Rebuilding Rob

A CONFESSION: I am a little bit embarrassed to admit this, as I consider myself lifelong Batman fan, but I finally watched 2022’s “The Batman“ for the first time yesterday.

I think held off on watching for as long as I did because quite honestly, I wasn’t ready for yet another actor to step in and play Batman. Christian Bale has been my favorite movie, Batman, by far. And while the Ben Affleck Batman showed l potential, he was bogged down just by the collective troubles of the DCEU in general. Well that, and his substance abuse problems at the time made it too cost-prohibitive to insure him for another DC movie.

Eventually, the solo Batman movie that was to be directed by Affleck was picked up by Matt Reeves. He would cast Robert Pattinson for the titular role. That’s right. The sparkly vampire from Twilight was going to play Batman. While this was a controversial announcement at the time, it never reached the levels of fan outcry from the late 80s when it was announced that Michael Keaton was going to play Batman in the 1989 movie.

Anyone who’s still concerned about Pattinson‘s performance can put their minds at ease. The guy definitely has acting chops. Remember, he also played Cedric Diggory, in Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire before he made Twilight. He’s also strung together numerous good performance post Twilight. My fears about Pattinson were assuaged when I heard that, one time while she was visiting the side of one of the Twilight movies, he told author Stephenie Meyer that her books were “rubbish“.

It’s important to note that there The Batman is a separate, stand-alone story from the other Batman movies. It is not a sequel or a prequel to any of the others. This is good because it gives the actors a clean slate, to explore new aspects of the character’s ’ personalities.

The story unfolds with several prominent politicians and members of the police department being killed by the mysterious Riddler. Danos character has taken very much to social media, making himself something else, the man of the people, among Gotham and franchised. The police are still trying to solve the mystery and stay a step ahead of the Riddler, that is coming to grips with his police and Gotham city. Like Christopher Nolan‘s trilogy before it, The Batman deals with the consequences of Batman’s presence in Gotham. He has definitely escalated the criminal element the city. Batman eventually realize that he must become more than just “Vengeance”.

The Batman took on a much different tone than previous Bat movies. This was much more of a gritty, hard-boiled detective story that felt much closer to Se7en or even Sin City than previous Bat outings. It is established on-screen that this is a “year 2 Batman”. He’s nowhere near as seasoned as Affleck’s Batman. In many ways, he’s greener than Bale’s Batman in Batman Begins. Furthermore with a three-hour run time, Pattinson’s Batman goes through a great deal of growth. Patterson Batman does not just lurking shadows and pounce like a villain from the 80s/movie. We see him walking around in plain sight, interacting with the other characters.

I also have to give flowers to Paul Dano, and his performance as The Riddler. And keeping with the overall count of the movie, this is a much more grounded at depiction of the “Prince of puzzlers“. If you’re expecting to see a performance, à la, Girshom, or Jim Carrey in their green spandex, you’re going to be disappointed. In someways, Dano’s performance made this Riddler very relatable, and very disturbing. I still can’t stand the duct-tape / S&M looking mask he wore though.

Colin Farrell was absolutely unrecognizable as The Penguin. Here is a great LA times article that talks about the process that transformed Colin Farrell into The Penguin. Farrell looked more like The Penguin -certainly in the face – then perhaps any actor in any comic book annotation ever. Like The Riddler, this is a character that even the comic book writers have a the tough time wrapping their heads around.

Likewise, Zoe Kravitz gave a great performance as the Catwoman/Selena, Kyle. She definitely portrayed the character she appeared in the comics a la year one. Jeffrey Wright’s Lt Gordon works more directly with Batman than we have seen incarnations of the character; bringing a fresh teeth to the character.

FINAL TAKE: recommended, if you’re a fan of the character. At times, the movie moves on most coal pace; which allows viewers to really immerse themselves in Batman‘s world. However, this approach, with the given three hour runtime might be a little much to ask of casual viewer. The Batman brings a fresh new, take on a character who long been DC/Warner Bros’ cash cow. It is refreshing knowing that this character is a separate take on Batman, existing outside of Zack Snyder’s ill-fated DCU and JJ Abrams’ upcoming DCU.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Thoughts that keep me up at night
• Requiem for a mall
• what makes a great teacher
• The O.R. Virgin
• A Day in the Life of Rob

The article “Rob reviews… The Batman” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.