REVIEW #151 The Batman (2022)

The Batman is the latest instalment of the DC film franchise and this time it’s directed by Matt Reeves. Bruce Wayne is in his second year as Batman and is looking to make an impact on the city of Gotham. His arrival inspires the rise of The Riddler who goes on a killing spree, revealing the corruption that lives inside Gotham’s elite.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Matt Reeves and the casting director have done a tremendous job with this film, it’s pure genius to harness the talent of Robert Pattison and turn him into a troubled Batman finding his way during his second year as Gothams iconic Vigilante. What I loved about his performance is how he could tell a whole story just using his facial expressions and body language. Even with his face half covered his eyes and posture translated the emotion directly to the audience. It’s a drastically different approach compared to previous actors but it’s one we absolutely needed. His vocal commentary throughout the film sends chills down your spine, he really perfected the Batman voice. Zoë Kravitz’ was my favourite Catwomen yet and she seems like she was born to play the role. Her chemistry with Robert was great and the pair created a great romance. Jeffrey Wright performed well as Jim Gordon and John Turturro really surprised me because he was a fantastic Carmine Falcone. Collin Farrell created a brilliant Penguin, he appeared just enough to hook me into his character and now I can’t wait for his spin-off series. His accent was great and his scenes were always entertaining. Andy Serkis unfortunately didn’t get much screen time but from what we did see, it was all positive. He portrayed that hurt and struggle within Alfred so well, which generated such a complex relationship between his character and Bruce. Finally we have Paul Dano as The Riddler and he was the perfect choice, just the right balance of intelligence and psychotic behaviour to create the perfect villain. His performance alone captures everything I love about The Riddler and justifies why he is my favourite Batman villain. There really wasn’t one bad performance throughout this film, the acting was impeccable! We have the best Batman performance, the best Catwomen performance, the best Penguin performance and the best Riddler performance… that sums up just how good it was.

THE STORYLINE 

This was the Batman audiences needed, deeply troubled, learning on the job in his second year as the caped crusader. The best thing about this storyline is that it’s a Neo-noir thriller detective story that happens to have a superhero in and because of that it appeals to absolutely everyone. The character relationships we get to see are phenomenal, whether that be between Alfred and Bruce, Batman and Jim Gordon or the incredible romance between Selina Kyle and Batman. Despite having so many key characters, it never felt packed and we were never distracted from the central plot of Batman taking down The Riddler, everything was intertwined really well. The Riddlers motives were incredibly well thought out and having that not only effect Bruce as The Batman but also within his personal life was a nice way of adding further torment to his character. Paul Dano and Matt Reeves created a truly iconic version of the villain, a serial killer that seemed so realistic, something we would see on a Netflix documentary! That realism is the core of the film, you could really see most of this happening, even Bruce’s gadgets aren’t too advanced, so it’s perfectly believable. 

The way they centred everything around the Iceberg lounge was great and I loved how they bought that bar to life, it makes me so excited for The Penguin spin-off series. One criticism I do have is Alfred and Bruce not having much screen time together, the scenes we did see were brilliant at illustrating the state of their relationship but I think there should have been a couple more interactions between them. Matt Reeves mentioned that we see Bruce more in the mask then out of the mask and that made so much sense. Bruce is consumed by the Batman and his current state of mind isn’t allowing him to even contemplate being Bruce Wayne and that’s portrayed very well in the film. The character development is excellent with Bruce finally learning the power “I am Vengeance” has and what impact that leaves on Gotham.  Despite being a three hour film the plot had me hooked from start to finish, I was never bored, so much so that I wanted to keep watching for another three hours! I left needing more Matt Reeves Batman content.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

Aesthetically speaking, this is THE BEST Gotham we have ever seen, the dark and gritty city that was brought to life by Matt Reeves and Greig Fraser was incredible. There are a countless number of beautiful cinematic shots that make it a visual masterpiece and to add to that the musical score was just as good. The use of shadows to generate the fear surrounding Batman was genius, even though Batman is a good guy, those moments where he’s creeping out of the shadows genuinely freaked me out too, so you could really relate to why the thugs were so afraid. The action choreography was nice and smooth and the combat didn’t seem stiff and bulky like some other Batman films. I think the editing certainly helped there too. That scene where he comes out of the elevator in the black darkness and the shots from the guns are the only bursts of light we see…WOW, what an incredible scene. There are plenty of these moments throughout the film, where the lighting is perfect, the camera angle is perfect and the music is perfect and that really sums up the masterpiece Matt Reeves has created. 

OVERALL (10/10)

Yes I’m going to jump on the hype train and add another 10/10 rating, but I really don’t care because I absolutely loved the film. The dark themes created a truly iconic Batman film that will be spoken about for years to come. Are there a couple of issues, sure, but what film doesn’t have a couple of issues? I would have loved to have seen more Alfred and Bruce content but I’m sure we will see plenty more in the sequel. Paul Dano’s performance justifies why The Riddler is my favourite villain and Robert Pattison delivers the best portrayal of Batman we have seen so far. Granted I still love Batfleck but this version is a whole lot darker and I love that. The biggest compliment I can give Matt Reeves is I just sat through three hours but I wanted there to be another three hours to watch. I am now desperate for more projects stemming from this universe he has created. I will be seeing it again at least one or two more times before it’s cinematic release ends. GO AND WATCH THIS FILM! You will not regret it.

Thanks for reading.

Callan