If i’m honest, when I heard yet another Batman film was about to hit the cinemas I wanted to be carted away to Arkham Asylum for a good cry, already in shock by how DC went from the well-crafted Dark Knight trilogy to a botched attempt to compete with Marvel in ‘Batman VS Superman’ – a frankly boring 2 hours and 31 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.
Too harsh? Alright… confession time: I’m actually not much of a superhero movie fan, yet with many family & friends who are, I somehow end up watching them regardless.
The superhero genre is ‘under the thumb’ of studios, who are driven by making money and churn out vast amounts of yearly content, with the same stories repackaged with different characters and settings time and time again. In my opinion the dialogue is overly expositional and story structures are too predictable. It’s easy to be fooled into believing these are good films by the star actors, high production value and astonishing action sequences but to me there is very little artistic integrity in these films… plus no matter how impressively advanced CGI has become, I stubbornly prefer the visuals and believability of practical stunts and effects
Searching the cinema listings for Guillermo Del Toro’s dark and colourful take on classic film noir ‘Nightmare Alley’, I was disappointed to discover its reign in my local cinema was short lived, bumped off by the release of “The Batman”. However what eventually persuaded me to see the film (more so than the trailer) was a letter, director Matt Reeves’ sent to cinemas prior to the film’s release:
This suggested Reeves has taken great care to craft a high quality experience for the viewer and I have to say, despite my vendetta against superhero films- this one didn’t disappoint!
The Batman, is a fresh take on the much loved comic book series. Reeves has made his characters more lifelike and human against a bleak and gritty Gotham city, mostly set at night. Cinematographer Greig Fraser, who already won a BAFTA this year for his work in Dune, transports us to a dastardly “film noir” world, with detailed use of light and shadow. The lighting in every frame has a natural feel, and can be tied to practical or natural light sources, helping the audience to believe in Gotham as a “real” place. Colour is also used sparingly and builds atmosphere through colours which are described by Fraser as “dusty and a little dirty”.
It’s clear from the start, that this film is a Neo Noir packed with tropes that echo classic Film Noir. Instead of the usual expositional superhero movie set up of Bruce Wayne watching his mother and father die and gaining the skills to become Batman, Reeves jumps straight in and presents Bruce Wayne as having been The Batman for quite sometime with a montage of him conquering Gotham’s criminals on the corners of dark and dangerous streets. We don’t see him immediately, but can see the villains terrified reactions, which generates suspense for the audience.
We can however hear a voice over of Bruce Wayne, setting up the dark and dangerous world and the heavy burden of fighting crime he faces.
Wonderfully true to noir style, The Batman is a detective (and apparently a damn good one too). He is employed by Lieutenant James Gordon to help find “The Riddler” a serial killer, who leaves a trail of clues & ciphers. This puzzling villain is depicted in a kind of gimp suit and wearing a pair of glasses- I think it’s fair to say Reeves was definitely inspired by the Zodiac killer on this one!
The Riddler despite being the film’s villain is also the “informant” character, who serves to uncover corruption in the police force, through cryptic clues but also in a non conventional way, helping batman to piece together the bigger picture of crime in Gotham.
Paul Dano chillingly captures the Riddler’s unpredictable and unstable state of mind but doesn’t quite send shivers down my spine in the same way that Heath Ledger’s joker did. Some of the twists involving the character are too predictable and most of the death trap contraption/riddle solving scenes are very unoriginally reminiscent of the Saw franchise.
Bruce Wayne is the Homme Fatale; handsome but flawed and shrouded in mystery. Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of the character was very impressive. With blood-shot eyes, Pattinson plays an insomniac at the end of his tether, broken to a point beyond caring. He is uncomfortable with his identity and feels heavy responsibility in upholding his family’s legacy. Pattinson is like a teenager stuck in a gothic phase and The Batman seems to be his primary personality and where he is most comfortable. Perhaps the most striking thing about this depiction of the character is that he hasn’t got any superpowers.
Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle A.K.A Catwoman (the film’s femme fatale) successfully as alluring and morally ambiguous. She is unpredictable and not afraid to get her hands dirty to achieve what she sets her mind to. Kravitz portrays the character from the female gaze, operating to serve her own agenda and not those of the Male characters. She refuses to be overpowered by others and is prepared to kill others, while the Batman has a “no kill” policy. In my opinion, Catwoman is depicted a strong character in this film and isn’t as sexualised as her previous incarnations. The part is ultimately well written but I’ll let the female members of the audience be the judge of that!
Andy Serkis is enjoyable to watch as Alfred, I was quick to warm to him and Colin Farrell’s transformation into the penguin is impressive with some fantastic prosthetics/make up, however he fails to put his own stamp on the character. At times I felt as though I was watching him play Danny Devito and if I ever make a Danny Devito biopic, he would be No.1 on my casting hitlist.
Reeves has made a few conscious decisions in this film to tackle Hollywood’s issues of under representing BAME people and the issues they are up against in society. We see a Gotham “electing by default” a black woman as mayor, who despite peoples scepticism about her, proves she is a strong and steadfast leader, even when faced with floods and snipers aiming at her from the rooftop. The film also addresses the issue of white privilege and critiques police corruption, depicting The Batman and Riddler uncovering the police department’s corrupt high ranking officers.
It was a pleasure to see Jeffrey Wright, a black American actor I’ve admired for some time for his performance as Felix Leiter in recent James Bond movies. Wright plays Lieutenant Jim Gordon with a sense of gusto and charisma. and getting stuck in with the action, at the forefront of the film as he battles crime and police corruption.
Overall The Batman sets itself apart from your bog standard Marvel movie, with carefully considered and beautifully shot visuals and unconventional narrative structure for the genre. I’d argue that the problem with this film is that it can teeter on the edge of being too expositional. Half way through the film, after (spoilers!) Alfred is blown up (can’t say I didn’t warn ya!) the film starts to drag and the audience is drip fed information about the character’s past. It didn’t need to be almost 3 hours long. Nevertheless this movie is so extremely detailed and stunning to look at – especially the shots of The Batman and Cat Woman riding on their motorbikes and the birds eye shot of batman rescuing people from the flood, lit by a bright red flare. I would thoroughly recommend this movie and encourage you to enjoy it on as big a screen as possible!
WILL HEXTALL 