DC has been on a string of flops, but The Batman is one of the best movies in recent history and deserves to be celebrated amid the hardships DC has faced.
As a Marvel fangirl, I never quite paid attention to the DC universe, except for Batman. I grew up watching the Batman movies and cartoons, and continued to watch all the Batman movies as they came out, until The Dark Knight Rises.
The death of Heath Ledger also symbolized the death of the Batman movies for me, and I just didn’t find any other DC movies or characters interesting or relatable. That is, until two things happened: I became a staff writer for this amazing website you’re visiting right now, and I happened to watch the preview for The Flash and was immediately hooked and left wanting more.
So I did what anyone in my situation would do – I watched all of the DCEU and Elsewhere movies I had ignored over the years over the course of a weekend. I have things to say about those as well, but I am not here to talk about those movies.
This is about The Batman.
The Batman is a solid and near-perfect 10/10
The Batman is honestly one of the best movies in recent history. Not just because it’s a Batman movie, but because of the way it was shot.
Nowadays, if you notice, shots take about three seconds before switching to the next one, at most. For the majority of the time, you go from one scene to another really fast, back and forth. The camera never holds still, you’re never waiting for anything in the movie. This movie turns that on its head.
In the course of its three-hour run time, it makes you actually wait for things. The freshest shot in my mind is when everything goes to hell before the stadium explodes, and all the snipers are getting on the beams. Batman fights this guy and he’s clearly losing, the guy’s about to shoot him Then it shows him from Batman’s point of view. It builds up the suspense with the camera fixated on him and not shaking while he slowly loads his gun before Batman is saved. That was refreshing to see in a world obsessed with instant gratification.
I also appreciated that nothing felt forced. The relationship between Selena and Bruce was not forced at all, it was perfectly done. Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz’s chemistry was beyond anything I expected. Their attraction towards each other was immediately apparent, there was a game of seduction going on there. She’s clearly forthright and goes after what she wants, and he’s reserved and mysterious, showing interest in subtle ways. This was very true to the source material, and their chemistry was on point. It was the best Batman-Catwoman pairing I could have ever expected.
This is a real Batman movie
The movie didn’t have a lot of action scenes, but that’s how it’s actually supposed to be. This is Batman, not an Avengers movie. Batman is an investigator and we see him doing exactly that, investigating crimes. He’s known to be ridiculously smart, solving riddles and puzzles. Sure, he knows how to pack a punch, but he’s not Iron Man, he’s not a superhero. He’s a vigilante, he helps the police. This is not shown in any live-action movies, but only briefly touched in the Dark Knight trilogy. The Batman actually incorporates it into the movie and makes it its main focus.
The casting was actually incredibly smart. Ben Affleck did an excellent job as Batman in Batman v Superman and The Justice League, he’s actually my personal favorite Batman, but Robert Pattinson nailed down the actual brooding, “I’m vengeance” part of Batman.
When his casting was announced I raised my eyebrow, I wasn’t sure if Robert Pattinson could pull it off. But just after the first 20 minutes, I was convinced. He has a certain way of expressing himself through his eyes, it was chilling to see him do that while wearing the Batman suit. I love a pleasant surprise, and this was a huge one for me.
While it’s fun to watch The Justice League and Batman v Superman, this movie didn’t need a fantastical Batman with a gigantic Batcave, or a Batman with super fancy gadgets. It needed a realistic Batman for a realistic scenario. Batman was portrayed as an orphan who doesn’t care about his family legacy, he just wants to help others and prevent other kids from suffering his fate. It needed Robert Pattinson’s Batman.
I am a villain lover
I always have been. I wear my heart on my sleeves, I am very expressive, and I have the horrible ability of feeling very intensely for others. I love villains who have a really twisted sense of reality, who are so willingly steered in the wrong direction for reasons that would test even the purest of hearts. The Riddler was one of these villains, and I am so blissfully pleased with Paul Dano’s performance. The Riddler was a true lunatic with illusions of grandeur, who went from overly confident in his plans to having a childish tantrum when things didn’t go as he planned. He felt so raw.
Also – surprise! Colin Farrell is the man behind the most perfect makeup job ever as the Penguin. I had no idea he was even in this movie, much less that he’d be this perfect playing this specific character. This is a testament to his acting range, and shows how impeccably cast this movie is.
The best intro and a clever adaptation
You would be absolutely lying right now if you said the first 20 minutes were the best intro a Batman movie could ever hope to have.
The crime, the way everyone hates and distrusts Batman when he’s been helping the police for 2 years, the way Batman saves the man in the subway – it set the stage so solidly, it was only up from there. It painted the picture for us very quickly: Gotham is a very corrupted city where crime doesn’t sleep and evil masterminds infiltrate.
As I stated earlier, this isn’t a movie like The Justice League or Endgame. This is a Batman movie. He doesn’t have these futuristic and otherworldly villains, he fights corruption and psychopaths, There is no need for flashy and shiny things. Even the Batmobile wasn’t flashy, there was no gigantic Batcave with a waterfall, no jets, he used realistic technology like a parachuting suit and bulletproof suit and car. It was a very believable setting and plot, and it helped keep the suspension of disbelief throughout the movie.
All these aspects make it one of the best movies in recent history, especially considering the current influx of superhero movies. With Marvel doing the multiverse and DC trying to restart the DCU, it was refreshing to see a crime show-like movie. It was a film that perfectly embraced the character and the backstory without exaggeration and provided a believable origin story for Batman.
This was not the origin story of Bruce Wayne – this was the origin story of Batman. This is when Bruce Wayne wakes up and says “Yeah, I am not vengeance”.
And that is when the real Batman is born.
And that is why this movie is without a doubt a 10/10, and I will slap the living shit out of anyone that disagrees, Batman-style.