IR Film Review: THE BATMAN [Warner Bros.]

The texture of Batman is always tricky because you want to have him be more out of control than the villains he pursues but that can be a tall order and run against the texture of any given story. That is the trick of the series. What Matt Reeves does do is dial it back in a way and make it an almost goth noir with overtones of the Victorian era in a good way for the first 2/3rds of the movie. The movie doesn't really lose its way in the 3rd act but the inherent structure of such a film has to move towards a certain resolution. That said, Robert Pattinson inhabits Bruce Wayne very sturdily but what is missing is some of the snark that made his character in "Tenet" both likable and dangerous. This is not that film and Wayne is not that character. While it might have been nice to see Wayne teeter on the edge of madness, the character always needs (like Superman in a different way) to have some kind of altruism. This is by far the best Batman movie since "The Dark Knight" because it knows what it is. It changes the structure on characters but it works. The only time it seemingly weakens is one scene in a police station that offers an interesting irony but also a hard one to write out of.

Colin Farrell is unrecognizable and can't be seen as Oz/Penguin but that is part of the point which is what makes his performance one of the best in the film. It reaffirms what a character actor he can be but it is about disappearing in a way from that which makes him most recognizable which is interesting. The use of a certain song seen in the trailer is a motif that is repeated through the film and was probably a big part of inspiration likely in the writing process. The movie veers between realization and simple revenge while looking for solace. The unseen perpetrator reflected in that of The Riddler speaks to an inherent psychological flaw in Bruce Wayne. The reality is that it doesn't quite crack him as much as The Riddler wants. One specific face off works quite well as the streams unravel in concert but it is an earlier scene in an underground subway that feels more primal (and is the first time we see Pattison as Batman). The film actually needed more of that but it runs the risk of alienating the audience. The aspect the film is missing in certain terms is a more operatic underplay. Despite its more impressionistic tones, Tim Burton's original 1989 Batman still found a way to ratchet up the end without losing the energy of the beginning.

Granted this is the 2020s and not the late 80s so the trend of storytelling has changed. The integration of Zoe Kravitz as a different kind of Selina Kyle works but it inherently is not the original character but something else entirely which skirts the edge of possibility in a studio film. But it is that tragic approach which works (it is why certain parts of the ending of "Batman Returns" with Michelle Pfeiffer works so well). This characterization doesn't take the more mythological elements and instead makes it more grounded but the psychology of revenge and need in a way still remains. The texture of what makes a hero and the balance between vigilante and savior is a moving target that can be tricky in this kind of blockbuster film but like his work with the "Apes "movies, director Matt Reeves understands that one size does not fit all. Despite the fact that Caesar wanted to do well and save everyone, the universe doesn't work that way. In this structure that is why most of "The Batman" works though in many ways it could have gone even farther. B

By Tim Wassberg