The Batman was another theatrical casualty of the pandemic for me, a film I probably would’ve otherwise seen in the theaters. And once it came to streaming, I’ll admit that the length put me off a bit, so I’m only just getting around to it.
Early in his years as the Caped Crusader, Bruce Wayne teams up with Det. Jim Gordon to unravel the mystery behind a complex killer. The Riddler leaves messages and puzzles at each murder scene, including some directly addressed to Batman, and they dig at the heart of something buried beneath his kills. Bruce likes to shroud himself and his work in solitude, but in order to solve this case, he needs the help of his faithful butler Alfred, the police connections of Det. Gordon, and the inside knowledge of cat burglar Selina Kyle.
I get why this movie is so well regarded. Its various elements come together skillfully, from the dingy camera work capturing Gotham’s seedy streets to the strong, unnerving production design to the slow onion-layer reveals of the mystery. The action is exciting, although the film continues the ongoing Batman trend of fight scenes lit too dimly to see everything.
I like that we learn what the Riddler’s motivations are beyond just “being evil.” Obviously, he’s a serial killer who’s murdering people in vicious and brutal ways, and his motives do nothing to justify his actions. But it’s much more interesting to have him do these things for a reason, the truth of which is drawn out slowly over the course of the film. I also like seeing Bruce work the case both in and out of the cowl—when he needs entrance to an event where important suspects will be mingling, he puts on Billionaire Bruce Wayne like its own disguise, giving him the societal cache he needs to score an appearance. It’s really interesting to see Batman study crime scenes, both because we finally get a good look at Batman actually being “the world’s greatest detective” and because of the uneasy interactions between him and the Gotham PD.
But while the film is really well put together, for me personally, it wasn’t quite edge-of-my-seat. I’d say I was watching with maybe 75% attention instead of full attention. Part of that is simply the nature of the streaming beast, where distractions are more readily available than in a darkened theater. But I also think part of it is the length. I don’t mind an extra-long movie if it can justify it, but, well-made film or long, I don’t really think The Batman absolutely needed its nearly three-hour runtime. There were times when I found my attention waning purely because I was looking down at the time elapse and wondering how there was still an hour to go.
I’m pleased with Robert Pattinson’s performance as Bruce/Batman. He’s an actor who’s made a lot of unexpected choices throughout his career, but a lot of people still derisively perceive him as “the Twilight guy,” so it’s nice to see him impress so many people with his Bruce. He employs stillness to great effect, offering up subtle work with a lot of layers. The always-wonderful Jeffrey Wright brings such steadiness to Gordon, the lone clean cop who just wants to see justice done, and Zoë Kravitz plays Selina with a good combination of edge, vulnerability, and allure. As the Riddler, much of Paul Dano’s performance is filtered through the disguises of the anonymous killer, but what he does is effectively chilling. Colin Farrell, of course, does a nice job with Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin, and I’m a definite fan of his generally, but I don’t see anything from him in this film that’s so specific or revelatory that it had to be him, rather than someone who didn’t need to be covered in unrecognizable prosthetics. The film also features Andy Serkis turning in good work as Alfred, as well as appearances from John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, and Con O’Neill, who’s excellent as Izzy on Our Flag Means Death.
Warnings
Violence, disturbing images, sexual content (more implied than shown,) drinking/drug use (fictional drug,) language, and strong thematic elements.
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