Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

The Batman (2022)

Directed by Matt Reeves

Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoƫ Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright

Author

They set out to make something even darker and moodier than the Nolan’s Batman, and they succeeded. The contemplative pace something different for a superhero movie. I like it overall, but it starts to wear a bit in a movie this long.

After The Lighthouse and this one, Pattison is proving he’s a real actor. His natural brooding suits this role and film perfectly. He’s not quite the physical presence of Bale, but he might be the smarter Batman. Zoe is foxy. The new Halle Berry, though she doesn’t quite have Berry’s gravitas yet. Maybe she’ll find that with a few more roles under her belt. Serkis is strong as Alfred. He can clearly act, glad to see he’s not just a voice and motion-capture guy anymore. Wright is good in a supporting role. Dano’s good at playing a creep, isn’t he? Farrell is unrecognizable to my eyes and ears.

Nice photography overall. Night and rain and mist shots surely posed challenges for the crew and CGI artists, but it all looks beautiful and blends perfectly. Great job establishing Gotham as a real place. Rather than the fleeting glimpses we got in previous films, impressively wide and realistic renderings make Gotham look and feel like a real city. The fight illuminated only by gunfire, though perhaps not perfectly choreographed, was very cool to watch.

The leitmotif for Batman is simple and effective and iconic, on the level of the leitmotif for Jaws. Also vaguely familiar, as it turns out composed of the first four notes of “The Imperial March”. Love it.

Yet another reboot. I wonder how many reboots a franchise can have before reboot fatigue sets in and everyone gets fed up with it.

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