THE BATMAN

In the most unlikely possibility, you managed to steer clear of teasers and leaks of The Batman, you should know this iteration of The Dark Knight is in his early career as a superhero crime fighter, in this movie, someone (possibly the Riddle played by relatively new face Paul Dano) is killing the top society of Gotham city and leaving cryptic clues to the Police and their new ally, The Batman (Robert Pattinson in his first effort at The Caped Crusader).  Friends, allies or foes, The Batman will be working
side by side with The Gotham Police Department and skilled thief Catwoman/Selina
Kyle (Zoe Kravitz in her first big flirt with superhero movies). 

The new iteration of this most powerful from the DC Comics lineup (not in term of character superpowers but in terms of selling power at the bookstore – sliding in ahead of Superman) is possibly a horror film (like my colleague noted about The Matrix series) set in the present day.

And closer to the comic book style and feel it is.  The Batman is eons away from the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher tone.  The Batman goes a few notches deeper, darker and gloomier than The Dark Knight series from Chris Nolan.  Matt Reeves is spinning an entirely different vinyl record and it has none of the digital feel of its recent
predecessors from Warner Brothers.

Those scenes of Ethan Hunt peeling off his impersonations’ facial mask were often featured decades earlier in the Batman comics books.  But Batman’s tools have always been his razor-sharp instincts and his ability to slip effortlessly into the shoes of Sherlock Holmes – often beating the cops, his Kryptonian friend and many of his international adversaries at elucidating mysteries of the most difficult kind.

“So you actually dress like a bat, like an actual bat? 

It worked for 20 years in Gotham. 

Oh that shithole?” 

Jason Momoa/Ben Affleck
Aquaman Meets Batman in Justice League

Under Matt Reeves skilled direction, Jeffrey Wright substitutes for J.K. Simmons and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon.  The city of Gotham has already been introduced to the Batman the previous year.  This movie brings the audience in midstream in the second year Gotham has become aware of the existence of The Batman.  So, in a sense it is sequel to Batman Begins (2009) but much earlier than Batman v Superman and The Justice League where Ben Affleck plays a much older version of the Batman.

The production is meant to convey an extremely bleak ubran setting, possibly influenced by the George Floyd protests, possibly influenced by a few one-off 1970s Batman comic book issues that were this kind of raw and dealt with urban slums crimes.  It draws on movie sets that have more in common with Se7en, Saw and Silence of The Lambs than any other movie series and yet, surprisingly, the film skillfully maneuvers to a PG-13 rating despite the opportunity for gore, shock, blood splatter and flying body parts that cable shows such as The Boys, The Sopranos have used for comedic spin, for realism and to build audience loyalty with over-the-top stomach-churning realism.

It is also possibly the first time the cinematic productions of Batman highlight his unofficial title as The World’s Finest Detective, who has been portrayed often times as both a master of disguise, able to sneak into crime scenes or situations disguised with facial masks and latex and voice alterations to match the best from Mission Impossible scenarios with Ethan Hunt undercover.

Like Andrew Garfield selling that one standout scene in Spiderman No Way Home, Pattinson is critical in selling several scenes of The Batman to audiences, projecting stoicism yet on closeups conveying real emotion is swirling underneath the cowel and his dark angel costume.