows. Watching. Waiting to strike. I am the shadows.”
We enter Bruce Wayne/Batman’s world on the night of Halloween and learn that this is early in his career as the caped crusader. He’s been fighting crime for just on a year and the jury of public opinion is still out as to whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. On this particular evening, the mayor of Gotham City (Rupert Henry-Jones) is brutally murdered by a masked killer (soon to be dubbed ‘The Riddler’) and the murderer has left a card at the scene addressed to ‘The Batman’, which poses a riddle for the crime-fighter. Thus begins a series of assassinations of prominent establishment figures across the city and at each one another riddle is left for Batman. The search for The Riddler involves Lieutenant (he’s not yet Commissioner) Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), the only cop convinced that Batman is on the side of the angels, and loyal Wayne family manservant Alfred (Andy Serkis), but otherwise he is on his own. His investigations lead him to Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), a hostess at a mob-run nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, which is frequented by Gotham’s upper and lower echelons, and she turns out to have quite some sleuthing skills of her own… and a thing for cats.
Reeves and his co-writer Peter Craig have come up with an exhilarating screenplay for The Batman, part thriller, part whodunit. Their Gotham City is a murky world, both physically and metaphorically, in which it always seems to be raining, à la Blade Runner 2049 and its predecessor, and for this credit is also due to Production Designer James Chinlund, who worked with Reeves on his two Planet of the Apes films. He’s not the only creative to have worked with Reeves before, either – Michael Giacchino collaborated with the director on his Ape movies and has returned to compose the darkly fitting musical score of this one. The great Aussie cinematographer Grieg Fraser has worked with Reeves in the past, too, and he’s excelled himself here. There’s a car-chase in The Batman that has to be seen to be believed! In the acting stakes, Pattinson makes a great Batman. He’s tall, forbidding and depressed, sporting an emo look that always has his long fringe falling over his face – when he’s Bruce – but he has the gravitas to pull it off. Kravitz’s bisexual Selina is also pretty dour but gets the occasional snappy comeback line. Colin Farrell is unrecognisable as The Penguin and I suspect we’ll be seeing more of him in the next film; and the other supporting actors in the cast (John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Serkis, et al) are all very good.
Regrettably, the co-writers weren’t quite sure when to call a halt to the proceedings and, at just under three hours, The Batman almost wears out his welcome. Almost, but not quite. For the greater part of those 176 minutes, it’s great to be back in Gotham City.