The Batman

Evie Totty: “It ruled.”

I actually went into the film with low expectations. I had not seen all the trailers (which is my SOP with the "big" films I want to see) prior.

I got sucked into the NFT hype and saw the premiere in IMAX two days before release - and accidentally got the best seat in the house.

I really enjoyed it, as it reminded me of the Playstation games I've played in the past - while I haven't played all the Batman titles, I did spend a lot of time with Arkham City. I will say there was boat-load of rain in the movie and it kind of took me out of it, because I know what it takes to make rain appear on film, so I kept thinking of the production side of it, lol.

The events of The Batman occur in Year Two - Bruce Wayne is still young and has yet come to realize that Bruce is just as important to his plan to protect Gotham as The Batman is - and The Riddler is the only person to refer to him with that name.

People are praising Pattinson's portrayal - and I suppose it's good, but it seems like he's non-verbal most of the time. But upon reflection, that's not entirely true. Maybe he did such a good job, I didn't even notice, because he actually does speak a lot, especially with Gordon and Selina (never referenced as Catwoman, by the way). They do have him do the gravely voice, though - which I found slightly comical, but whatever.

I would break down the rest of the cast's performance, but that would take a long time, because they ALL did a good job. I did find myself trying to "find" Farrell in The Penguin because he's buried under a lot of prosthetics. You can pretty much only see him in the eyes.

The soundtrack is amazing. It's what kept me in this nearly three-hour film. I took a look at the time two hours in to see how much time was left, because I didn't want it to end - it was so good.

Keep in mind - I'm from the Michael Keaton/Tim Burton Batman days so I have all of those films under my belt as far as seeing them on the big screen, and if it weren't for Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, I'd have to put this at the top of the heap.

But I do have some fundamental problems not with the film itself, but with some... ideology surrounding it. For instance - if Wayne is so wealthy, why doesn't he do what people are asking of Bezos, Musk, and Branson and just pour money into the people and fight the systemic racism that perpetuates the crime that occurs instead of spending it on his gadgets and technology (a car with a jet engine can't be cheap). But that is a whole different discussion, right?

And although this movie is looooong, there wasn't much they could have shaved off. Maybe some during a bar scene at one point, but the rest is not wasted.

I will say that the movie "ended" three or four times, though, haha.

Do I want to go see it again? Mmmm. Kinda. But the running time and movie times haven't worked in my favor.

With all that said, at the end of the credits something flashed on the screen. Turns out it is a reiteration of a website mentioned in the movie. I'll add that in the replies as spoilers.

− March 20, 2022 • more by Evie • log in or create an account to reply

Evie Totty: This reply contains spoilers. Reveal it. − March 20, 2022 • more by Evie

Evie Totty: Oh PS: I found out during the Clubhouse discussion on the film that the movie stays true to the comics. The readers present had nothing but praise for the film. − March 20, 2022 • more by Evie

Scott Hardie: I'm glad that you liked it! Enough critics are raving about it, and I can now include you in that number, that I want to see it too.

I don't understand the mockery that greeted Robert Pattinson's casting, unless it was merely residual Twilight bashing, which is getting awfully old since that movie came out back in the Bush administration. Yeah, Pattinson's pretty-boy vampire was not what Batman fans wanted, but does no one understand that an actor is not the parts he plays? I don't remember Heath Ledger being greeted with expectations that he would play the Joker like his Knight's Tale character, but maybe I've forgotten. − March 20, 2022 • more by Scott

Evie Totty: Oh you have definitely forgotten. It seems someone cast in a Batman film role gets shit, ever since Michael Keaton.

I will say whoever decided to give Pattinson the emo haircut in The Batman made a bad choice. − March 20, 2022 • more by Evie

Scott Hardie: Ha! That Collider article is hilarious! I hope whoever wrote it has a framed copy hanging in their office to remind them that predicting the future is hard. :-) − March 20, 2022 • more by Scott

Evie Totty: Right? Lolol − March 20, 2022 • more by Evie

Scott Hardie: The weird thing about the Batman actor getting dumped on is that Batman always works as a character. He's so flexible; screen adaptations have varied between high camp in the 60s, art deco in the 90s, Burton's impressionistic take, Schumacher's kitschy take, Nolan's realistic take, Snyder's epic take, and even Lego Batman! And there have been countless different takes in Elseworlds and other comic books and video games and TV shows and so on. There have been good adaptations and bad adaptations made around Batman, but the character himself always works no matter what you do with him; he's never the problem. And by that same extension, so too is the actor always fine. Not necessarily great, but never bad either, not in my estimation. You can cast almost anybody as Batman and he'll probably be fine. Fans scouring film news for red flags should worry more about box-office-driven villain casting like Jim Carrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger than who's in the Batsuit. − March 20, 2022 • more by Scott

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