From director Matt Reeves, $600.4 million box office hit “The Batman” is a nearly three–hour–long tale of the Defender of Gotham depicted in a much grittier and darker lens than audiences are used to seeing. The film is seductively cast with “The Twilight Saga” star Robert Pattinson as Batman alongside “High Fidelity” star Zoë Kravitz starring as Cat Woman.
The recent depictions of Batman seem to get more serious and twisted with each film, with some of the most recent depictions of Bruce Wayne being in “The Dark Knight,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Justice League” and “The Joker.” The darker tone of the newer films is unlike some of the earliest “Batman” films, like “Batman: The Movie” starring Adam West, which is a far sillier and more childish and humorous portrayal than we know today.
Junior biology major Ashly Simmons had a fresh perspective as she had never seen the other “Batman” films prior to watching “The Batman.”
“It seemed very dark and medieval. Contrary to popular belief, I thought it was a little lackluster. The acting was very good, but I was waiting for moments to be on the edge of my seat, and I never really got there,” Simmons said.
At a whopping two hours and 56 minutes, the film is poorly cut as it takes a long time to arrive at many of its questions surrounding who The Riddler is and who killed Annika.
“It was good, but it’s not something I would tell someone to spend three hours watching. Maybe the length of the movie had something to do with it, but I’ve watched long movies in the past as well, and maybe it was because I didn’t really have a bit of backstory of Batman to understand the underlying concepts and such. It was just a little flat for me,” Simmons said.
As aforementioned, the “Batman” movies have gotten darker and darker and darker, and the music selections have not fallen far behind. What Rolling Stone calls “One of Nirvana’s weirdest, most whispery songs,” “Something in the Way” was a little–known Nirvana song used in “The Batman” soundtrack that has now had a revival, surging in streams and trending on TikTok after the movie’s release.
“‘The Batman’ was a great film for both superhero fans and film fanatics. The score and soundtrack heightened the intensity of the film and perfectly encapsulated the threatening and gloomy atmosphere of Gotham itself,” said Rachael Dauksch, junior graphic design major.
Not long after Cat Woman checks Batman on his focus of high-level murders of politicians making for a very politically charged conversation, the pair share a kind of unnecessary but steamy on–screen kiss.
“This film has done the best at showing the dilapidated, crime-ridden state of Gotham and how crime, economic failures and corrupt politicians have brought down the city. The Riddler’s use of streaming and internet forums was an entertaining take on the character and exciting to watch play out. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who’s down with the three–hour run time,” Dauksch said.
While the anti-populist ambition was slightly predictable after watching “The Joker,” where Joaquin Phoenix absolutely slayed (literally), I kind of agree with the Zodiac Killer wannabe, aka The Riddler’s, “eat the rich” view on Batman’s backstory. In actuality, maybe being an orphan who is also extremely wealthy and taken care of is a far more digestible narrative than stories of poverty-stricken children who grew up in Gotham’s orphanage system.
As the phrase “I am vengeance” was repeated a few times throughout the film, I applaud the casting and cinematography, which seemed to go for a more shadowy yet perfectly reinvented look with Pattinson, who does not exactly have the face of a greathearted superhero, but the face of a bank robber who will stop at nothing to free his brother from prison or a beautiful telepathic vampire.
“I was skeptical of it at first, having Robert Pattinson as the Batman. However, within a few minutes of the movie starting, it blew out of the water almost all my expectations,” said Sean Miller, senior business administration major.
If there is anything I adored about this film, it was the cinematography. I felt like I was transported to the unrighteous, dreadful and gloomy world of Gotham, where I was truly a fly on one of the grubby walls of the fictional city.
For instance, the cinematography is particularly remarkable in the fight scene when Batman first enters the Iceberg Lounge nightclub and strikingly takes down almost every club bouncer imaginable as the strobe lights overwhelm the screen and the base cheesy club music plays in the background.
Chills were felt throughout the theater during the show–stopping fight scene in the hallway where Batman takes down several guards in pitch–black darkness and is spasmodically hit countless times by gunfire. I was astounded with intensity and anxiety in the most beautiful way. The scene felt like something just a cut above a “James Bond” movie.
“The soundtrack was great, especially as a fan of Nirvana. The camerawork was very artistic and, rather than seeming like a cheesy Hollywood film, conveyed the more serious tone of Gotham and the characters. What I enjoyed the most was that the film approached Batman from a new unique angle. It humanized him more as a real person with real–world mental health issues and followed the story of The Riddler like an episode of ‘Criminal Minds.’ I was heavily invested in all the characters and stayed glued to my seat the whole time,” Miller said.
While the film made impressive use of special effects, the musical composition was memorable, the dreary setting built through the cinematography and set design was noteworthy, and Kravitz and Pattinson had unnerving on-screen chemistry. “The Batman” was worth the watch, and I strutted out of the theater feeling like a badass.
