The Batman - A Unique Take on the Iconic DC Character

After a couple of weeks playing in theaters, my wife and I finally went to see this movie yesterday. We have been putting off going to the cinemas due to the latest surge of Covid-19 in Indonesia. Anyway, we saw this film in a small exclusive theater with reclining seats that only had 20+ people in it. We used my wife's vouchers that she had for years which we thought was the perfect time to utilize as the movie had nearly 3 hours duration. OK I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

In Gotham city, Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson - Twilight Saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire etc) had been operating as vigilante for 2 years. When a murder of high profile people by a man who called himself Riddler (Paul Dano - The Guilty, There Will be Blood etc), Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright - No Time to Die, The French Dispatch etc) asked Batman's help despite the objection from other police. 

Bruce who had been having reclusive life with his butler Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis - ,Black Panther, Long Shot etc) started the investigation as Batman which led him to meet various people like Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz - Kimi, Big Little Lies TV series etc), Penguin (Colin Farrell - Dumbo, Ava etc), and mobster Carmine Falcone (John Turturro - Transformers movies, Barton Fink etc). As the stakes were higher with another murder by Riddler, Batman must find out the reason for these killings before he committed another crime.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Now this was a really different take of the Batman story. Rather than focusing on his origin (which had been told sooo many time before anyway), this one concentrated more on investigation done by Batman together with his "partner" Lieutenant Gordon. To me it was actually quite refreshing, especially since I myself am a sucker for mystery solving in a movie, and in here it really took center stage. I thought the director Matt Reeves (prior works included War for the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield and several others) was quite brilliant when he pitched this idea of younger Batman solving crimes and wrote it together with Peter Craig (co-writer of 12 Strong, Bad Boys for Life etc).

The investigation itself was done almost entirely by Bruce Wayne while he was becoming Batman which made Robert Pattinson appeared more as the masked vigilante. For me and my wife it was more satisfying since we believed he was better suited as Batman, although he looked convincing enough as the brooding Bruce. My wife also liked Kravitz in here as she seemed to be a fitting match with Pattinson. Oh she was also very surprised that Penguin was portrayed by Colin Farrell who was totally unrecognizable. Credit should be given to the make up department who did such a fantastic job. 

Btw, the Riddler here was unlike the ones I had seen in Batman Forever (by Jim Carrey) and in Gotham TV series (by Cory Michael Smith). In both those adaptations Riddler felt a bit more comical while in this movie, he was a lot more deadly. I personally thought Paul Dano was really good, although he might be better off while still in his mask. My wife felt his face was too kind hearted, while I felt it lacked a sinister look. But in general the Riddler was still a worthy opponent for Batman in this movie. It was even more awesome if you see that scene before the end which might open to exciting possibilities for the future installments. Yes, from what I read, they are already planning for a trilogy of Batman movies, though it would be separate from the DC Extended Universe.

The action sequence surprisingly were a bit scarce for a movie of this duration. However they were all quite well executed. The finale fight was the most awesome one, though it felt a bit too brief for me. The costume did not look spectacular and clear enough since most of the scenes were done during the night and Batman seemed to always appeared out of the dark. There were not a lot of gadgets shown yet (perhaps they are saving them for the subsequent films) but I liked that they made him felt humane and not exceptionally super (afterall Batman is a person with no real super power). I also felt the Bat-mobile was interesting here as it did not feel stylish but seemed like the car from those Fast and Furious films. The special effects were good and I applaud the cinematography as Gotham city felt realistic. And the musical score was just amazing too as it enhanced the grim feeling.

Overall to me this was an entertaining movie. It felt like a crime solving film where the investigator happened to be a superhero (or vigilante depending on how you view him). The tone was very dark like what you would expect in Batman movies with few humor and light moments. Aside from that hilarious scene when Batman was speaking to Jim Gordon after the incident in the police station, the movie felt really heavy. I understand critics enjoyed the film and had high praise for it, but for casual audience, it might create differing opinion in particular on the very long duration. Oh, after the closing credit, there was a very brief intriguing scene. So if you want to see a different kind of Batman than previous adaptations, then you should be able to enjoy this. However, if you are accustomed to light pleasing superhero movie, there is a chance you might not like this one.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars