The Batman

Synopsis: In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.

Review:

Go watch this on HBO Max now: https://www.hbomax.com/feature/the-batman Updated May 25, 2022 - only updates are the last paragraph Was lucky enough to initially see this film in a Dolby Cinema theater, so the image was large but no IMAX but the sound was earth-shaking. This movie was made in a labratory for this geek’s sensibilities, the first time that Batman that seems to understand the 83 years of the character’s history and the entire rich tapestry created by hundreds of creators that have breathed life into the most amazing rogues gallery and the seedy Gotham a character in it’s own right over the last eight decades.

This version of the Batman is helmed by Matt Reeves who previously picked up the mantle in the Apes trilogy and successfully landed that franchise. The director of photography is Grieg Fraser that you might know from his extensive resume but recently Dune Part 1 & a few episodes of The Mandelorian. The vision and execution of this movies at times moody, emo filled moments of Bruce in the shadows and other times one of the most amazing car chases I think I have ever captured on film (shot at night, in the rain in the most franetic and heartpounding prespective are perfectly balenced).

There is nothing but stellar performances here across the board starting at the titular Batman Robert Pattinson gives a broken, extremely uneven performance leaning on the fact that we are only two years into the Batman story and he hasn’t found a reason to adopt his public persona as part of his approach to make Gotham better. Nothing sums up the different approach to Batman then the initial appearance where everything is done for the scary impact, from the boots thudding on the ground, to the slow, unflinching walk to a score that is almost reminiscent of the Vader imperial march from the Star Wars ecosystem. I think my biggest takeaways are that E V E R Y O N E fears the Batman, criminal, thug, citizen, there is no difference at this moment. Next we are introduced to Jeffrey Wright as Lt. James Gordan, his calm and unwavering belief in Batman from the opening scenes through the finale. Overall I believe Zoë Kravitz is the most interesting Catwoman, a modern take on the character working within the underground mob world and pulling from a previous comic book storyline where she is indeed Carmine Falcone’s daughter. Now that I have mentioned the seedy underground of we need to acknowledge John Turturro as Falcone but the award for making us forget previous versions of a villiam goes to…Colin Farrell as the penguin in a scenary chewing performance that makes me excited for the forthcoming HBO Max Penguin show. Final notes Andy Serkis delivers a solid preformance as Alfred and pulling up the rear is a really unique and haunting perfomance by Paul Dano as our main villian the Riddler.

I had pre-ordered the 4k Steelbook from Best Buy and it came in a few days early. The artwork and case are a really nice, solid and appealing to the eye. The picture quality is amazing, the director of photography has talked about the process of shooting the film this film, and what he and Matt Reeves were trying to accomplish, a gritty, film like aesthetic. The Dolby Atmos track is clear, clean and every step, punch or rev of the engine are crisp, deep and impactful. I would highly recommend purchasing a physical copy if you have a 4k TV & halfway decent sound system, people talk about reference quality discs and I can say I would feel confident that you can use this film to force your home theater to stretch to it’s limits and show it’s best side.