I had high hopes, but overall I didn't care for it. It was really well done, but not enjoyable IMO. I am interested in seeing what else they do down the line in this version. Loved the cast - Zoe Kravitz in particular. Wish Alfred was more involved. Gordon was OK - I liked the fact he was active, but pretty ineffectual. The Penguin was great, though I prefer the Aussie or Brit take on the character. Minor quibble that. Even Torturro worked as the mob boss, and loved that they kept Falcone. Liked the feel of Gotham city. They did do a lot right. And the car chase was primo. Best part of the movie IMO. And it felt like a city, the constant throb of humanity, ever present. What didn't I like? Too grim for such a long movie. And... So while I appreciate it was mostly well done, there were a few places the script simply was lacking in comparison to the rest. Pattinson's got a lot of potential though, so I'll be willing to check the next one out.
Saw it again and I really appreciate how it kept me engaged the whole time. I did note one logical inconsistency: Still hold to my earlier praise. It's an excellent take on Batman.
Oh, forgot to mention Zoe Kravitz's Catwoman. She's "Long Halloween" Catwoman brought to life. Especially with the backstory stuff. For live-action movie Catwomen, I'd have to say better than Anne Hathaway, still not as good as Michelle Pfieffer. Pfieffer is gonna hold the crown for a long time. Halle Berry doesn't count, that movie is an Elseworld.
Hathaway's and Kravitz's characters are very close together, though Hathaway's is unapologetically a thief and Kravitz's believes she's morally owed what she's taking. It's close, but I'd probably give the edge to Hathaway. Neither comes close to Michelle Pfeiffer. But, in fairness, Batman Returns is a very different type of movie than The Dark Knight Rises or The Batman. It's much less grounded and revels in silliness that just wouldn't fly for today's audiences.
Saw it. Liked it. Was pleasantly surprised by the Robert Pattinson. LOVED Zoe Kravitz. My favorite Catwoman yet. Riddler was outstanding. 5/5
Pretty much the same here. Definitely darker and more gritty than the Nolan take… which was already darker and grittier than the 90s movies… with Affleck somewhere in between. Batman is a fascinating character. There have been so many different takes on the character at this point but they manage to still find new ways to tell interesting stories in this universe. It’s hard to rank Batman movies because they are all so different. This one definitely is more on the Nolan side. I don’t see this Batman ever teaming up with Superman or Wonder Woman. A lot of the animated stuff is fantastic too.
Deleted scene of Batman interacting with The Joker, and we get a really good look at him. Looks like they're going for a cross between "Arkham Asylum" (book, not game) and the acid burned look from the end of the "Gotham" series.
I've seen "THE BATMAN" twice & found it to be an excellent movie & a good iteration of Batman/Bruce Wayne. So, if you haven't seen "THE BATMAN" yet, go see it, you'll be very pleased. And like "SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME", "THE BATMAN" is best seen in a movie theater on a giant screen.
Finally saw it. This is the type of Batman movie I've been wanting for a while, a lot of detective work mixed with the right amount of action. I'm not going to compare it to TDK because that's a different kind of movie, even though there are a lot of similarities. Overall, I really liked it a lot, but not enough Alfred. The scene with Alfred and Bruce in the hospital was really touching. I like Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, but I would have liked to have seen more of the playboy Bruce Wayne. I wasn't impressed with the Joker at all and I don't need to see him in the sequel. I want to see some other villains like Scarecrow, maybe the Court of Owls. I'm not sure who else you could do with such a grounded version. That was sort of the problem with the Nolan films, you can't do the ones with powers. They're going to have to pick some non-powered villains without copying Nolan. Obviously Penguin will return so it should be interesting where they go from here. I know this, Batman needs some upgrades to his suit, that flying wing thing wasn't ideal. Oh and this is the bet "Batmobile" since the 89' one, I always hated the tumbler.
Oh, had a memory come back to me! In "Back To The Batcave" Adam West reviewed Batman '89 cuz he stayed quiet when it freshly came out. He didn't mind at all that it was visually dark, or that Batman wore a black suit, or any of that. All that bugged him was that Batman seemed to care more about punching bad guys than saving lives. He beats up that first batch of muggers, but doesn't give a shit about the family that got mugged. Adam West would have dug how this one ends.
One thing that irked me about the Nolan films is that Bruce Wayne from the very outset of his crime-fighting career seems motivated by some profound love of his city (Gotham), a love that seems somewhat undeveloped. Why should Bruce love Gotham? It murdered his parents. It's run by people like Carmine Falcone. Its institutions are nakedly corrupt. Now, don't get me wrong: Nolan's films have a great pro-civilization ethos behind them, but it just never rang true to me that a guy would run out into the night to pound criminals to a pulp out of some sense of civic duty. Bruce Wayne could surely accomplish more with his influence and his checkbook than pulverizing street thugs or disrupting some racket. The Batman concept doesn't make sense if Bruce is well-balanced, rational, moral. No, Bruce Wayne has to be a very damaged person who at the center of his being has a great big hole, which he's trying to fill by turning his rage loose. And I so love The Batman because it understands that. Fortunately, Bruce ultimately realizes that, driven by his own quest for personal vengeance, he's really not so different from the Riddler, who (if you think about it) is destroying the truly harmful people in Gotham: not just Falcone, but the corrupt officials who have enabled him. In the end Bruce realizes that he can't save this village by destroying it, and he emerges as the city's true guardian, literally and figuratively leading its people to safety and, perhaps, a better tomorrow. His newfound dedication to doing more--and better--for Gotham seems more organically grown. Adam West's Batman was always an ideal: kind, compassionate, fair, civic-minded, hopeful, optimistic. Of course, we modern viewers scoff at such a campy, Boy Scout Batman, even if we can still look back fondly at West's take as a remembrance of past innocence. But West's Batman may give us a glimpse of the hero Gotham should have, maybe even the one it deserves. I think West would've liked the ending of The Batman. It suggests he had something right that we all had forgotten.
It's streaming on HBO Max now. Had I'd of known that I would have just waited because the entire last act of the movie the guy next to me was crunching on ice the whole time. My theater days are coming to an end. Even big tent main event Marvel movies I'll probably wait for streaming.
Just finished my second viewing. The run time didn't bother me at all the second time around, I think it just that guy crunching his ice that was annoying as fuck. I really like this movie a whole lot, it very much reminds me of Seven. I hope the sequel sticks with the focus of Batman doing detective work. I'm guessing the new mayor will have a lot of trust in Batman and Gordon will be given more leeway. I'll say it again, Batman needs to upgrade his gadgets a little bit. I bet he'll get a cape that he can glide with and some batarangs. I also hope Gordon gets a little more to do as well as Alfred. This one is even better the second time around.
I would say that the Nolan films make clear that Bruce isn't completely well-balanced, rational and moral. There probably has not been a take on Batman that depicted him as "completely" well-balanced, rational and moral since Frank Miller's Dark Knight of the 80s.
Upon second watch, I did get some Batman 66 vibes. The lady who lived with Bruce and Alfred in Wayne tower (don't remember the character's name)? She reminded me of Aunt Harriet. Gordon asking Batman on pretty much every occasion what the riddle meant and Batman immediately answering it.
Miller's Dark Knight was certainly moral, but even Miller didn't portray him as well-balanced or rational. Hell, you have to go back to the 70s for that, when the character was still dominated by the TV show of the 60s.
