The Batman with Robert Pattinson is stunning rain-drenched emo neo-noir but overlong
REVIEW: The Batman (15)
Christopher Nolan raised the bar for Caped Crusader films with his blockbusting and critically-acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy – well, The Batman makes a fair fist of out-Nolaning Nolan.
Director and co-writer Matt Reeves' three-hour long effort is a rain-drenched emo neo-noir. The 1960s Adam West TV show it ain't! In comics terminology it's full-on grim 'n' gritty along the lines of Frank Miller's influential The Dark Knight Returns and Year One, which Nolan also cribbed from.
The Reeves version is sort of CSI: Gotham meets Saw, with Brit Robert Pattinson donning the famous cowl for the first time to solve murderous puzzles and fiendish traps posed by Paul Dano's deranged serial killer The Riddler. It very much accentuates the 'World's Greatest Detective' side of Batman although as this is early in his crime-fighting career he's not infallible and makes a few mistakes.
Also welcome from this reviewer's point of view is that although he attracts mistrust and hostility from the GCPD rank-and-file, Batman – backed by faithful ally Commissioner James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) – is at least allowed to work with the police rather than being an out-and-out vigilante.
Wright and Batman/Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred (Andy Serkis) provide solid support while Pattinson excels under the cowl. Not entirely convinced by his damaged 'emo' Wayne, complete with eyeliner, floppy fringe and Nirvana wailing in the background, though!
Along the way R-Patz encounters Zoe Kravitz's sleek Selina Kyle/Catwoman and (under a ton of prosthetics) Colin Farrell's Penguin. Farrell gives a masterclass in performing with make-up, something the over-acting Jared Leto in the recent House of Gucci could well watch!
Among the many street level thugs is Coen brothers regular John Turturro's menacing Carmine Falcone.
When Batman pursues Riddler's sadistic schemes in murdering key Gotham political figures which promises to unveil citywide corruption, many easter eggs are revealed for the comics fans. While this is more a 'done-in-one', there are threads left open for any sequels (no spoilers).
Like many modern (super-hero) films, it packs too many characters and it's too long although the 176 minutes go by pretty well. Sleazy Gotham City is superbly designed and one scene evokes Edward Hopper's famous diner depiction painting, Nighthawks.
The rain-saturated cinematography and score are both stunning and if you get the chance to see it in IMAX or similar, like I did, it's well worth it.
So is The Batman the definitive article? Not quite, but it's a worthy addition to the cinematic Bat-mythos.
Peter Woodhouse
