Movies are long these days. It seems like every movie nowadays is upwards of two-and-a-half hours long. Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman is no exception, with a whopping runtime of 2 hours and 56 minutes. But to me, every time I watch it the movie flies by and when it’s over I’m left thinking, “surely that wasn’t three hours long.” This has happened every time I’ve watched it, and I’ve watched it five or six times since it came out two years ago. Your mileage on this may vary, I read some reviews saying that the movie was too long or too dark, and, while The Batman is very long and very dark (literally and figuratively) it is a movie that stays with me and that I often find myself thinking about and wanting to revisit. I’ve got a lot to say about this movie so this review will be broken up into two parts.
It was a bit of a surprise when it was announced some years ago that Robert Pattinson would be playing Batman. He became famous as a teen heartthrob as the doomed Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and of course as one of the sparkly vampires in the Twilight series. For a long time I thought of Pattinson as kind of an airhead, handsome but brainless. I could not have been more wrong.
In the years since the Twilight movies ended, Pattinson has gone out of his way to be in as many weird movies as possible, and he has demonstrated that he is actually an incredibly talented actor. He has made a bunch of bizarre and often obscure movies, and I respect him a lot for that because he has been showing that he really is good at what he does, and he made weird movies because those are the movies he wanted to make. He could easily have skated by on being a teen heartthrob, but he took the more challenging route and established himself as a strong talent. The man has won me over, and he is a darn good Batman.
Warner Bros.
The Batman was directed by Matt Reeves, who has more of a sci-fi background with films like Cloverfield and the recent Planet of the Apes films. He was an interesting choice to direct a Batman movie, and I am happy to report that he absolutely nailed it. He also co-wrote the movie, and the film’s story is rich and complex, and doesn’t offer easy answers to the many questions it raises. That’s not to say that the movie does not have any sense of closure by the end of the nearly three-hour runtime, but the ending leaves room for more of this story to be told (a sequel is in development but is probably still a few years away).
Part of the reason I wanted to talk about this movie after talking about Batman Forever last week is because of the villain, the Riddler, whose real name is Edward Nashton and not Edward Nygma here. Riddler is played in The Batman by Paul Dano, and his portrayal of the character could not be more of a polar opposite from Jim Carrey’s version. Reeves said that one of the biggest influences on this movie’s version of Riddler was the Zodiac Killer, and it shows. This Riddler wears a costume similar to the one purported to be worn by the Zodiac, and he leaves cryptic clues and ciphers. But the riddles in this film aren’t one-note gags like those in Batman Forever, this film’s riddles are much more intricate and disturbing.
Paul Dano also wrote a comic book series called Riddler: Year One, which explores the character’s backstory prior to the events of the film. It’s a disturbing and intricate story, well worth the read if you are a fan of the movie. It shows how well Dano understood the character, and it even makes him sympathetic. Yes, Riddler does a lot of terrible things but the comic shows how awful his upbringing was and how deep the corruption at the heart of Gotham City has permeated. That’s not an excuse for Riddler’s actions, but it does make you feel sorry for him. It also shows that riddles and puzzles are more than just a gimmick for this version of the character, since riddles are something that Edward used as an escape from the misery of his everyday life.
DC Comics
The Batman’s version of Riddler is terrifying. Riddler often comes off as a goofy villain, but The Batman makes him nearly as unsettling as Heath Ledger’s Joker. The first scene of the movie is seen from Riddler’s point of view as he spies on Gotham’s mayor through binoculars while his heavy breathing is heard in the background. It is a voyeuristic and deeply unsettling way to start the film, and it becomes even creepier when Riddler breaks into the mayor’s home and beats him to death with what we later find out is a carpeting tool. It immediately establishes the dark tone of the film and shows that this movie is not messing around, and is a very different take on the material.
One of my favorite aspects of Batman’s character is that he is the World’s Greatest Detective, and no other Batman movie has explored this as much as The Batman. I love watching Batman investigate crimes and solve mysteries and show how smart he is, and the Riddler is the perfect character to show this element of Batman. This movie is not an origin story, which is a good thing because it means that there is more room to explore other facets of the story and it doesn’t need to be an origin story because most people are probably familiar with Batman’s origin anyway. As far as I’m concerned Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins provided a definitive cinematic Batman origin story, and I appreciate that Matt Reeves’ film doesn’t rehash the same territory.
I also really like that Reeves’ version of Batman is still a rookie at this point in his crimefighting career, having only been at it for about two years. He’s good at it but he’s still learning, and he doesn’t necessarily have all the resources Batman often has. He has formed an alliance with Jim Gordon, currently a lieutenant in the Gotham City Police Department, and while Batman and Gordon trust each other, Batman doesn’t trust any of the other Gotham cops and they don’t like him much either.
Warner Bros.
And I’ve got to talk about how much I like the Batsuit in this movie. In Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, all of Batman’s gadgets and vehicles were made by Lucius Fox, but in The Batman the filmmakers put a lot of effort into showing that Bruce Wayne designed and built his arsenal himself. As such, the Batsuit in this film looks like it was pieced together from a variety of different sources and is something of a rough draft. That’s not to say it looks bad, I think it looks very cool but I also like how it is just a bit rough around the edges.
The mask in particular is very interesting, it’s clearly made of leather and you can see the seams in it, as well as a bunch of cuts and scratches that give Batman a battle-hardened look. It also fits more tightly to Batman’s face and the eyes are set back and skull-like. In the making-of book The Art of The Batman, Reeves and the costume designers emphasize how they wanted the mask to look homemade, while also being mean and intimidating, even a bit demonic. They also mention that some aspects of the design reference Adam West’s Batman, which is how Matt Reeves was introduced to the character as a kid. The overall look is lean and brutal, and it works like gangbusters.
Warner Bros.
That goes for the Batmobile as well. This version of Batman’s iconic ride looks like Bruce took a classic American muscle car and strapped a rocket engine to the back. The engine is loud and sounds angry and raw, like it’s always on the edge of losing control. It’s so awesome, and the car chase where Batman pursues the Penguin is one of my favorite scenes. The chase’s ending, where the Batmobile emerges, engine roaring, silhouetted against a massive explosion, is so freaking badass it gives me chills every time I watch it.
The mood and atmosphere are oppressively dark and ominous, and the film depicts Gotham City as a grimy urban hellscape, a place Batman isn’t sure can be saved, and that might not even be worth saving at all. The city’s corruption is widespread and has permeated every level of its society. Batman and Gordon begin to unveil a massive conspiracy regarding a massive drug bust that happened before the events of the film, and how this event that was touted as a massive win for the city was not all it was cracked up to be, and may have even made things worse.
Bruce is also confronted with evidence that his father Thomas Wayne may not have been the saint he had been made out to be. The film ultimately does not provide a concrete answer to this question, and the audience is left wondering exactly how many skeletons are in the Wayne family’s closet. Bruce is also left wondering exactly how much of Gotham’s corruption may have been exacerbated by his family, inadvertently or otherwise. This is a gutsy move by Matt Reeves, since the film spends a lot of time exploring the depth of Gotham’s corruption and doesn’t provide any easy answers.
This is the end of part one. Please join me tomorrow for part two.
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