‘The Batman’ — Venture into the Dark Streets of Gotham
Is Twitter’s beloved movie a fresh reinvention or a prolonged misfit?
It’s time to discuss the most talked-about movie on Twitter over the last month or at least before the Oscars. I’m referring to ‘The Batman’. Leave all of your preconceived notions and prior Batman films at the door. You’ll need an entirely different mindset compared to the other films, and also a comfortable chair.
Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, ventures into the underworld of Gotham City to chase a sadistic psycho killer, who leaves behind a trail of perplexing clues. But when the trail leads closer to home, and the scale of the mastermind's plan evolves, Gotham’s hero must fight to bring the culprit to justice. Will Batman be able to solve the riddles fast enough or will his newfound nemesis bring down the long plagued metropolis…?
The 1st half of the movie is stunning; the tone from the beginning declares itself as something entirely different. This is not your neighborhood Batman, but more of a detective Batman. Lurking in the shadows of a dark and dismal Gotham, all captured with elegant cinematography and a stirring soundtrack.
As for the reinvented bat suit and bat car, aside from being any fan boy's dream, they’re both more realistic. Most of the equipment seems to be something any rich person could acquire verses from the depths of Darpa’s labs.
For the entire first half, all these elements pull you into the mystery as Batman chases the Riddler, played by Paul Dano. Much like the movie ‘Seven’, the crimes are grim and intentional. This creates an air of enigma around the entire build-up and feels less like a superhero movie and more of a crime drama.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the other leading star here, Zoe Kravitz who plays Catwoman. Her character is more roped into the plot and as such plays a larger role in resolving the crime drama taking place. Not to mention, she’s a bada** in the movie. Also, coming into this movie strongly and unrecognizable is Colin Farrell, who plays the Penguin. When you’re watching this, you quite literally will not be able to tell it’s him playing the character. The prosthetics, mannerisms, and voice make him transform into an entirely different person.
The problems begin to arise in the third act of the movie. The previously mentioned elements build momentum throughout the movie but it seems like they run out of gas in the third act. It comes down to making everything flush out properly in the resolution of the film.
If you’re going to do a detective Batman then you have to really go all in, and the last half seems to muddy the waters. With so much going on, the movie struggles to make the mystery reveal drop with a resounding impact. Instead, it putters out as multiple elements don’t come to fruition as the build-up promises.
As always I’m avoiding spoilers here, but the biggest battle scenes don’t hold a lot of shock value. Frankly, they’re spoiled in trailers in order to hype up audiences to come to see the movie. It’s an understandable marketing move, and the blame falls more on the entire industry than just this movie. In recent years, movie trailers have begun to give entirely too much away. But considering this is a mystery crime drama instead of a superhero movie, it needed to give even less away.
Also, you’re going to need to block out a chunk of time for this one. At 3 hours, it’s imperative that you stay in this movie and follow the thread while resisting the urge to check your phone.
All in all, I think it’s a good movie, which is why ‘The Batman’ swooped in as an 8.4/10 on my scale. Check out the trailer below!
