Film Review: The Batman (2022)
by Michael Nagle
This weekend Robert Pattinson’s turn as Batman came out like gangbusters and generated $258 million worldwide at the box office. Directed by Matt Reeves, “The Batman” is dark, wet and murky. All of the early concerns about Pattinson’s worthiness to wear the cape seem to have gone away. The bigger question might be whether or not Pattinson can equally portray a convincing Bruce Wayne.
The dreary and always rainy Gotham City is in the grip of a criminal who is killing city VIPs involved in law enforcement. The masked killer seems to believe he’s removing the bad element from city leadership who have helped themselves to funds initially set aside for improving the city rather than using it for its initial intentions.
The film score is ideal for the visuals. Nirvana’s, “Something In The Way” comes on early and might be the most upbeat song you’ll hear in the next two plus hours. Against the brooding backdrop of Gotham City, it sets the mood perfectly.
Starting off with the bad, the film is long and could have easily been trimmed by thirty minutes or more. In contrast with “Joker”, this view of Gotham City appears even darker. That may stem from the fact that “Joker” was essentially one characters’ view of the world around him. Here, The Batman looks out at his own city and sees nothing but darkness. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne hasn’t recovered from his childhood trauma of witnessing the murder of his parents. When he is departing a murder scene and learns that the victim was found dead by his own son, you can see the weight of the memory on Batman and equally observe his recognition of that on the child he makes eye contact with. It becomes more personal for Batman at that instance. It would be helpful of Pattinson was allowed to do something other than whisper through all of his dialogue. Even when unmasked, Bruce Wayne is portrayed as a reclusive hermit who is still best known as the son of murdered parents. Here the Bat Cave looks more like a rat cave.
Zoe Kravitz portrays Catwoman (Selina Kyle) and she eats up every scene that she’s in. Unfortunately, her storyline is paper thin and seems alternately forgotten at times. Kravitz has a chameleon-like appearance and through wig and costume changes, she’s never an afterthought when she’s on screen. Her Catwoman distracts the hell out of Pattinson’s Batman and it is easy to see why.
The sole member of the police force who Batman seems content to trust is Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) who does his customary solid job by never overacting in any scene he’s in.
Wright, Pattinson and Kravitz accomplish something impressive by portraying iconic characters without trying to duplicate even acknowledge whatever has been achieved in past portrayals by other actors. I should also say the same for Colin Farrell (as Penguin) and Paul Dano (as The Riddler). Farrell is unrecognizable and the prosthetics aren’t even a distraction. He’s probably among the least acknowledged actors of his generation in terms of his ability. Whoever cast Paul Dano as Riddler must have witnessed a hell of an audition. Dano’s brooding and disturbed minimalism in the role is pretty jarring. He becomes even scarier once he’s unmasked. That’s when Dano turns on the crazy without turning it into every cartoon-like crazy character you’ve ever seen on screen. Once he’s locked up, Dano’s Riddler almost seems excited by the prospect. Once he starts chatting with his neighbor in an adjacent cell, the audiences’ imagination can really kick in.
Reeves as Director manages to handle material that could easily get him blacklisted by Batman fans and walk away having accomplished something unique and darkly emotional. I’m not sure that he did as great a job as he could. Turning a Batman movie into a pseudo mafia story probably wasn’t necessary.
There are problems with the plotline. Some of the usual staples rear their ugly heads – the endless conspiracy where EVERYONE is involved (or could be), the tortured hero (we know Batman’s backstory but if he’s always so depressed or depressing what depth can the audience find when he should seem angry or sad about something happening now?), and a few more. Hard to call out some of them without spoiling the film for those who’ve not yet seen it.
Still, credit to the cinematography that this film in several instances looks as though it was lifted directly from the pages of a comic book. Silver and white raindrops are the sole illumination visible in otherwise blackened scenes. The fight scenes are so dark that by contrast, the “Games Of Thrones” war seemed better lit.
Pattinson seems at ease and agile in the suit. Probably better than any of his predecessors, he’s the right age for the fighting and the gymnastics involved. At one point when Batman swings over to prevent a catastrophe and saves the lives of people in danger (including the young boy referenced earlier) it almost felt like an old Errol Flynn movie where the audience might jump out of their seats and cheer (they didn’t in my theatre). It had that hero momentum and believability.
None of the 90s camp and cheeky humor from that era’s Batman films can be found here. Jim Carrey as Riddler seemed barely adequate then let alone now. And while Christian Bale is thought by many to have played the role best (or Michael Keaton), Pattinson’s Batman seems to put both in the rearview mirror by a comfortable margin. His Bruce Wayne needs some work and his Bat cave could use a serious scrubbing. And based on the box office numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets the opportunity to flex that muscle.