\Me and The Bat? We go back a ways.
The Kenner Batman from the Super Powers Collection was one
of the first action figures I ever owned. 1992’s Batman Returns was the
first PG-13 movie I saw in theaters. Batman: The Animated Series remains
high on my list of greatest TV shows of all time, whether animated or
otherwise. Hell, I’ve been Batman on Halloween more than any other character. Even
though I tend to favor the Marvel side of things on the superhero front these
days, The Caped Crusader is and always will be close to my heart.
So, yeah, I was hyped for Matt Reeves’ The Batman,
simply because it’s, well, more Batman. Did we need a darker, grittier
take on a character that’s only gotten darker and grittier on-screen since
Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy? Nah, probably not. Personally,
I’d be down for some Batman: The Brave & The Bold-style surrealism when
the next reboot inevitably rolls around, but I digress.
Misgivings about yet another “realistic” take on the Batman
mythos aside, I thoroughly enjoyed The Batman which, for nearly three
tension-filled hours, offers a surprisingly fresh take on The Dark Knight and
his rogues gallery.
The Batman is dark. Really dark. This film is
closer to Se7en or Silence of the Lambs than it is to a typical
superhero movie, thanks in large part to a genuinely unsettling Riddler played
by the creepy-when-he’s-not-overdoing-it Paul Dano. Fortunately for Gotham
City, The Batman is on the case … and he’s not alone. Robert Pattinson plays a tired,
strung-out Bruce Wayne who hasn’t gotten the hang of the whole nocturnal vigilante
quite yet, and he’s joined by Zoë Kravitz’s phenomenal Selina Kyle. Pattinson
and Kravitz are a lot of fun to watch, and give us one of the best superhero pseudo-romances
in recent memory. Kravitz shines even brighter than Pattinson – she deserves
her own spin-off and soon – but anyone doubting whether the Twilight alum
is worthy to wear the cowl will likely be silenced fairly early in the film.
Unlike many other on-screen adaptations of The Caped
Crusader, The Batman spends the bulk of its screentime showcasing the
crimefighter as The World’s Greatest Detective. He’s investigating crime scenes
alongside Lieutenant Jim Gordon (the incredibly game Jeffrey Wright), he’s analyzing
The Riddler’s labyrinthine clues and he’s chasing down and interrogating Gotham
scum (and throwing hands if the conversation demands it). It’s satisfying
seeing a young, inexperienced Batman working to figure things out – both in his own life and
the eerie Riddler case – and the story that pulls from DC Comics source material like The
Long Halloween, Hush and even Zero Year gives Bats plenty to
contend with.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Colin Farrell’s
Penguin (“Ozzie” to some) is a pure delight, both in terms of performance
and practical makeup. Calling Farrell’s Penguin a transformation would be an understatement,
and I hope we see more of him in the sequel.
Speaking of the sequel, there’s a scene tacked onto the end
of the film in which a future villain makes a brief appearance. Although it
wouldn’t quite be a Batman series without this character, I don’t think we needed
to see or hear them yet.
There have been a lot of live-action Batman films (counting Batman
v Superman in this case but excluding the team-up Justice League film),
so how does The Batman stack up? Here’s my new live-action Batman movie ranking
to make you want to either nod approvingly or chuck a Batarang at my head.
- Batman Returns
- The Dark Knight
- Batman (1989)
- Batman Begins
- The Batman
- Batman Forever
- Batman (1966)
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Batman & Robin
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
