The Batman 
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Jeffery Wright
Director: Matt Reeves
My Rating: [rating=4]
Yes, we have another Batman movie. There are so many movies that tell the story of this capped crusader that it feels exhaustive. It also becomes difficult to invest in another Batman movie when they keep changing the actor that portrays him.
I’ve made myself pretty clear as to how I feel about the various Batman actors. I am NOT on the Batfleck train; I rank him just barely above George Clooney’s Batman (who is probably the worst portrayal). Will Robert Pattinson fair better?
The Riddler is terrorizing Gotham. He’s murdering people of affluence and power and leaving only cryptic clues for the Batman. The Gotham Police, with Lt. Gordon (Wright) and Batman must hunt down and capture him before more die.
I highly recommend this film, especially if you are fan of the franchise. I believe it’s still in theaters and on HBO Max (at the time of this writing). It’s a long movie (almost 3 hours) but it’s worth your time.
I have more to share but it involves spoilers …
The following content contains spoilers for The Batman.
Biggs Thoughts and Comments
This movie has a very “film noir” feel to it. I like that it doesn’t begin with an origin story; it starts right off with a murder and it builds from there. I enjoyed the noir nature of this movie. The cinematography is pretty great. In fact I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, especially the cast.
Before I get to Robert Pattinson, I want to talk about a couple of amazing performances. Colin Farrell is practically unrecognizable as The Penguin. We probably don’t need another batman movie, but if there is, it needs to feature Colin Farrell in this role again. Andy Serkis as Alfred is great; I really enjoyed his portrayal as the doting butler.
I want to quickly mention Paul Dano as The Riddler. He is basically a nobody, even with 44 credits. His portrayal as The Riddler is extraordinary!! It’s completely different than Jim Carrey’s version in Batman Forever (granted that isn’t a very high bar). I cannot put into words how creepy and disturbing his performance is as The Riddler. It’s “Heath Ledger as The Joker” amazing!
The Sixth Batman
The million dollar question is how is Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of Batman? He is the sixth actor to don the bat suit in a live action film. I am pleasantly surprised. He is pretty good! If I were to rank him among the six, he’s easily number 3 (behind Michael Keaton and Christian Bale). In fact if I were to redo my top 5, I’d probably put him at #5 (sorry Batdad).
I think my one criticism is that his “Bruce Wayne” is a little too “emo”. I get that he’s supposed to be “dark and brooding” but it just felt a little too edgy. The only thing he is really missing is the black nail polish and a spiked dog collar. This is essentially the only reason I didn’t give this movie 5 stars.
Please share your thoughts.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” – Stanley Kubrick
Aldineri
Ouch. You saying we don’t need another Batman movie is like me telling you we don’t need another Star Wars movie!
Biggs
I guess I was thinking maybe we don’t need another retelling. This is the third retelling of Batman, right? Although I just read that a sequel is confirmed with Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson returning.
Aldineri
I understand the sentiment. And you’re not alone in your thinking.
Batman movies (and almost by extension the Spiderman movies) are fairly close to their comic book origins. Different artists/writers come in and tell these stories from their own perspective. It’s happened since the 1930s or 40s in comic books. It just seems more unique in a film setting (with a possible exception being James Bond who has gone through multiple actors and a few retellings). This ultimately speaks to the appeal of Batman (and Spiderman) as characters in pop culture.
The current Batman run with Reeves was originally conceived as a trilogy with final approval based on the public perception of the first movie. Since it was an absolute smashing success critically and commercially, they are moving forward.
By the by, my first comment was said more in jest than in any serious argument. Sometimes, I forget how hard it is to relay those tones over the internet.
Biggs
I know you said it in jest and I know you weren’t being argumentative, but you kind of also made a valid point. You also make a valid point again with the analogy of how comic books also often do a retelling. It is pretty common for a comic series to restart, I collected X-Men as a kid and I guess I had forgotten that they often restarted that series.
It’s true, Batman seems to be the one DC hero that remains relatively the most successful for the DC comics (although I have not seen the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, which I heard was good). It also feels like the spacing of each retelling helps keep it still feeling fresh.