When
the Comics Code Authority was established in the 1950s to appease those who
thought the funny books were corrupting the minds of children with questionable
themes, inherently dark characters like Batman entered an era of lighthearted
camp. It was not until the 1980s that Batman would permanently reclaim his
throne as the prototypical dark-and-troubled king of angst, despite LEGO and
George Clooney-with-bat-nipples iterations. Before now, the darkest version of
Batman to ever glide onto the silver screen was in Christopher Nolan’s The
Dark Knight trilogy, a series that helped elevate comic book movies to
more “serious” cinema. But just when I thought the Caped Crusader couldn’t get
any darker, Warner Brothers decided to double down with The Batman,
an extremely well-made, intense film that, much like a black hole, does not let
a single photon of light escape its inky depths.
Directed
by Matt Reeves and led by Robert Pattinson’s almost uncomfortably
unhinged, brilliantly subtle, and undoubtedly Kurt Cobain-inspired
rendition of the titular hero, The Batman is not for the faint
of heart. There is no comic relief to be found, the violence is regularly even
more brutal than The Dark Knight at its bloodiest (it is
still, somehow, PG-13), and the mystery at the center of it all demands your
full attention and brainpower for the entire 176-minute runtime if you expect
to understand everything that’s happening. If these things don’t turn you off
you will find The Batman to be a fantastic watch. The
supporting cast, which includes Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey
Wright as Jim Gordon, and Paul Dano as the startlingly creepy Riddler, is
perfectly cast and act the heck out of a script that is sharp if not always
compelling. Some of it feels like a horror movie (who imagined the Batmobile
could be so scary?), some of it feels like a David Fincher-esque psychological
thriller in the vein of Se7en or Zodiac, and none
of it is what I would describe as “fun.” The Batman is not a
movie you want to see if you want to escape the horribleness of the real world
and watch a superhero bam, smash, and pow their way through
a colorful rogues gallery for a few hours. “Colorful” is the very last word I
would use to describe The Batman-- black, dark red, and various
shades of gray seem to be the only colors that exist in this version of Gotham
City.
This
limited and dreary color pallet is one of a few nitpicks I had that kept The
Batman from reaching loftier heights in my estimation. I had other issues
as well, such as the soundtrack, which is overly bombastic, far too intrusive,
and has a fixation on a certain two-note refrain that will drive you absolutely
insane by the time it is played for the millionth time, as well as the script’s
occasional dip into melodrama and self-importance (some of Batman’s brooding
voiceovers come uncomfortably close to self-parody at some points). Yet despite
these flaws, The Batman is a thrilling, well-crafted film that
is well worth your time if you don’t mind your movies having a whole lot of
dark and not a lot of fun.
The
Batman is now available exclusively in theaters.
This review was first published in The Keizertimes on
March 11th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/
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