Review: The Batman

 He is Vengeance, but is he the Knight? ... Or is it Night? I honestly don't know. 

Okay, there’s a lot to over, so I’ll skip the usual preamble and get right to it.

 

The Batman begins (teehee) with the view of a mansion through a pair of binoculars as Ave Maria plays in the background and we hear the viewers heavy breathing. He creepily spies on a kid in a ninja costume before the kid rough houses with his dad a little and then leaves with his mother to go trick or treating. Once they’re gone, he looks to the skylight. We cut to him watching the man, Mayor Don Mitchell Jr., as he watches a news report on his most recent debate with his challenger, Bella Reál. Some important info is dumped here, Reál is looking to end something called the Gotham Renewal fund, Mitchell crows about a massive drug bust from several years ago, the Maroni Drug Bust, and Reál points out that said bust hasn’t stopped drug use in Gotham. And she also points out how Mitchell allows a “masked vigilante” to run around their streets. Mitchell goes to answer the phone, and we’re shown our watcher has broken into the room and has been standing menacingly behind Mitchell. It is one of the creepiest shots in the movie. Mitchell talks to someone about the race and his frustration that Reál is still tied with him. He turns off the tv and goes to drink alone, when the intruder knocks him over the head and beats him to death with a carpet setting tool. The intruder tapes up the body while looking like he’s incredibly aroused by it as we cut to black.

Batman returns... again.

 

We jump over to Batman narrating. He tells us it’s Halloween as we’re shown the Bat Signal powering up. Batman pontificates about how the streets are crowded despite the rain, and how the “element” is waiting with the normal people. He mentions that he’s been doing this for two years and how he chooses his targets carefully, due to the city’s size and him being just one dude. We’re shown several crimes, a convenience store robbery, some graffitiing, a bit of arson, and finally a group off kids in skull make up on a train. They target a man as he gets ready to get off the train and follow him. Meanwhile, Batman is getting ready for the night. He mentions that the Bat signal isn’t just a call for him, but a warning to criminals that he’s active. The convenience store robber ends up getting hit by a taxi because he was busy staring at a dark space fearing it was Batman, as do the graffiti people but it’s the train that has his interest tonight. The man gets off, the skull makeup kids following. They corner him and start wailing on the guy. But then they hear thumping boots and Batman arrives. Sorry, he introduces himself as Vengeance after beating the leader up. He takes on the crew of about ten guys, easily overpowering them because he’s the damn Batman. He takes one dude out that tried to shoot him with a taser, after which the others limp off. He tries to help the man up, but the victim is just as scared of him as the criminals. He sees the Bat Signal and heads out.

 

Riddle me this, riddle me that, who is 
afraid of the big bad bat?

Back at the Mayor’s mansion, Batman is brought in by Lt. James Gordon. The Mayor’s face has been completely covered in tape; his left hand covered by a bag. On the tape is written “NO MORE LIES” and the assailant stuck up a bunch of Mitchell’s news articles about him with the same words on it in massive letters. The investigating officer notes that his head was basically caved in, but a larger portion of the blood was from his hand. His left thumb cut off. Batman notes that the thumb was cut off while he was still alive. As the cops discus the case, Batman walks around, taking note of things and seemingly drawing the photographers to certain bits of evidence like a bit of blood. Gordon is given a card from the killer. It goes like this, cover “From Your Secret Friend, Whoo?” inside, “Haven’t a clue? Let’s play a game, just me and you,” with a much creepier riddle written inside “What does a liar do when he’s DEAD” along with pictograms for a cipher. There’s also a huge note written in that cipher. Before Batman can say anything, Commissioner Pete Savage comes in an roasts Gordon for bringing the Bat in. Gordon shows that the note was addressed directly to Batman. Batman gives the answer to the riddle, “He lies still.” The commissioner demand Gordon take Batman out as he goes to give his statement. As Batman goes, he makes note about a bloody footprint, and Gordon explains it’s from Mitchell’s son… he found the body. Batman sees the kid as he goes out. … Yeah, that’s going to give Bruce flashbacks.

 

Batman isn’t sure if he’s making a difference or not, as in the time he’s been active, crime has only gone up. He vows to push himself and try to save the city. He rides his motorcycle as Wayne to Wayne Tower, drives below its’s foundation to his secret entrance. Yeah, the Batcave and his house are both under Wayne Tower in this version. Certainly, that saves time getting things from RND. He takes off special contact lenses that work as a camera from his eyes and writes notes on his night in a journal. As he works, a news report points out that it was 20 years ago that day that Thomas Wayne, who was running for mayor in this universe, was killed along with Martha. Alfred comes down to chat with his boss. Using his camera lenses, Bruce writes down the cipher as Alfred asks why the killer is writing to him. Bruce doesn’t know. Alfred tries to force Bruce to a business meeting, but Bruce is in his “I don’t care about anything besides being Batman” phase and blows Alfred off. He storms off, and Alfred sees the video of the Mayors son and is clearly flashing back to Bruce at that age.

 

Alfred "I'm too old for this shit" Pennyworth. 

Later, Alfred has gotten the cipher going and decrypted some of it. Together, they work out the cipher, revealing that the whole thing is just the word DRIVE in massive letters. Batman and Gordon go to check the Mayor’s cars, finding one that has been recently touched. Because a big pair of sheers is in one of the tires. Riddler isn’t extremely subtle this go round in some places. Batman uses a blacklight and finds the USB port with a Thumb drive. Literally, the thumb is on the drive. They use the thumb on a built in fingerprint scanner to decrypt the drive. It has on it a bunch of pics of the Mayor at a club with a woman that isn’t his wife, and with The Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot in the background. Before they can do much analyzing, though, they realize that the drive also had a virus in it that made a bunch of emails with those photos and sent them to every major news outlet in Gotham from Gordon’s email. Whoops. The realize that this is the Iceberg Lounge, and the cops won’t get in without a warrant.

 

Batman goes in alone. He gets blown off at the door by a pair of twin security guards. He beats them both up and walks in. What did you think was going to happen, he’s the Damn Batman! He goes inside, beating up security people as he goes. Eventually he gets Cobblepot’s attention and the two go to have a chat. Batman asks about the girl with the Mayor. Cobblepot feigns ignorance. A hot serving girl comes in, Cobblepot referring to him jokingly as Mr. Vengeance and says he doesn’t bite. The girl seems to take note of the girl in the photo as she slips Cobblepot his money. Cobblepot tries to fake not even knowing it’s the mayor in the photos, which sets Bats off, and he throws him up against a wall. They have a stare down, Batman backing off to follow the girl. He noticed that the serving girl had boots on like a obscured woman in the photo.

 

The bat and the cat.

Outside, the server get a taxi and Batman follows on his motorcycle. On the drive over, the server gets a frantic call from “Baby” who is freaking out about the news report about the mayor. She tries to call her, but it doesn’t sound like it works. She makes it home and Batman watches from a lense across the street. The serving girl calms her Baby before slipping into their room to ditch her wig and change outfits as their cats circle around her. Oh…. Yeah, this is Selena Kyle aka the Catwoman. Catwoman suits up and slips out, Batman in pursuit, both on motorcycles. Catwoman makes it to the Mayors house, finds a secret safe and breaks into it. Batman arrives as she opens it, complimenting her on her speed. She tries to kick him, but Batman is pretty fast. They wrestle for a bit before he pins her to a table, grabbing the thing she was trying to steal, a passport. Before they can ‘discuss” things, someone comes down from another part of the manor and they struggle against each other in silence for a bit until the officer leaves. She explains that her “friend” wanted to leave the city btu the mayor took her passport to keep her stuck. Batman wants to talk to her and so the two race back to their apartment. There, the door is broken into and the girlfriend, Annika, is missing. On the news that still playing, we learn that the Commissioner has been killed and the killer posted a video confessing. The man, the Riddler, confesses to killing the Mayor and saying he’s not done just yet. He shows Savage with a rat contraption on his head. He swears to keep killing until his “day of reckoning.” Selena mentions that she’d seen Savage at the “Club within the club.” The Iceberg Lounge has a second, more exclusive joint, in it called the 44 below, a place that apparently Savage and Mitchell frequented. Selena claims that she only works the bar upstairs, but pays attention to and sees who comes in. Batman leaves.

 

At the Morgue, Batman looks over Savage’s body with Gordon. He had been taken while going to the gym, he was injected with Rat poison. Batman looks over the cage that had been around Savage’s head, finding another cipher. Gordon mentions that photos of Savage at the Iceberg Lounge were released after the video, noting that the Riddler kills the person and their reputation one after the other. Batman mentions that the man in the photos with Savage is a dealer for a local drug called Drop. Gordon is confused as to why someone who worked to bust the biggest drug case would start working with a dealer, Batman saying maybe he wasn’t who Gordon thought he was. Batman finds another card. “I’m MAD about you. Want to know my name? Just look inside and see.” Inside “But wait… I cannot tell you, I might spoil the CHEMISTRY.” It has another cipher in it, and the additional write in words “Follow the maze until you find the rat. Bring him into the light. You’ll find where I am at.” No one know what that means, but Batman is out of time so bails.

 

An amazing Gordon.

Batman outfits Selena with his camera contacts and sends her in to get intel for him. While those things seem extremely uncomfortable, she makes them work. Selena goes into the club, Batman’s kind of janky signal cutting in and out as she walks in. I guess Wayne Enterprises needs to work on the prototype a little. She is able to get into the 44 Below, but not before Batman notes that the guy working security, who’s knows he broke the night before, is an off-duty cop named William Kenzie. In the club, Selena takes long looks at the men and women in the club for Batman to make IDs. There’s a good line about Batman noting that these guys all have a problem with eye contacts to which Selena angrily replies, “Feels good, doesn’t it?” She makes an ID on a guy doing the big Gotham City drug, Drop. It's the district attorney, Gil Coulson. Because Selena Kyle looks like Zoe Kravitz, Gil comes over to talk and tries to hit on her. Selena roles with it, and gets more IDs for Bruce, his group includes half the DA’s office. Damn. Gil, high out of his mind and nervous, lets slip about the Riddler looking for a Rat and that has him freaking out. He admits that a Rat spilled info on the Salvatore Maroney case to the DAs office, and that if that info gets out heads will roll. One of the other girls tries to get them to stalk talking about it, as this kind of talk is what made the “Russian Girl” disappear. Hearing that makes Selena go up like a hunting dog and demands to know “what Russian Girl.” Batman tries to get her back on track but she’s not listening. She chases after the other girl and demands to know where Annika is. They’re interrupted by the Penguin and another man, Carmine Falcone, that strokes Selena’s chin and asks about her before walking off. She hurries out to the bathroom. Batman tries to get more info out of her, but she refuses to talk, taking out the lenses and storming out.

 

Outside, Gil comes out and tries to get Selena’s interest, but she has none. Selena gets a taxi and leaves. Gil, disappointed, goes to his car and gets in. He’s immediately attacked by the Riddler in the back seat who knocks him out and precedes to tape him up, and then sticks a flashing collar to his neck.

 

Gordon goes to the roof where they have the bat signal set up and shuts the signal down. Batman, who was hiding, asks about the Rat in the Maroney case. Gordon doesn’t know who it is, but Batman is pretty sure he’s the lead. He tells Gordon about the info about Colson. Gordon wants to lean on him, but Batman tells him it’s too dangerous. They need to figure this out.

 

At the cave, Bruce obsessively listens to Selena’s last line to him on repeat. Alfred checks in on his charge, and is happy that his boss is going out, even if it’s to the mayor’s memorial. He tells Bruce that he did some work on the rat maze cipher. He’s translated it out to “You Are El Rata Alada.” It means rat with wings, with Bruce deducing it means Stool Pigeon.

 

Yeah, I'm still shocked this is Colin
Farrell.

Bruce heads to the memorial. He sees Falcone arrive with a woman with lace up boots like Selena’s follows him but is stopped by Penguin and his goons. Falcone recognizes Bruce and they have a chat. He mentions that he’d been shot in the chest once and Thomas Wayne was the one that saved him. Falcone implies there’s a connection between him and Thomas, but Bruce blows it off. He goes inside. An announcement asks that anyone who wants to show support for the Mitchell family should donate to the Renewal Fund, which makes a man Bruce is standing next to scoff. Before that conversation can continue, Bella Reál approaches Bruce and tries to set up a meeting with him. She’s always working I guess. Reál tries to get Bruce’s support for election as they walk up but Bruce is only half listening. She leaves him to go pay respect to the Mitchell family, to show that she’s not heartless. Bruce overhears Gordon and the other cops mention that Gil has been missing since last night. In a funny turn, the cop that was super against Batman at the Mitchell crime scene is the first to see Bruce and seems stocked to see him. There’s a commotion outside before Gil’s car crashes through and into the alter. He’s got a tape on his mouth, the flashing collar which is a bomb, a phone that is currently vibrating, and a note for the Batman. Damn

 

After the church is cleared, the cops send a bomb defusal drone in. Gil’s mouth tape has No More Lies written across it. Batman comes in. He untaps Gil’s mouth and he instantly starts babbling about being sorry. Batman takes the note, the card reads “In these trying times, never forget” inside “I’m just a phone call away.” “ANSWER!” and it has another cipher. He does. The Riddler is on the other end. He claims to be nobody, a man just trying to uncover the cesspool that is Gotham. Riddler starts streaming the call on the internet, claiming he and Batman are going to have a little contest. He claims that he’s giving Gil a chance, something that he never got. He has to answer 3 riddles in two minutes, and if he answers, the collar comes off. Riddle 1 “It can be Cruel, Poetic, or Bling, but when it’s denied, it’s violence you man find.” Batman gets that it’s Justice. Riddle 2 “If you are Justice, please do not lie. What is the price for your blind eye.” Batman get it’s bribe, and that Riddler wants to know how much it cost Gil to sell himself. After a little fumbling he admits he got 10 grand a month to not prosecute certain cases. The final riddle “Since your justice is so select, please tell us which vermin you are paid to protect.” Batman gets that it’s about the rat, the person Gil has been paid to protect. Gil refuses to answer, saying he’s dead already. The bomb goes off, Batman covers his face but is clearly killed when he is knocked back. Okay, not really, but a blast that close without burns, broken bones or anything worse than tinnitus? Bull.

 

 Batman wakes up in GCPD lockup when one of the cops try to get his mask off. Batman, not missing much of a beat, accuses the cops of being in on whatever Gil was into. Gordon gets everyone to back off for a minute so he can talk to the Bat. Once the cops are gone, Gordon tells Batman they need to get him out of here, and tells Batman to hit him in the face, steal his keys and go for the roof. As they whisper, Batman sees Kenzie join the cops. He claims that Kenzie moonlights as a cop. He hits Gordon, grabs the keys, and runs. He gets chased through GCPD but shoots up to the roof with is grapple gun. He quickly sets his cape to squirrel suit mode and leaps off the top, gliding to the ground. He hits bridge and bus on the way down but is still okay.

 

Batman and Gordon meet at the Bat Signal, Gordon asking why he couldn’t have pulled the punch, with Batman saying he did. There’s now an APB out on Batman. They wonder if the Penguin was the informant. Batman tells him about the “Rat with Wings” clue, and they realize that a Penguin has wings to. They head to the Iceberg Lounge. They catch Penguin, Kenzie, and the twin guards as they make some kind off drop off. They are apparently picking up Drop. Gordon thinks that they maybe got the Marconi drug business up and running, but Batman isn’t sure it was ever shut down. While Gordon reels at the thought of the biggest GCPD drug bust being a fraud, Batman sees Catwoman drive up. She takes out the twins and goes to steal some duffle bags of cash when Batman joins her. Their conversation on her activities is cut short when she finds the bag that has Annika’s body inside. A shootout begins, with Gordon driving his car in the way to try to protect a downed Batman. Selena drags him out the line of fire. Penguin goes to try to kill him, only to find Batman gone and his Batmobile revving up. Penguin gets in his car and drives off, Batman in pursuit. With them gone, Selena drives up, knocks Kenzie down and drives off with the money. Damn girl.

 

Batman always has a sick car, this is just more
in development than normal.

A quite frankly insane car chase scene happens, with millions of dollars in damages occurring, undoubtedly dozens of people killed or injured, and ending with the Penguin’s car crashed and Batman thoroughly pissed off. He grabs Penguin and takes him to an underpass for him and Gordon to interrogate. They accuse him of being the informant. He claims he doesn’t know anything and is pissed at being accused of being a rat. They ask if he’s El Rata Alada, and then Penguin shows off that classy education he got. Namely, if that’s Spanish, they aren’t conjugating it right. Rata ends in A, so it should be La Rata Alada. This sparks an idea in Batman. He sounds it out, and realizes it sounds like URL. They type Rata Alada dot com and find a messenger system. They chat with Riddler, who is impressed with their reasoning on the Penguin being the rat with wings, but claims they are missing the big picture. He claims that his next victim will be the biggest clue yet. He tells them a riddle to show give them a hint because Riddler is OCD. “I grew up from a seed, tough as weed, but in a mansion, in a slum, I’ll never know where I come from. Do you know what I am?” Batman gets the answer is an orphan, and that he’s talking about the Orphanage that, as it turns out, was his family’s old estate. They drive off, leaving a real pissed off Penguin to find his own way home.

 

They reach the orphanage and see a welcome message from Riddler. They climb to the upper floor and find a whole bunch of drop addicts squatting. They hear Ave Maria playing and follow the noise to another room. It shows Thomas Wayne’s announcement of the Renewal Fund and his candidacy of Mayor. He promised 1 Billion to the fun win or lose. There’s a message saying the Sins of the Father, and they guess the rest. Batman does his vanishing thing and races back to Wayne Tower.

 

A pretty great Falcone.

We’re shown Alfred finding the note, seeing it’s in a flame retardant case, and it is going off as Batman races over. But it’s revealed that the bomb went off an hour prior. Alfred was able to throw it aside to save him from being hit directly. The note, when Bruce is shown it, just has a pair of eyes on the front and “See you in hell” written inside it. Bruce makes sure Alfred is taken care of in the hospital and then returns to the penthouse to figure out what’s happening. He made one off those serial killer board things on the floor off his dining room. He notes the clues sins of the Father and Renewal is a lie. He digs out Renewal files and begins to go over them when he sees his contacts have been turned on and Selena left him a message to try to get his attention. He answers and the two converse through the camera and earpiece he gave her earlier. They arrange a meeting at the Bat Signal. She swears she is going to kill Kenzie and wants his help. They get into an argument about ethics, Batman demanding to know why she seems to have a hatred for him specifically. She reveals he’s her dad and this is in part to screw him over for killing her mom years ago. She starts flirting with him just a little, but Batman is so socially awkward he doesn’t quite get it. She points out that the only thing people care about right now is the rich privileged white assholes like the Waynes. She asks for his help if she can find Kenzie, to which he agrees. He tries to tell her to be careful, but she ends up kissing him and saying she’ll take care of herself.

 

Bruce watches his father’s old campaign video that the Riddler edited with his latest viral video. It’s revealed here that Martha’s maiden name is Arkham. Huh. He accuses the “founding families” of Gotham of having “shocking” family secrets, like Martha’s father killed himself and her mother. A reporter named Thomas Elliot dug this information up, Thomas tried to get him to cease and desist but Elliot refused. He claimed that Thomas paid Falcone to kill Elliot when he refused to play ball. He claims that he hopes Bruce Wayne is watching and warns that he too needs to pay for the sins of his father.

 

Later, Bruce as Bruce goes to the Iceberg Lounge and asks to see Falcone. He meets with the crime boss. He tells his goons to vacate so they can have a private talk. He asks if the business with the reporter was true. Falcone confirms it, saying that Thomas asked him to do it. He asked, “I want you to put the fear of God into this guy.” He tells Bruce to not lose any sleep on it, as Elliot was in Maroni’s pocket. He states his belief that Maroni was involved in his parent’s murder as well.

 

I don't think he knows Batman = Bruce Wayne
yet, but give him another movie.

Bruce returns to the penthouse and enters his father’s old office. After searching around for a bit, he goes to Alfred. When the butler wakes up, he accuses Alfred of lying to him. He tells Alfred what Falcone said about his father and his death. Alfred revealed that he’d gone to Falcone to try to protect Martha and him, and that he went to Falcone to hope he’d intimidate Elliot to back off. When he found out what happened, he told Falcone he was going to go to the police, and they were killed that very night. Alfred admits that not knowing for certain if it was Falcone or just a random street thug has left his distraught, and was a big reason why he tried Bruce to fight. Bruce admits that the fear of losing Alfred was just as intense as the fear he felt when his parent’s died. The two clasp hands before Bruce sees the Batsignal and drives off.

 

Batman arrives as Gordon does, both confused as to who turned the signal on. They find Kenzie being beaten by Catwoman. She gives Batman her phone, which Annika recorded a message onto the night she disappeared. On it, was Falcone and Kenzie pumping Annika for information. She revealed that Mitchell told her that Falcone was the rat on the Drop case, and seconds after he strangles her to death. Damn. Batman realizes that a Falcon also has wings, so he fits as Rata Alada. Kenzie reveals that Falcone and most of the big wigs in Gotham use the Renewal Fund as a means of laundering money and bribes. Falcone set up Marconi to set up his people in all the big positions in government and to take out Marconi as a rival. Catwoman tries to kill Kenzie but Batman still refuses to cross that line. She knocks Kenzie over the side of the building to distract them and runs off to kill Falcone. They save Kenzie and Batman chases after her.

 

Selena slips up in her most appealing dress to see Falcone “alone.” Batman arrives a few minutes after, locking one of the twins outside as he does. As Selena gives Falcone a sob story to get him to lower his defenses, Batman slips into the back of the club. Falcone gets drawn away before Selena can get a gun out. Gordon gave the recording to Gotham City 1 News, and it’s being broadcast. As Annika screams, Selena gets up, pulls the gun and reveals to Falcone she’s Maria Kyle’s daughter and he’s her dad. She takes a shot just as Batman cuts the power. In the dark, she tries to get at Falcone but he's a quick bastard. Batman makes it to the top level and starts taking out goons. Selena almost has Falcone cornered but he slips around and knocks her down with a pool cue. He begins to strangle her with it, but she able to scratch him. He switches to choking but Batman knocks him down. He also keeps Selena from shooting him. He talks her down.

 

These two had sizzle.

Gordon and the police arrive. They take Falcone into custody.  Falcone thinks he’ll get off, but Gordon shows the police force that assembled to see him arrested. Penguin comes out and calls Falcone a rat and Falcone calls him a gimp in a suit. A scuffle breaks out, a gun goes off and Falcone is killed by a sniper under the streetlamp outside. Batman and GCPD race out to the Shooters apartment. He finds Riddler’s lab and computer, but no Riddler as GCPD follows him. One of the cops got a tip from a witness that they saw someone leave the building after the shot and they’re now waiting at a corner diner. They find the Riddler, Edward Nashton, at the counter, having drawn a Question Mark in his coffee.

 

It's revealed Reál won the election as Batman and GCPD go over the Riddler’s diaries and apartment. It’s revealed he’s a forensic accountant. Batman found a crazy rambling diary that eventually reveals that the Riddler had had an epiphany about Renewal and that was what got him working on his insane master plan. Batman finds a bat cage with a note for him. He collects the note, and the pry tool that killed Mitchell. He finds another card, the inside saying, “My confession.” On his computer, they find he has about 500 fringe followers and an encrypted video message. While they investigate that, Batman looks at Riddler’s serial killer board and wonders if he’s the last target. A moment later, Gordon get’s a call. Riddler is asking for Bruce at Arkham.

 

Batman goes to speak with Riddler. As they converse, he implies that he knows who Batman is, saying he’d been there when Thomas announced his candidacy, but when he died, they forgot about him and the other orphans and only focused on Bruce Wayne, the Orphan. He is infuriated that Bruce Wayne got all that attention when he wasn’t a REAL orphan. But then he drops the ball by saying that Bruce was the only one they didn’t get. Turns out, he had no idea Batman is Bruce, but his damaged mind made him believe they were working together to get Falcone. Riddler felt a connection to Batman, as they both wear Masks and that lets them be their true selves. He claims that Batman inspired him to use fear and focused violence to get things done. Bruce, infuriated that he might have somehow inspired this psycho, yells that he’s a nobody, a monster. Riddler starts screaming, claiming they were going to be safe here and watch the whole thing together. When he realizes that Batman doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he smirks and says he’s not as smart as he thought. Batman starts beating on the glass to try to get at Riddler who starts singing Ave Maria.

 

Batman returns to Riddler apartment, and, realizing that the carpet tool was a clue, pulls up Riddler’s carpet. He finds Riddler’s big scheme, a map of Gotham with the words A Real Change across it. Using that as the password for his encrypted video, they see it. Riddler set up bombs around Gotham, to destroy the seawall that keeps the bay water back. People would then gather at the flood shelter, the stadium where Belle Reál’s big speech was to happen. There, Riddler’s goons will start taking shots at everyone gathered there.

 

So it’s Bruce vs. the Riddlers. Can he save the day? Well, you’ll have to see the finale to fid out. I was tempted to just go into it, but we’re on like ten pages, so I think it’s time to wrap this up. Ha.

 

Okay, so I really liked this take on the Batman. This is the first movie version of the character that really put his smarts to use and showed off why Batman is known as the World’s Greatest Detective. I was hesitant to trust when Robert Pattinson was cast as Bruce Wayne, but he really shined as this more brooding than normal and reclusive Bruce Wayne/Batman. I can believe no one knows he’s Batman, since he goes out as himself all of twice in this whole movie. Zoe Kravitz did a great job as Catwoman, encapsulating the sex appeal that she’s known for, but also the ferocity this version has bubbling underneath. I liked Jeffery Wright as Gordon. He’s great as this cop that’s clearly uncomfortable with needing Batman’s help on some level but trusting the weirdo in the Bat suit has the right idea and the skills he needs. Paul Dano was simply perfect as this deranged version of the Riddler. He is absolutely amazing in that interrogation scene when you finally get just how unhinged he is. The scream followed by the smug smile when he realizes that Batman isn’t working with him but doesn’t know everything was pitch perfect. Colin Farrell completely disappears in his Penguin get up. The makeup is amazing, and the dude’s performance is top notch. Oh, and John Turturro as Falcone, oh he’s perfect as the crime boss that think’s he’s untouchable. Loved every second he was on screen. I also kind of like the message that Batman can’t just be the creature in the dark, terrifying the criminal element, but has to be a more than that. It’s particularly well done when the one Riddler goon parrots his “I’m Vengeance” line in the finale. Top marks all around.

 

The bad is minimal. It’s really just that this movie is Looooooonnnnnnnnnggggggggg. Nearly three hours for an origin movie is kind of insane. I think it would have worked better as a six part mini-series on HBO Max or something, let them flesh out a few side plots like Selena and her vengeance, and maybe give Alfred more to do so it doesn’t feel like Andy Serkis was wasted in here. Even fifteen minutes shaved off would I think have helped this flow a bit better. A few of them could have been that absolutely bonkers chase scene. Also, not a fan of the Joker tease at the end. For now, they seem to be leaning into the extremely scarred, possibly burned version of the character. It just looks offputting but not in an interesting way.  Though I will say the insane laugh is spot on.

 

I’d give you more of a closing paragraph too, but I think the pages and pages of gushing I’ve done makes it clear that I liked this movie and highly recommend it. It’s a bit of a beast to get through, but absolutely worth it. I’m looking forward to more of this version of The Batman. Have a good night, everyone. 

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