Movie Review: The Batman (2022)
“Fear is a tool,” the Batman says in a voiceover, giving the audiences just enough exposition on how things have been in Gotham offscreen. Most of the criminals have become paranoid of their surroundings, for fear that the Batman might catch them red-handed. “They think I’m hiding in the shadows,” Batman says.
“But I am the shadows.”
And as the film shows the Caped Crusader emerging from the shadows and proceeding to beat thugs in makeup harassing a train commuter; “The Batman” introduces a version of the superhero that we’ve all been waiting for: brutal, violent, calculating, deeply flawed, and with an almost-incorrigible moral compass. And, oh, when one of the thugs asks him who the hell he’s supposed to be, our hero responds with that one-liner.
“I’m vengeance.”
Co-written by Reeves and Peter Craig, “The Batman” is a dark, gritty, and unflinching noir film. It pays respects to the character’s greatest asset—his mind—and makes sure the film devotes considerable time exploring his investigative capabilities. And with Robert Pattinson making the role his own, the film easily positions itself among the greatest superhero movies in recent years.
Riddle Me This: A Villain That Challenges the Bat’s Smarts
“The Batman” begins on Halloween, where people in Gotham prepare for trick-or-treating. A man, alone in his house while his family celebrates outside, meets his death at the hands of a serial killer who has a penchant for leaving riddles and clues for the police to solve.
The victim, Gotham’s incumbent mayor running for reelection, appears to be just one of the string of murders the serial killer plans to carry out. Calling himself the Riddler, he sends videos to television networks and even posts on underground online platforms. There, he explains his actions involving Draconian levels of ridding the city of corruption and heralding real change.
Batman, working with Gotham Police’s Lt. Jim Gordon, races to stop the Riddler once and for all. First, however, they’d need to know who he is, why he does what he does, and who his next victims would be. And even as a femme fatale enters into the fray by the name of Selina Kyle, the Batman’s detective skills are put to test before the kill count becomes too great to overcome.
The Batman and His Trademark Optimism (Masked by Cynicism)
By the time the film unfolds, it has already been two years since Bruce Wayne donned the cape and cowl to become Gotham’s masked vigilante. For someone fighting for that period, it’s safe to say that such a timeframe is relatively short to develop a jaded cynicism.
But then again, it’s Gotham; the Riddler himself calls the place a cesspool that masquerades as a city. In fact, Batman and Gordon’s dynamic working to solve crimes has been unconventional, to say the least. Gordon himself sees the irony and points out that in their two years of working together, “I still don’t even know your name.”
Nevertheless, behind that cynical worldview, Batman still believes that Gotham could change, a silver lining of optimism that hangs by a thread even as the city pushes his sanity to its very edge. It’s that same optimism that was almost shattered when Alfred confirms a shocking revelation about the Wayne family.
With his moral code, Batman could only do so much; but thankfully Reeves and the filmmakers don’t make it seem like that. Pattinson is scary as the Batman; his pitch-black assault in the club to rescue Selina from Carmine Falcone, in particular, is reminiscent of Rogue One. Remember that scene when audiences get a glimpse of Darth Vader up close, and see him handily disposing of the rebels? Here, Reeves and Pattinson work together to personify vengeance. Batman doesn’t hold his punches; he actually is a killing machine if he wants to.
Batman as a Perfect Noir Character
The movie’s technical merits include Greig Fraser’s work as director of photography which features bleak colors mixing with heavily saturated hues. This approach allows the film to adopt a noir feel. In turn, “The Batman” looks as much a crime period piece as a contemporary superhero movie.
This comes in handy especially when you’ve got performances—aside from Pattinson’s—that can creep the hell out of you. Paul Dano, for one, is very terrifying as the Riddler. On the other hand, Farrell as the Penguin channels his best Robert De Niro impression (i.e. De Niro’s Al Capone in “The Untouchables”).
In addition, the film’s noir and detective elements rival those of David Fincher’s very best (“Zodiac,” “Seven”); so much so that it stops becoming a superhero film and becomes a straight-up suspense thriller affair. At its best, “The Batman” is the “Chinatown” of superhero movies—a showcase that succeeds in its attempt to make a film about the World’s Greatest Detective.
Finally, complementing Fraser’s cinematography is Michael Giacchino’s score. It’s a work grounded in sophistication that combines the best bits of Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer’s works for the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan films, respectively.
The Best Detective Superhero Film (and Among the Finest ‘Batman’ Films)
All this points to the verdict: “The Batman” manages to get the best elements of previous Batman films; from Burton’s noir aesthetics and Nolan’s grounded reality, Snyder’s gritty and violent approach. The results, of course, are not 100%; for starters, the runtime might be too imposing for a film that combines different genres of elements. And that alone might be a stumbling block for those already on the fence about the movie.
The best selling point for “The Batman,” therefore, is this: This is the greatest detective superhero film ever put on screen. By focusing on the character’s intelligence even as he battles his own scars (mentally, physically, and emotionally); the movie largely succeeds in important areas where even The Dark Knight trilogy failed.
So, while I still hold Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” the best Batman film overall, Reeves’ “The Batman” comes in at second.
And for me, that’s saying a lot.
