Even with so many varying BATMAN adaptations over the last 50+ years, from Adam West and Burt Ward in tights with hit sounds being displayed on screen in text to a loud, garish adaptation from Zack Snyder in more modern times…and so many in-between, Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN is something of a miracle. It not only allows all of the other films in the series to exist but also stands on its own two feet as its own successful adaptation, even though I want to re-run all of the Christopher Nolan BATMAN movies right now.
Opening cold and immediate (even the opening studio logos are rushed at us a bit faster, so make sure you are seated in the cinema on time), we see a point-of-view of a suspicious character watching another through a viewfinder. We immediately feel a sense of corruption and crime in just a few opening fleeting shots. Most of the movie involves Bruce Wayne/Batman (Robert Pattinson) with his own troubled past and how he deals with all of the crime, murders and corruption happening in his own Gotham and also his close relationship with the trustworthy Lieutenant Gordon (Jeffery Wright). This isn’t really an origin story of Batman and Wayne but we do pick up a lot of his past troubles through his relationship with Alfred (Andy Serkis) who raised him after his parents were killed. Of course I am leaving out a lot of the story description by intent as this is such an outstanding, dark and brooding piece of cinema that I want you, reader, to discover it yourself.
With that said, a big part of the success of THE BATMAN is the very unique casting here, but of course I want to start with Robert Pattinson who completely nails the sadness and loneliness of Bruce Wayne, but also his confidence and “vengeance”, of course. Less is here of his billionaire playboy status and more of his determination to do the right thing years after the killing of his parents and Pattison, who thankfully has had so many great movie roles in the last few years (GOOD TIME, THE LIGHTHOUSE come immediately to mind) that he completely commands the strong, silent type of Wayne. All of the actors who have portrayed Wayne here have done their work in their own style, and I appreciate that, but I may go out on a limb here and think that Pattinson has not only done the finest Bruce Wayne, but this is also Pattinson’s finest work as an actor to date.
Matching him is an another incredible performance by Zoe Kravitz (PRETEND WE’RE KISSING, X-MEN FIRST CLASS) as Selina Kyle and the two of them match so perfectly. Jeffery Wright, as Lieutenant Gordon and Batman’s main confidant, is the finest adaptation of this character to date and such a silent power throughout. Colin Farrell is so unrecognizable that I didn’t even know that he was playing Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin until his name showed up in the credits. Paul Dano also has a crucial role as Edward/Riddler and there’s a sequence of him outside his costume that will make your skin crawl (but in a good way…this is a movie after all). There’s also a very effective supporting performance by Andy Serkis, finally out of a motion-capture suit and directing VENOM sequels as a very conflicted Alfred who is hiding a lot of secrets from Bruce. To add to this, even the smaller character roles here all have three-dimensions, even right down to a police officer who finds himself in a situation with Batman but then quickly realizes Batman has left the scene and onto his next thing.
You feel much less of the folklore and more of the actual goings-on in trying to improve a corrupt city by Matt Reeves’ incredible visual design. Gotham City itself is a hybrid of New York and Chicago and it’s like something out of a dream with its lonely L-train stations, crowded city square streets or dark night clubs. Gone as well are a lot of Batman’s gadgets, over-production of the Bat Cave or even Wayne Manor to focus more on the characters and world. Greig Fraiser’s cinematography here is sublime and even though THE BATMAN is filmed digitally, it has a 70s/80s anamorphic widescreen look that reminds me of the best of David Fincher and Ridley Scott yet it’s all of Reeves’ trademark style of point-of-view and close-ups like in his PLANET OF THE APES movies. The color style also switches from grey to heavy reds and blues making for such a unique visual presentation (wherever you see this in a cinema, ensure you see it in a theatre that has optimal projection conditions) along with a deep, booming sound design that will test out any wary cinema speakers. A mid-movie car chase sequence comes out so organically that it glued me to my seat and the Batmobile reveal and payoff made me gasp out loud.
THE BATMAN comes at a very different time of having everything explained to you in Marvel movies and even some recent DC work and is a true noir Superhero movie for adults (families, PLEASE do not take your little kids to this). Even at its three hour run time, it drew me in and let me do a little bit of work of my own here and I love how Reeves trusts his audience to do a little bit of the work too. It’s a slow-burn at times, a thoughtful exercise and even less of the “spoiler culture” that has permeated today’s audiences, and for that THE BATMAN is the type of major studio filmmaking that I want to see more of.
THE BATMAN is now playing in theatres.