If you are expecting to see Bruce Wayne in a two-button Armani suit in “The Batman,” you will have to defer your dreams. Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” jumps straight into the gloomy life of a superhero representing the more vulnerable version of the billionaire who is saddled with personal trauma.
Starting as a brooding vampire in the Twilight series, British actor Robert Pattinson made many departures from his early career to be a permanent actor in movies such as Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" or Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse." This time Pattinson also succeeds in portraying a forlorn hero.
“The Batman” is just the opposite of its past iterations. Wayne is still physically powerful but his deep emotional scars fester like a sore. The bat technology is reflected with a deep realism, except for the camera’s hidden lenses. While using a grappling hook, Batman rolls over to the ground, he is definitely new to the gig. Batman doesn’t have any superpowers but is a modern man suffering behind the mask. This Batman could easily be one of us.
I almost fell out of my chair when I heard Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” song at the beginning of the movie. The surprising appearance of such a low-key song was a foreshadowing that “The Batman” was going to be an eccentric production. Also the isolation anthem of Kurt Cobain, “Something in the Way” is symbolically used to characterize our emotional superhero who is suffering existential angst. Even his appearance reflects his emo side with his dark hair falling over his forehead.
The use of sound plays a key role in grasping the movie’s riveting effect. Ranging from Nirvana's “Something in The Way” to Franz Schubert's “Ave Maria,” and a funeral four-note riff, by composer Michael Giacchino, the tonal variation signals an original story.
Having such a humane protagonist for fiction like the Batman series, the director, Reeves dismantles the preconceived notions and pushes the audience to question the concept of superheroes, which are stock characters that possess superpowers, abilities beyond those of ordinary people. Through the lenses of realism, Reeves reminds us by revealing Pattinson’s scar-covered shoulders that Wayne is a human above all.
Set decades after Thomas and Marta Wayne’s murder, our caped vigilante writes his memoirs of events he had faced due to the corruption in Gotham City. We embark on a journey chasing a killer who is terrorizing Gotham’s elite, as a mayoral candidate dies, followed by others including the incumbent district attorney.
At least this time we were spared of the cliche scene where Martha Wayne's pearl necklace breaks and scatters as she falls to the ground after being shot by a thug. This time around the director has disrupted the original structure of the production.
The plot opens up by introducing Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones) amid Schubert’s “Ave Maria” which echoes throughout the movie like a leitmotif. Then we witness the brutal murder of the mayor by an intruder in a combat mask and surplus army gear. When the police arrive at the crime scene, there is a note attached to the dead body addressed “To the Batman.”
This is where the caped vigilante steps in to help the lead Sgt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to solve the murders of the Riddler (Paul Dano) who intended to whack the corrupt white-collar scoundrels of Gotham lore. The opponent of the mayor, Bella Real (Jayme Lawson), also knows about the ongoing corruption. Oh yes, she is real.
The faces of the victims are wrapped in duct tape and have the words “No more lies” written across them in blood. The flamboyant green goofball reminds one of the rain-coated sadist Hannibal Lecter sporting coke bottle glasses and a green outfit. If you have seen Joel Schumacher’s “Batman Forever,” you might not relate a zodiac killer like Riddler to Jim Carrey’s representation. Still, Dano manages to pull off the character that is likely to give you the creeps.
Cat burglar Seline Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) accompanies Batman as the murder investigation takes a deeper turn into Gotham’s criminal underworld. Her outstanding performance as Catwoman signals that she is deeply connected to the character. Then the murder investigation orbits into would be Al Capone of Gotham City, The Penguin (I still don’t believe that he is Colin Farrell), who creates the illusion with his scarring created using facial make-up and undisputed performance. It seemed like he had directly popped out of the comic book.
Two hours and 56 minutes long movie rarely gets boring as it integrates real-world effects into vigilante mythology. Toward the end of the movie, Batman repeats “The people need hope,” which I think is a message from Reeves for the audience regarding real-world issues. The 21st century Batman is an extension of the original character with some modern-era touches. Horror, thriller, and noir are all blended in Reeves’ take on Batman, which offers something original every time.
