I was pretty hyped for The Batman but thought it was a pretty big letdown.
I’m a big fan of basically every actor in this but thought they underutilized them.
Robert Pattinson spends all his Bruce Wayne time looking like he was auditioning for Jared Leto’s part in Requiem for a Dream. His hair is in his eyes like he’s a goth from South Park, and did he really have to be such a dick to Andy Serkis’ Alfred? That got old really fast. His voiceover reminded me a lot of Rorschach’s in Watchmen, but it worked a lot better for Rorschach’s character. For someone who’s
so good at riddles, it takes him an awful long time to think of how a “rat with wings” could mean a bat.
Billionaires are used to crazies coming out of the woodwork to harass them. They certainly wouldn’t
be opening mail willy-nilly.
Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon here didn't display any admirable qualities. He seemed to just be there to serve as a tag-a-long to read questions out loud so Robert Pattinson could answer them.
I did like his response to Batman saying no guns. “That’s your thing.”
Zoe Kravitz seemed perfectly cast as Catwoman but I didn’t find anything likeable about her character.
And at the end, why did she ask Falcone if he remembered her mom? He knows you’re his daughter, right? Of course he does.
John Turturro looked like he stepped off the set of the Irishman but was overall fine.
Paul Dano's Riddler seemed to be a kind of autist incel with his love of puzzles and interwebz friends.
The standout of the movie was Colin Farrell as the Penguin. He was basically unrecognizable. Props to him. Probably the best moment in the film was
his “no habla espanol?” line. Everyone in the theater laughed.
The story was pretty uncompelling to me. The Riddler’s original plot seemed very much like
a rehashing of Seven, with Paul Dano playing Kevin Spacey’s character, especially with his dense, crazed journals. I could go with that. But the third act feels like a non-sequitur.
There was no set up to the
flooding. No throwaway explanation of these walls in the beginning. “Sometimes I just wish these walls would break and flood the whole damn city away...” moody Bruce says while touching the walls. Anything! Don’t ask me how a city would even get built if you needed walls to hold back water. There’s no hurricane going on. A few feet of water seemed pretty underwhelming.
And the big masterstroke of flooding an entire city and forcing the populus into a low-lying arena? And then having a few incels off Discord meet up and shoot them with hunting rifles (and the one AR-15 a guy somehow managed to get in the gun-controlled nightmare amalgam of NYC and Chicago)? Why weren’t there a million cops shooting the snipers? Cops are big on shooting things.
The Riddler’s motivation for hating Bruce Wayne seemed real weak.
He hated these other men because they were corrupt civil servants and hated Bruce Wayne because he was a rich orphan whose dad may or may not have done something shady? Okay...
Felt way too long and they didn't do a lot with the time.
I don't mind a big conspiracy but they didn't even show the other mafioso they kept talking about.
Overall, pretty weak and not worth the three hours. And the
after-credits “scene” isn’t worth waiting to leave the theater and get pizza for. Trust me.
Moved a bit slow at times, and took itself a bit too seriously, but this was the most interesting Batman ever made. As awesome as the Dark Knight is, the plot is pretty simple whereas this has a whole conspiracy and throws twists and turns at you. Much stronger emphasis on the detective aspect of Batman, felt closer to the Arkham video game series.
Also huge props to Colin Farrell, completely embodied the Penguin, you couldnt even tell it was him.
It's amazing how my apathy there was for The Batman in my particular nerd circle until it came out and started making converts. I get it, no comic book fan (of a certain age) wants ANOTHER dark and gloomy Batman. But let's look at what's on the same nerds' wish list that the movie DID give us... 1) A Batman movie that actually focuses on Batman and not the villain(s) du jour (too often, Batman is a cipher to allow name-brand actors to chew the scenery, but Batman has an actual arc in this one). 2) Batman as detective (the movie is cousin to something like Se7en or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). 3) A Batman who is more than a monster to the underworld and can actually be a force for good in Gotham (in other words, they sell you a dark Batman tale, but turn it into something else by the end). 4) A Batman who refuses to kill. 5) For nerds tired of the "Bat God", a Batman who gets hurt, gets outplayed, is on the back foot a lot of the time, is GROUNDED in some kind of reality (this is where I think The Batman beats The Dark Knight - long held as the gold standard and with a similar villain playing mind games - because TDK has that unfortunate third act with the clunky Daredevil vision, oh, and Batman in a tank, that's no Batmobile). That's five ways the movie is closer to the comics ideal (I do say ideal because Nolan and Snyder's dark Batman has infected DC Comics for too long a time). I'll throw in a 6th item from the wish list: NO RETELLING OF THE ORIGIN (and yet, it looms large) and Batman already active for a couple years. In terms of the Riddler, some might be put off by him being a demented torture porn artist, but they movie understands the core of the character - that he must challenge Batman intellectually - and connected to real-world conspiracy nuts and other dangerous elements (it's almost too close for comfort). I don't quite get the point of hiring Colin Farrell as the Penguin if he's gonna be this unrecognizable, but between him, Catwoman and Falcone, we have a Gotham that doesn't require origin stories. It also looks damn good, dark but not impenetrable, with great uses of light and shadow. I liked the music, though Batman's theme sounds too much like the Imperial March minus one note. Well, maybe that was on purpose. I might quibble with the anti-stealth costume, but this is a Batman who trades a heck of a lot on intimidation skills (the Batmobile as Christine!), so it works for the character. And that almost 3-hour run time? I personally didn't feel it. So while I won't pretend it's the most fun (or require it be anyone's favorite), it might just be the best Batman film ever made.
- Visual quality was very satisfying.
- Colin Farrell's Penguin, I like it very much.
He has craziness, fear, boldness which can develop into a solid villain. Colin Farrell was the best actor in the movie in my opinion
- I like the idea of more vulnerable Batman, at the start of his crime fighting career. Lots of mistakes and emotions were involved. Still haven't developed two different personas (Bruce Wayne and Batman) in one mind. However, it was not consistently presented.
Is he weak or not? He rushes into the den of his enemies, yet I hadn't felt any danger for him. He just walked in for a hand to hand combat, sustained multiple gunshots without any major damage. In none of the scenes I felt any peril. Ok I get the twins joke but does he have to walk in from the front door every time? He seemed to have lots of gadgets on him, yet he sparingly used them. Ok, he might not have developed tactical skills to utilize them but let us know that. I think they should've emphasized his lack of skills, emotional control, and his reckless nature better. Also, I think Bruce Wayne should've more screen time to build up his character and Batman. Anyways, I am a little more hopeful for the second movie, if there is ever going to be one
- Other characters were extremely weak.
- Commissioner Gordon was an insult to Wright's talent. Most of the lines were there to rephrase what Batman just said as a question. No real impact on how the story proceeds other than helping Batman access crime scenes. He could've played a better part in solving the crime, since Batman is not a fully developed crime fighter. He could've helped Batman develop his detective skills. Missed opportunity in my opinion. They could've created a very strong character, which could've develop into a spinoff movie series.
- Alfred was an insult to Serkis's talent. There is not much to write about him. Man, the movie was 3 hours long.
- Falcone was an insult to Turturro's skills. Is he a mob or a goofy agent in Transformers, I couldn't tell. There were absolutely nothing intimidating about him. Is he a though mob? I don't know. There were nothing though or violent about him other than a sound recording of him strangling a woman and his confession of strangling Selina's mom. Is he good strategist? I don't know. There were nothing cunning or elaborate in what he did other than the whole movie people saying he owns the city by owning everyone one way or another. His whole scheme was torn down by Riddler alone.
- Riddler was ok. I'd love to see more of Dano.
- Selina was ok. She could've killed Falcone without a weapon. The last scene was extremely dull. She can beat Falcone's men without sweating but she needs a gun to kill him? Even after knowing that he strangled her friend? Come on!
- Overall movie
- The whole scheme was apparent when all the characters were revealed. Solving mystery was not fun, no twists, no mystery within mystery, just straightforward crossword puzzles.
- The last shooting scene was a disaster. How could lots of masked people enter into a complex that a newly elected mayor was addressing the city? Or Batman had time to plant lots of explosives to blow off the roof but no real plan to take on all those amateur shooters? At least he could've used something from his utility belt to reduce visibility. Even he was not able to cut a cord without putting himself in harms way.
- The last scene between Batman and Selina sums everything up about the movie. Batman sneaks behind Selina at her mother's grave, yet at the end of the talk we see that Batman's motorcycle is there. Throughout the movie he banged the streets with it's engine's voice yet he sneaks behind her riding it without her noticing it.
Although my overall impression is average, I believe it could develop into a good series if they improve side characters, make a more consistent Batman character and come up with a better story. Seeing characters' newly budding careers is a refreshing take.
An apathetic 3 hour slosh of weak writing along with a stop and go plot. It's not bad but people overhyping and blowing how good it is out of proportion need to take the film with a dose of sensibility.
This didn't need to be three hours long, and it's not that interesting. Dano and Farrell are great, but sadly I felt Serkis (of whom I'm a big fan as an actor - he's brilliant as Ian Dury) was miscast as Alfred, and the character had very little impact considering the film's length. Michael Caine was always going to be a tough act to follow, but you could cut all Serkis' scenes from this film and it would very little difference.
It all felt a bit too teen-angsty to me, so I'm guessing I'm not the target audience. If you're a Robert Pattinson fan I imagine you'll think it's the best thing you've ever seen, whereas if you've actually seen most of the previous Batman films you already know it's not as good as Nolan's. It's not terrible, but it rarely climbs above 'pretty good' and at times genuinely drags. Obviously, expect a couple of sequels and then another reboot in a few years.
There's some interesting stuff here, and it's well-made, but I don't see that it adds much to the franchise (which, ultimately, is all this film serves). I did like the detective story focus they were aiming for, and Pattinson is a decent enough Batman who I suspect will grow into the role over time, but it feels confused and I think it's pretty obvious that this film started life as something else (and with someone else).
There are so many good things in this movie that I feel bad for not really liking it. Unfortunately I disliked one of the most important aspects of the movie, the plot. The plot is so unbelievably uninteresting that it's completely baffling that's the story they chose to go with. You never care about any of the people the Riddler kills because they're all corrupt anyway. So to me that storyline is a complete failure. I also didn't give a flying fuck about the boring mob storyline that also involved catwoman, who's really boring in this movie by the way. I can't really reccomend it but you might like it. If you like looking at Batman's costume this is the movie for you.
Dark city, dark secrets, dark times. Next chapter in the Batman series tells You what happen next in the Gotham City.
Robert Pattinson is good choice to be a man without any visible emotions. Liked that there is no action overdose.
Had low expectations for yet another reboot, but this pretty good serious (sometimes a bit too much.....its missing some fun) thriller. Very dark, great cast and movie looks terrific but at least 45min too long. Really hurts the movie. Pattinson makes a good Batman but a very boring Bruce Wayne (BW is hardly in the movie). Entertaining and looking forward to the next chapter.
As someone who has read pretty much all the Batman comics it is very apparent that Matt Reeves has not.
He's basically just decided that Batman is going to be a bit emo and completely ignored the fact that you need a decent story line to make a great Batman film. You definitely get the sense that Matt wanted Bruce to be more like Kurt Cobain that the Bruce from the comics.
You could easily cut out 90 minutes from this movie.
Robert was miscast.
Zoe was miscast.
Colin was a very good penguin (pretty much the only highlight of the movie).
The Riddler character seemed more like a whiney teenager that an actual villain.
Alfred was basically a throwaway character.
The film is predictable from start to finish, can't believe anyway is saying this movie has twists are turns. It's glaringly obvious what's going to happen.
Hope they don't make this into a trilogy as it doesn't deserve to be one.
great cinematography! absolutely gorgeous, consistently fantastic use of lighting and framing. some middling dialogue though, and there were many moments that felt far too 'over-explained'.
i'll add that while i liked the batsuit design, i selfishly wish we saw more Bruce Wayne in this one -- he's just so emo, almost to the point of being goofy, but i felt it was the main point of difference from Bale's portrayal and i wish we'd seen more of it. Paul Dano did a good job of Riddler, but Colin Farrell's Penguin was my personal favourite.
one way the film suffers (in my opinion) is that it's shackled by its kid-friendly rating. the film quite transparently wants to be edgy and dark, yet it's rated PG-13 in the US, and PG in my province -- there's plenty of violence and murder, but the gory bits have to be hinted at offscreen, and hearing a certain villain say "friggin'!" for the 80th time felt ... maybe a little weird. i understand that the goal was for the film to be accessible to a younger demographic, but watching it as an adult, i felt like it was missing something.
I was a bit let down by my expactiation, and the soundtrack at times felt like Star Wars, as well as Chewbacca was at the prison together with Riddler and Joker.
Very predictable lines.
Overall is a nice movie but it has his own faults
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Comments 1 - 15 of 19
John Greer
I was pretty hyped for The Batman but thought it was a pretty big letdown.I’m a big fan of basically every actor in this but thought they underutilized them.
Robert Pattinson spends all his Bruce Wayne time looking like he was auditioning for Jared Leto’s part in Requiem for a Dream. His hair is in his eyes like he’s a goth from South Park, and did he really have to be such a dick to Andy Serkis’ Alfred? That got old really fast. His voiceover reminded me a lot of Rorschach’s in Watchmen, but it worked a lot better for Rorschach’s character. For someone who’s
Billionaires are used to crazies coming out of the woodwork to harass them. They certainly wouldn’t
Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon here didn't display any admirable qualities. He seemed to just be there to serve as a tag-a-long to read questions out loud so Robert Pattinson could answer them.
Zoe Kravitz seemed perfectly cast as Catwoman but I didn’t find anything likeable about her character.
John Turturro looked like he stepped off the set of the Irishman but was overall fine.
Paul Dano's Riddler seemed to be a kind of autist incel with his love of puzzles and interwebz friends.
The standout of the movie was Colin Farrell as the Penguin. He was basically unrecognizable. Props to him. Probably the best moment in the film was
The story was pretty uncompelling to me. The Riddler’s original plot seemed very much like
There was no set up to the
And the big masterstroke of flooding an entire city and forcing the populus into a low-lying arena? And then having a few incels off Discord meet up and shoot them with hunting rifles (and the one AR-15 a guy somehow managed to get in the gun-controlled nightmare amalgam of NYC and Chicago)? Why weren’t there a million cops shooting the snipers? Cops are big on shooting things.
The Riddler’s motivation for hating Bruce Wayne seemed real weak.
Felt way too long and they didn't do a lot with the time.
Overall, pretty weak and not worth the three hours. And the
thestuman101694
Although the movie was decent at times, I’m assuming people only think it was masterful is because the last Batman movie was “Batman v. Superman.”gobberpooper
Moved a bit slow at times, and took itself a bit too seriously, but this was the most interesting Batman ever made. As awesome as the Dark Knight is, the plot is pretty simple whereas this has a whole conspiracy and throws twists and turns at you. Much stronger emphasis on the detective aspect of Batman, felt closer to the Arkham video game series.Also huge props to Colin Farrell, completely embodied the Penguin, you couldnt even tell it was him.
greenhorg
when you get done watching a 6 hour batman movie with no intermission:Siskoid
It's amazing how my apathy there was for The Batman in my particular nerd circle until it came out and started making converts. I get it, no comic book fan (of a certain age) wants ANOTHER dark and gloomy Batman. But let's look at what's on the same nerds' wish list that the movie DID give us... 1) A Batman movie that actually focuses on Batman and not the villain(s) du jour (too often, Batman is a cipher to allow name-brand actors to chew the scenery, but Batman has an actual arc in this one). 2) Batman as detective (the movie is cousin to something like Se7en or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). 3) A Batman who is more than a monster to the underworld and can actually be a force for good in Gotham (in other words, they sell you a dark Batman tale, but turn it into something else by the end). 4) A Batman who refuses to kill. 5) For nerds tired of the "Bat God", a Batman who gets hurt, gets outplayed, is on the back foot a lot of the time, is GROUNDED in some kind of reality (this is where I think The Batman beats The Dark Knight - long held as the gold standard and with a similar villain playing mind games - because TDK has that unfortunate third act with the clunky Daredevil vision, oh, and Batman in a tank, that's no Batmobile). That's five ways the movie is closer to the comics ideal (I do say ideal because Nolan and Snyder's dark Batman has infected DC Comics for too long a time). I'll throw in a 6th item from the wish list: NO RETELLING OF THE ORIGIN (and yet, it looms large) and Batman already active for a couple years. In terms of the Riddler, some might be put off by him being a demented torture porn artist, but they movie understands the core of the character - that he must challenge Batman intellectually - and connected to real-world conspiracy nuts and other dangerous elements (it's almost too close for comfort). I don't quite get the point of hiring Colin Farrell as the Penguin if he's gonna be this unrecognizable, but between him, Catwoman and Falcone, we have a Gotham that doesn't require origin stories. It also looks damn good, dark but not impenetrable, with great uses of light and shadow. I liked the music, though Batman's theme sounds too much like the Imperial March minus one note. Well, maybe that was on purpose. I might quibble with the anti-stealth costume, but this is a Batman who trades a heck of a lot on intimidation skills (the Batmobile as Christine!), so it works for the character. And that almost 3-hour run time? I personally didn't feel it. So while I won't pretend it's the most fun (or require it be anyone's favorite), it might just be the best Batman film ever made.selimgonen
- Visual quality was very satisfying.- Colin Farrell's Penguin, I like it very much.
- I like the idea of more vulnerable Batman, at the start of his crime fighting career. Lots of mistakes and emotions were involved. Still haven't developed two different personas (Bruce Wayne and Batman) in one mind. However, it was not consistently presented.
- Other characters were extremely weak.
- Commissioner Gordon was an insult to Wright's talent. Most of the lines were there to rephrase what Batman just said as a question. No real impact on how the story proceeds other than helping Batman access crime scenes. He could've played a better part in solving the crime, since Batman is not a fully developed crime fighter. He could've helped Batman develop his detective skills. Missed opportunity in my opinion. They could've created a very strong character, which could've develop into a spinoff movie series.
- Alfred was an insult to Serkis's talent. There is not much to write about him. Man, the movie was 3 hours long.
- Falcone was an insult to Turturro's skills. Is he a mob or a goofy agent in Transformers, I couldn't tell. There were absolutely nothing intimidating about him. Is he a though mob? I don't know. There were nothing though or violent about him other than a sound recording of him strangling a woman and his confession of strangling Selina's mom. Is he good strategist? I don't know. There were nothing cunning or elaborate in what he did other than the whole movie people saying he owns the city by owning everyone one way or another. His whole scheme was torn down by Riddler alone.
- Riddler was ok. I'd love to see more of Dano.
- Selina was ok. She could've killed Falcone without a weapon. The last scene was extremely dull. She can beat Falcone's men without sweating but she needs a gun to kill him? Even after knowing that he strangled her friend? Come on!
- Overall movie
- The whole scheme was apparent when all the characters were revealed. Solving mystery was not fun, no twists, no mystery within mystery, just straightforward crossword puzzles.
- The last shooting scene was a disaster. How could lots of masked people enter into a complex that a newly elected mayor was addressing the city? Or Batman had time to plant lots of explosives to blow off the roof but no real plan to take on all those amateur shooters? At least he could've used something from his utility belt to reduce visibility. Even he was not able to cut a cord without putting himself in harms way.
- The last scene between Batman and Selina sums everything up about the movie. Batman sneaks behind Selina at her mother's grave, yet at the end of the talk we see that Batman's motorcycle is there. Throughout the movie he banged the streets with it's engine's voice yet he sneaks behind her riding it without her noticing it.
Although my overall impression is average, I believe it could develop into a good series if they improve side characters, make a more consistent Batman character and come up with a better story. Seeing characters' newly budding careers is a refreshing take.
Humanaut
An apathetic 3 hour slosh of weak writing along with a stop and go plot. It's not bad but people overhyping and blowing how good it is out of proportion need to take the film with a dose of sensibility.Toljus
This didn't need to be three hours long, and it's not that interesting. Dano and Farrell are great, but sadly I felt Serkis (of whom I'm a big fan as an actor - he's brilliant as Ian Dury) was miscast as Alfred, and the character had very little impact considering the film's length. Michael Caine was always going to be a tough act to follow, but you could cut all Serkis' scenes from this film and it would very little difference.It all felt a bit too teen-angsty to me, so I'm guessing I'm not the target audience. If you're a Robert Pattinson fan I imagine you'll think it's the best thing you've ever seen, whereas if you've actually seen most of the previous Batman films you already know it's not as good as Nolan's. It's not terrible, but it rarely climbs above 'pretty good' and at times genuinely drags. Obviously, expect a couple of sequels and then another reboot in a few years.
There's some interesting stuff here, and it's well-made, but I don't see that it adds much to the franchise (which, ultimately, is all this film serves). I did like the detective story focus they were aiming for, and Pattinson is a decent enough Batman who I suspect will grow into the role over time, but it feels confused and I think it's pretty obvious that this film started life as something else (and with someone else).
7/10
Toastinator
There are so many good things in this movie that I feel bad for not really liking it. Unfortunately I disliked one of the most important aspects of the movie, the plot. The plot is so unbelievably uninteresting that it's completely baffling that's the story they chose to go with. You never care about any of the people the Riddler kills because they're all corrupt anyway. So to me that storyline is a complete failure. I also didn't give a flying fuck about the boring mob storyline that also involved catwoman, who's really boring in this movie by the way. I can't really reccomend it but you might like it. If you like looking at Batman's costume this is the movie for you.CodeV
Dark city, dark secrets, dark times. Next chapter in the Batman series tells You what happen next in the Gotham City.Robert Pattinson is good choice to be a man without any visible emotions. Liked that there is no action overdose.
What does a liar do when he's dead?
chicachica
I miss the Batusi.Earring72
Had low expectations for yet another reboot, but this pretty good serious (sometimes a bit too much.....its missing some fun) thriller. Very dark, great cast and movie looks terrific but at least 45min too long. Really hurts the movie. Pattinson makes a good Batman but a very boring Bruce Wayne (BW is hardly in the movie). Entertaining and looking forward to the next chapter.chunkylefunga
As someone who has read pretty much all the Batman comics it is very apparent that Matt Reeves has not.He's basically just decided that Batman is going to be a bit emo and completely ignored the fact that you need a decent story line to make a great Batman film. You definitely get the sense that Matt wanted Bruce to be more like Kurt Cobain that the Bruce from the comics.
You could easily cut out 90 minutes from this movie.
Robert was miscast.
Zoe was miscast.
Colin was a very good penguin (pretty much the only highlight of the movie).
The Riddler character seemed more like a whiney teenager that an actual villain.
Alfred was basically a throwaway character.
The film is predictable from start to finish, can't believe anyway is saying this movie has twists are turns. It's glaringly obvious what's going to happen.
Hope they don't make this into a trilogy as it doesn't deserve to be one.
pegs404
great cinematography! absolutely gorgeous, consistently fantastic use of lighting and framing. some middling dialogue though, and there were many moments that felt far too 'over-explained'.i'll add that while i liked the batsuit design, i selfishly wish we saw more Bruce Wayne in this one -- he's just so emo, almost to the point of being goofy, but i felt it was the main point of difference from Bale's portrayal and i wish we'd seen more of it. Paul Dano did a good job of Riddler, but Colin Farrell's Penguin was my personal favourite.
one way the film suffers (in my opinion) is that it's shackled by its kid-friendly rating. the film quite transparently wants to be edgy and dark, yet it's rated PG-13 in the US, and PG in my province -- there's plenty of violence and murder, but the gory bits have to be hinted at offscreen, and hearing a certain villain say "friggin'!" for the 80th time felt ... maybe a little weird. i understand that the goal was for the film to be accessible to a younger demographic, but watching it as an adult, i felt like it was missing something.
eduardogamma
I was a bit let down by my expactiation, and the soundtrack at times felt like Star Wars, as well as Chewbacca was at the prison together with Riddler and Joker.Very predictable lines.
Overall is a nice movie but it has his own faults
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