The Batman
Getting to watch this movie has been a holiday to mark on the calendar for two years. Me and my friends were all unbelievably hype to see it, and you know the old saying, "with great hype comes great responsibility." In all seriousness, with the hype I had, The Batman was not allowed to be good. Good would have been a disappointment. I needed to see a classic.
I am pleased to say Matt Reeves delivers. This is a movie I was clamoring to rewatch the moment I stepped out of the theater. From a technical level, its astounding. From a story level, its paced wonderfully and every scene feels needed. From a character level, it satisfies while getting me excited for more films in this world to continue seeing this rendition of Batman's growth. Its incredibly well done, but not quite perfect. Here are my pros and cons.
Pros:
-This is one of the best superhero scores of all time. The riddler theme is a standout for me and really fills each of his scenes with a chilling dread.
-Speaking of Riddler, Paul Dano crushes it. He's always been an underrated actor, but he chews up every bit of dialogue they give him. A+ casting choice and an outstanding villain.
-This might be the best Gotham depiction on screen. It feels so lived in and grounded, and the movie does a great job of showing us the city's problems, not just telling us.
-Pattinson plays a fantastic Batman. Love his voice, love his suit, love his intensity and rage. Everything works.
-Huge nod to the rest of the supporting cast as well. Kravitz was great, farrell was unrecognizable, and wright, turturro and serkis all give great portrayals.
Cons:
-I feel that the Bruce Wayne character leaves a lot to be explored. Pattinson shows with his performance that THIS Bruce cant quite turn off Batman mode in his daily life, so i will be interested to see more of that dichotomy with the double life in future movies.
-It bugged me how they made Batman a little indestructible at times. I'm fine with bulletproof, but he eats a bomb to the face and has a devastating crash that do little to no damage. Took me out of those scenes.
-All of the crime boss stuff was still great, but I found myself just wanting more Riddler. Riddler is used as a plot tool to keep moving the story forward, but the villains of a large chunk of the movie are the criminal underbelly of Gotham. Which was still cool, but gosh I wanted even more Riddler personally.
This review is longer than expected, but I could go on for days about how this movie made me feel. It will be bought on Blu-Ray the moment its released, and I'm just happy to say it didn't let me down.
Score: 9.2/10