Bloody Disgusting’s The Batman review is spoiler-free.
Director/Co-writer Matt Reeves establishes his cinematic take on The Batman will be unlike any that has come before with an opening scene straight out of a horror movie. A masked, raspy-breathed serial killer stalks and ruthlessly slaughters his prey on Halloween night; an intense and eerie sequence made even more so by Michael Giacchino‘s piercing instrumentals. The inciting event unfurls a masterful and heady introspection on heroism, told with foreboding grit and intensity atypical of the genre.
Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig wisely bypass the origin story; this is a Batman (Robert Pattinson) already well entrenched in his mission to clean up Gotham. So much so that police commissioner James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) pulls him in to investigate the grisly murder that opened the film, much to the dismay of his peers. Of course, a card addressed to Batman at the crime scene also inspired Gordon’s choice. Batman isn’t the only one wanting to expose and clean up Gotham’s corrupt, seedy underbelly; a sadistic serial killer has set up a deranged game that forces Batman to investigate both the city’s corruption and his involvement as orphaned heir Bruce Wayne.
It’s that central investigation that creates a very different film than we’ve seen before for its eponymous character. The Batman bears more in common with David Fincher’s Seven than the standard, action-heavy superhero output. Reeves’s Gotham is a rainy, somber city full of grime and broken dreams. It’s a gothic setting where criminals thrive, and naïve dreamers get discarded or worse. In other words, much of The Batman’s narrative plays out like a horror-noir crime thriller, creating a tactile, complex world with deeply flawed characters in the process.
Pattinson leads a riveting cast as the brooding vigilante who has all but discarded the persona beneath the mask. The emotional scars that fuel Pattinson’s iteration, as well as his reckoning with Batman’s impact, make for a heady and compelling journey. Wright brings the light to Batman’s darkness, and Gotham’s sole beacon of hope and purity makes for an engaging and unexpected partnership. Zoë Kravitz holds her own as Selina Kyle, a savvy yet impulsive character that plays by her own rules and moral code. Her chemistry with Pattinson is electric. John Turturro brings palpable menace to Carmine Falcone, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell offers levity as Oswald Cobblepot. But Paul Dano is utterly chilling; his unhinged serial killer ensures The Batman‘s stakes remain high.
One of the more fascinating elements of Reeves’ take is how close to the brink Batman perpetually comes to allowing the dark to consume him. In giving himself so entirely to vigilantism, exposing him so fully to humanity’s worst, it threatens to diminish the remnants of Bruce Wayne. How the narrative forces him to confront that in the thrilling, massively scoped climax lends emotional weight that gives depth to the action. Reeves’ framing and composition inspire awe.
The Batman is a stunning descent into organized crime and an exploration of the psychological toll it takes on Gotham. The murder-mystery pulls both its titular vigilante and the viewer deep into the complicated, richly textured world that prompts questions of character motivations and morality. Reeves entrenches his flawed characters in a grimy, gritty city washed in blood red and pitch-black shadows. Yet he injects enough levity to break up the dour mood when necessary. The horror-noir tone and the crime thriller journey make for a very different version of the character than we’ve seen yet. Considering how many character iterations we’ve received in the last decade alone, that’s saying a lot. Reeves and Pattinson leave us eager to see more from this gloomy, Gothic Gotham and its deeply flawed denizens.
The Batman releases in theaters on March 4, 2022.
The post ‘The Batman’ Review – Matt Reeves Explores Toll of Vigilantism with Foreboding Grit and Intensity appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.