The Batman - review

The DCEU’s latest iteration of every comic book fans’ favourite orphan billionaire, turned caped vigilante, takes a different approach to the superhero genre. Matt Reeve’s film, The Batman, brings the caped crusader into the twenty-first century, retaining only the darkness of the stylistic, era mixing, television show, Gotham.

Gotham, ever an important character in the mythology of The Batman, is suitably dark. In Reeves’ Gotham, it rains a lot. In fact, it rains all the time. The sun does not shine in Gotham. The unrelenting, oppressive dourness informs the citizens of Gotham. It is a place where the worse of society thrive, relishing in the fear and misery of the city.

In the city, Batman (Robert Pattison) divides opinion. His vigilante presence is not appreciated by those who break the law, preying on the weak. Those that uphold the law treat him with indifference or mistrust. Only lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffery Wright) sees value in his contribution.

The Riddler (Paul Dano) is killing prominent political figures. He leaves riddles for The Batman. The common thread is an accusation of them hiding secrets. Living a facade.

After each killing, the Riddler releases details of the victims' lives, showing the truth behind their public image.

Gordon and Batman collaborate, trying to catch the Riddler before more people die. Batman attends the funereal as his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, of the mayor, the Riddler’s first victim. He hopes to catch him at the funeral.

The funeral is attended by all of the city’s major political figures, law enforcement and prominent persons from the criminal underworld, most notably, Oz aka The Penguin (Colin Farrell - unrecognisable beneath makeup) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).

Wayne approaches Falcone at the funereal when he sees him with a woman. He thinks the woman is Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) whom he met whilst investigating. Selina is a thief, a cat burglar. She is connected to Falcone. She does not tell Batman what her connection to Falcone is.

As the Riddler continues to pile up the bodies, Batman and Gordon race to work out his endgame.

Let’s get the most pressing question out of the way; is Pattison a good Batman? In this film, as a younger, greener Batman, Pattison is excellent. His slightly goth, gaunt look and angular face work in the context of a Batman new to being a vigilante.

Reeves’ look for the film, the gritty realism, the relentless rain and darkness, is reflected in the Batman costume. The suit is more utilitarian; combat boots, kevlar panels, magnetised bat knife, not a bit of spandex or rubber in sight.

Though not physically imposing in the way Christian Bale was, Pattison manages to imbue The Batman with an intensity and seriousness. rising above the teen drama cloud of a certain vampire franchise that has followed him throughout his career.

The sound in the film helps to sell The Batman. When he wants to be heard, the boots make a noisy statement, every step echoing. The music by Michael Giacchino, very reminiscent of television’s Westworld, also plays a part. The haunting melodies match the Gotham vibe, only broken up by the scenes in the nightclub or the kinetic, frenetic fight scenes.

So what is so different about Reeves’ The Batman? Besides there fact that there is a story. There is a credible antagonist and a different approach to the storytelling. Similar to another brilliant film of the same genre, James Mangold’s 2017 Logan, The Batman is more about story than set pieces.

There are some great action set pieces but one does not feel as though the film is plotted around the action.

Given the runtime of nearly three hours, there is surprisingly little action. There are a few fight scenes and an exciting car chase, the obligatory climactic action scene but not much else.

The film moves quite nicely through its runtime, the anticipation of action tempered with the murder mystery aspects and the need to know why the Riddler is killing people.

All the actors are great in their roles, Andy Serkis brings a different take to the role of Alfred, less bumbling, more of a guardian in keeping with modern times.

Kravitz’s Selina Kyle has the sexiness of Berry’s 2004 Catwoman without the silliness. Farrell is the stand out as a Capone-esque Penguin.

It is Pattison’s film though. The film works because of him and his stoic performance. At no point is one reminded of, or wanting to hark back to, previous iterations of Batman. Pattison owns this film. Worth seeing.