THE BATMAN starring Robert Pattinson (2022) 13 13

[F For Fake]

Watched The Batman with the missus this weekend. I was pretty stoked, as I'd heard a lot about how it was a REAL Batman movie, delving more into the "dark detective" side of things, which is my favorite part of the Batman mythos. On the whole, I thought it was fine. Certainly not as bad as the Snyder stuff, but not really any better than the Nolan stuff either. 

What I liked:

- The Batmobile as a rocket powered muscle car. Yes please.

- The cape/cowl - I dug the funky collar, gave the whole get-up a sorta Dracula vibe. Dig it.

- Colin Farrell - I could have used more of the Penguin, looks like we'll be getting it.

- the overall aesthetic of a crumbling Gotham

- the action: fights were brutal and had nice long takes instead of quick cuts. I also enjoyed Batman eating mess with his glider suit. That was great.

 

What I didn't like:

- The Riddler - this really just read like watered down "Seven" or "Saw" to me. We've seen so many of these serial killer flicks at this point, there was nothing new or interesting about this character, his design, or the performance.

- The running time - there is just no reason on God's green earth why these ostensible children's movies should be three hours long. Geez Louise.

 

So, yeah, I thought it was pretty much right down the middle for a Batman movie, but I think a sequel could be really great. Let's just try to keep it at two hours or less, for the luvva pete.

[Boozad]

I think I've accepted now that I'm probably the only person in the world who would have loved this movie more if it had been two hours longer.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 4/26/2022 at 4:55 PM, F For Fake said:

Let's just try to keep it at two hours or less, for the luvva pete.

Hard disagree. While The Batman was bloated, I do not like imposed runtimes. Reeves & Co simply need to cut more fat next time. Editing may have been this movie's biggest enemy.

[Bosco685]

Latest numbers so Gatsby and Jaydog have something to reference.

[F For Fake]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:16 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Hard disagree. While The Batman was bloated, I do not like imposed runtimes. Reeves & Co simply need to cut more fat next time. Editing may have been this movie's biggest enemy.

Fair enough, and to be clear, I'm not opposed to long movies. Some of my favorite films are in the three hour range. If the subject matter can sustain a prolonged run time, I'm fine with it. I love being submerged in a world like that. But for the most part, superheroes flicks can't sustain that length and pace, any more than horror, action, or most genre pictures can, in general. And I'm a HUGE horror and action movie fan. But once you cross that 90-minute mark, it's increasingly difficult to sustain interest, or distract from how overwhelmingly silly the whole thing is.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:43 AM, F For Fake said:

Fair enough, and to be clear, I'm not opposed to long movies. Some of my favorite films are in the three hour range. If the subject matter can sustain a prolonged run time, I'm fine with it. I love being submerged in a world like that. But for the most part, superheroes flicks can't sustain that length and pace, any more than horror, action, or most genre pictures can, in general. And I'm a HUGE horror and action movie fan. But once you cross that 90-minute mark, it's increasingly difficult to sustain interest, or distract from how overwhelmingly silly the whole thing is.

Today, it seems closer to the 150-minute mark for most people. If you can keep it in that range, then do so. I think that The Batman could have easily been 150 minutes or less.

It's an interesting discussion, because IMO Endgame needed to be 3 hours. However, I skip a lot of stuff when I re-watch it. On the other hand, I have no problems watching all 3 hours of Watchmen or BvS.

[fantastic_four]

I've re-watched the scene from the beginning of the film starting after Riddler kills the mayor with Pattinson doing his voiceover about Gotham up through where he beats the snot out of that clown-face gang probably two dozen times since the film hit HBO.  It's definitely not a better movie than the first two Nolan films, but wow, it's really, really good.  I agree with the multiple assertions that this is the best version of Gotham we've gotten, and most or all of the fight sequences are sublime.  And that first fight might be the best Batman fight we've ever had on screen.  

I liked Christian Bale in the Nolan films, but I prefer this version of the character.  I don't know whether to credit Reeves or Pattinson--I lean towards Reeves but it could easily be Pattinson--but this is the first Batman performance where the character has the personality traits you'd need to have to do what Batman does.  He's obsessed and depressed in all the right ways that I never fully bought from past actors with one exception--Michael Keaton did a pretty good job with that side of Bruce.  But Keaton wasn't as good as Pattinson's portrayal is.  

Batman is not the most compelling character in virtually every incarnation of Batman; it's his villains that usually chew up all the scenery.  And that was mostly the case here as well with both Penguin and Riddler being more likable than he is.  So it's no reflection on Batman actors when he's not what we like most about his stories; there's only so much you can do to make a character like Bruce Wayne or Matt Murdock compelling since they're so obsessive and morose.  

Edited April 27, 2022 by fantastic_four

[Gatsby77]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:23 AM, Bosco685 said:

Latest numbers so Gatsby and Jaydog have something to reference.

To Jaydog's point in the Morbius thread - I'll admit that it's still not quite at 3.8x.

3.796x budget

What a f---k-n failure!

Cancel the sequel and fire Batinnson stat!

[Bosco685]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:55 AM, Gatsby77 said:

To Jaydog's point in the Morbius thread - I'll admit that it's still not quite at 3.8x.

3.796x budget

What a f---k-n failure!

Cancel the sequel and fire Batinnson stat!

Yeah, that's the passive-aggressive approach to box office discussions:

"Your MOVIE XXXX didn't really do X.X as when you add additional decimal places so really it is X.XXXXX so there - I WIN!"

[path4play]

Re-watched The Batman.

On my second take, The Batman = (((Batman Begins - .007 gadgets)*.85)+((Seven)*.10)+(Blade Runner the International Theatrical Release)*.05))

Edited April 28, 2022 by path4play

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 4/28/2022 at 5:06 PM, path4play said:

The Batman = (((Batman Begins - .007 gadgets)*.85)+((Seven)*.10)+(Blade Runner the International Theatrical Release)*.05))

@ttfitz, help?

[Drummy]

Finally got to see this on HBO and would give it an A- -- really liked the slow burn early on through the Riddler's machinations, and thought the atmosphere and overall direction/acting were quite good. 

The smaller things that I didn't love included the language lesson scene (why the Penguin would focus on Spanish at that point made not a lot of sense), Commissioner Gordon as rather dense (always a step behind even the audience at answering questions), the 'love interest' Catwoman approach (I didn't feel the chemistry there), and the wham-bam finale that just felt out of place in such a moody, noir-like film.  Still very good and visually much more impressive than the usual MCU fare or the Snyder films.

Dan

[BernadettePaige97]

Batman from Nolan is the best Batman for me ever!

[ttfitz]

On 4/29/2022 at 8:15 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

On 4/28/2022 at 5:06 PM, path4play said:

The Batman = (((Batman Begins - .007 gadgets)*.85)+((Seven)*.10)+(Blade Runner the International Theatrical Release)*.05))

@ttfitz, help?

I would add in f'(American Woman cover x Cosby kid), but otherwise it tracks! 

Captain Math

[path4play]

On 4/29/2022 at 4:30 PM, ttfitz said:

I would add in f'(American Woman cover x Cosby kid), but otherwise it tracks! 

Captain Math

For me,

Gotham City with all the rain resembled the city in Blade Runner (as well as the voice over narration from certain versions of that movie echo with the narration in The Batman).

The Riddler's creepiness and puzzles resembled John Doe in Seven.

The Batman was as enjoyable and as good as Batman Begins, and was stripped down to the core removing the "James Bond 007" gadgetry.

I liked it...

@theCapraAegagrus @ttfitz

Edited April 29, 2022 by path4play

[▫️]

 

[kav]

For me the best Batman movie was the one they decided not to make.

[jsilverjanet]

I apologize if this has already been shared 

 

 

[Larryw7]

I would watch that.

[Larryw7]

On 4/29/2022 at 9:06 PM, kav said:

For me the best Batman movie was the one they decided not to make.

The Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy version? No joking, that was a possible project in the eighties. Ivan Reitman was attached to direct.