“It’s a big city. I can’t be everywhere.” Batman (Rob Pattison)
A more complete adaptation of the Batman comics presence there isn’t, and no more gothic, spot-on condemnation of human frailty since the 50-year-old Godfather. Writer/director Matt Reeves’ The Batman is arguably the definitive dark night of the American soul in its corruption and its salvation. As an achievement of robust American neo noir, it ranks somewhere behind Taxi Driver, Godfather, and Seven, among others.
Batman (Rob Pattinson) scowls as if he came from a Twilight frame of mind while he shows a soft side with his love for Selena Kyle/Cat Woman (Zoe Kravitz), the Bat and the Cat, working to save the city from the likes of Riddler (Paul Dano), Penguin (Colin Farrell), and crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). Besides offing a large number of corrupt city employees, they offer Bruce Wayne a chance to learn about his obsession with his parents’ public and private lives and their untimely deaths. Although none of the bad boys eclipses the impact of Heath Ledger’s multidimensional Joker, even in his humor, together they are a powerful cast of darkness.
Besides bringing together an ensemble of estimable actors in every role, Reeves gathers expert cinematographer Greig Fraser and production designer James Chinlund to create a darkness full of telling images while competing with the great film noir compositions of all time. Dark, yes, obscure, no. The darkness that envelopes each scene says more about the bleak side of humanity than any written treatise could.
Besides the corruption of city officials, The Batman casts a shadow over the virtue of vengeance, which is a caution to those like Vladimir Putin who have yet to realize revenge is not the answer for power. Embodied in Wayne’s longing to revenge the death of his parents and bad-boys like Riddler to assuage the pain of his childhood by terrorizing the city is the strong urge to revenge. In his favor, Riddler is ridding the city of corrupt power while Batman is cleaning it of its petty criminals. His stalwart ally, Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), realizes that crimes are actually housed in his police force and ultimately his supervisors.
The Batman is a hip and incisive representation of modern angst that not even a hero can relieve, at least not right now:
To the strains of Nirvana’s baleful Something In The Way, Batman says, “They think I’m hiding in the shadows, but I AM the shadows.”
The Batman
Director: Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, War for Planet of the Apes)
Screenplay: Reeves, Peter Craig (The Town)
Cast: Rob Pattinson (The Lighthouse), Zoe Kravitz (Kimi)
Run Time: 2h 55m
Rating: PG-13
