The Batman

[Rubi]

Overall I thought it was good. I liked how dark and gritty it was. I liked the ‘greatest detective’ element to it - and Gotham seemed like a dark, grungy , broken, crime invested city as it should be. 
My favorite part / scene of the movie was the muscle car batmobile. The sound in the IMAX theatre during that scene was fantastic I thought. 
 

I didn’t have much expectation going into it but walked out pleasantly surprised. 

[Zaximus]

This movie was a masterpiece.  It may not be what people expect out of a Batman movie but I loved it.  It was Batman but also different which is pretty impressive.  The cinematography was fantastic.  I loved so many scenes.  This is probably my favorite version of Batman we've seen in movies.   

[Immaculate]

Very good movie. If they had better music, it could’ve been incredible. Still tough to beat Joker and Bane. 

[onmyown]

Thought it was great, best one so far imo since Keaton. Considering time period I’d probably say they were close.

My favorite things were how they were close to the comic books at least more than usual. I still think Carrey would do the best riddler…but his already eccentric personality didn’t clash well with over the top writers of Batman forever. He could’ve been great.

Also it was great how mortal Batman was. His tools weren’t ridiculously over the top like in the past series. He got hurt. He didn’t dodge everything at him but took them. I liked that a lot.

Only thing that I didn’t like was the woke crap. Not because of ideology but because it had no place and didn’t make sense. Nothing to do with the plot at all. From the characters and catwomens line to the fact it’s a Batman movie. Hollywood just can’t help to inject this poo everywhere. My very extreme leftist friend was even like wtf does that even mean in context? It doesn’t, just obvious propaganda. Matrix was even worse but whatever.

[Khyber53]

Did we see the same movie? Watched it last night. 

Three hour snooze fest obviously written in someone's angst-filled Forever 21 journal. Pattison walking around with the black makeup around his eyes just made me think he was Robert Smith of The Cure fighting crime.

At least Halle Berry isn't the worst Catwoman anymore. Wow, Zoe Kravitz is to acting what her dad Lenny is to classic rock. And worst mask of all time... did no one even go "Hey, are you sure you want it to look like a toboggan with a chinstrap that's being used as a nose wiper?" 

The Riddler and his Army of Incels, well, that was definitely a new take. Basically it turn Oliver from the Brady Bunch into a psycho. 

So many things were ripped off to make this movie, and poorly in the process. Se7en was lifted from whole cloth and the scene with the capture of Riddler began with a riff on Edward Hopper's The Nighthawks. 

Honestly, they did the whole thing better on Gotham, and Gotham wasn't that great. 

And don't get me started on the Batmobile. It was like some kind of trailer park fever dream kit car, that was inexplicably rear engine AND rear-wheel drive. Step on the gas and that thing is just going to start doing donuts whether you want it to or not. And the big car chase? How many people died fiery deaths and neither Batman or Commissioner (soon to be) Gordon don't bat an eye for even a moment.

Sound was terrible and the dialogue was nearly inaudible for the first quarter of the movie. Lighting was non-existent in that "I wanna be edgy and film noir AND let's not put too much into the scene dressings" vein of direction. 

The one moment that the movie becomes self-aware and laughs at itself, the flying squirrel suit escape, did crack up my whole family, but we couldn't even try to take it seriously from then on out.

I want those three hours of my life back. Is it the worst Batman movie so far? Nah, the Joel Schumacher Batsuit with Nipples ones take that cake, but woof this one was lousy. For someone to have such great starting material and lore, so much funding for the project and access to such top level actors (except as mentioned above), to turn that dreck out is pretty mystifying.

 

[Rubi]

4 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Did we see the same movie? Watched it last night. 

Three hour snooze fest obviously written in someone's angst-filled Forever 21 journal. Pattison walking around with the black makeup around his eyes just made me think he was Robert Smith of The Cure fighting crime.

At least Halle Berry isn't the worst Catwoman anymore. Wow, Zoe Kravitz is to acting what her dad Lenny is to classic rock. And worst mask of all time... did no one even go "Hey, are you sure you want it to look like a toboggan with a chinstrap that's being used as a nose wiper?" 

The Riddler and his Army of Incels, well, that was definitely a new take. Basically it turn Oliver from the Brady Bunch into a psycho. 

So many things were ripped off to make this movie, and poorly in the process. Se7en was lifted from whole cloth and the scene with the capture of Riddler began with a riff on Edward Hopper's The Nighthawks. 

Honestly, they did the whole thing better on Gotham, and Gotham wasn't that great. 

And don't get me started on the Batmobile. It was like some kind of trailer park fever dream kit car, that was inexplicably rear engine AND rear-wheel drive. Step on the gas and that thing is just going to start doing donuts whether you want it to or not. And the big car chase? How many people died fiery deaths and neither Batman or Commissioner (soon to be) Gordon don't bat an eye for even a moment.

Sound was terrible and the dialogue was nearly inaudible for the first quarter of the movie. Lighting was non-existent in that "I wanna be edgy and film noir AND let's not put too much into the scene dressings" vein of direction. 

The one moment that the movie becomes self-aware and laughs at itself, the flying squirrel suit escape, did crack up my whole family, but we couldn't even try to take it seriously from then on out.

I want those three hours of my life back. Is it the worst Batman movie so far? Nah, the Joel Schumacher Batsuit with Nipples ones take that cake, but woof this one was lousy. For someone to have such great starting material and lore, so much funding for the project and access to such top level actors (except as mentioned above), to turn that dreck out is pretty mystifying.

 

I disagree with your overall assessment - but loved your gif implementation. 

[Chimera]

There were a number of things I could nitpick, but overall I'd say it was a good movie. 

The movie couldn't decide if it wanted to be brilliant or just whatever. I mean, it had Falcone describe how he got shot and how Bruce Wayne's stare made a lasting impact, which set up the scene with Falcone dying after being shot, looking at Batman and realizing Batman is Bruce Wayne. I thought it was Brilliant. But then it has police shooting at Batman, then they're all cool again 5 minutes later. Nobody remembers that because they all laughed at Batman hitting a bridge while gliding. 

[Captroop]

It was a Batman movie.

And I mean that kind of in the "you know what you're getting" sense. But also very literally. I honestly can't remember a Batman movie that had more Batman in it. I'll have to re-watch it to get the actual percentage, but just from a rough estimate, it seemed like 80% of the screentime was Batman in costume. Your typical Superhero movie formula is lots and lots of the human secret identity business, and then costuming up for the action beats. I was honestly shocked, because almost the entire movie was Batman, in costume conducting his investigation, which took place over one week. Even the B story (Bruce dealing with his family's own imperfection) plays directly into the A story.

I also like the small more minimalist approach. I like that the stakes were smaller (yeah, there were explosions, but at the end of the day, the villain's big plot was a mass shooting. Hardly the world-ending giant blue laser in the sky that usually comes with a modern superhero flick). I like the more stripped-bare technology and fumbling Batman techniques of Year 2 Batman. I found it a lot more interesting that Batman actually was in danger of falling.

Even Batman himself was more minimal. His arc was personal, not macro. It wasn't the evolution of "is he the symbol the city need or the dark knight it deserves?" It was, "I need to evolve from someone bad guys fear to someone good guys respect. And to do that I need to end my fixation with vengeance."

That's why I kind of love the Batmobile in this movie. It's the perfect allegory for his character; a fugging jet-powered, intimidating, collateral damage machine that is so overpowered and eager to get in the fight that it stalls out in its big dramatic reveal. I don't think it's supposed to be cool, as much as its supposed to feel unfinished and reckless. You see tools laying around, suggesting Bruce and Alfred are working on it in the garage. Before that he's just on a motorcycle. The suggestion is it's the first Batmobile. Batmobile 1.0.

If there's a sequel, or even if not, I just assumed he'd take lessons away from his experiences in this movie. The Batmobile would be sophisticated. His flying squirrel suit would be upgraded to his wing suit. He'd use stealth instead of just clomping up noisily to a gang. He's a work in progress, which is an aspect of the movie I really liked.

I liked it, and I'll watch it again.

[SOJA]

great movie, third act needed some serious editing to make it a tighter story but other than that I loved it

[Chimera]

23 hours ago, Captroop said:

 

The world's greatest detective finally got a movie with a little of his detective work in it. That was needed. I still prefer the dynamic where he does the detective work because the police won't. I don't feel like this movie set that stage enough. That mutual distrust of the police is why the Gordon-Batman dynamic works so well.

The movie definitely played on a few bits of the Batman origin that most movies ignore. I still feel they should have done more to explain his moral compass - he seemed to have no issue with the traffic explosion but was adamant about preventing Selina from killing. 

Batman is incorruptible - that's what is supposed to set him apart. Was the highway death zone a learning experience? Definitely should have explored that some more. It's like it happened and everyone was ok. They didn't even take the Penguin into custody afterwards.

And there was definitely a lot of Batman in the movie. That's why I'm pretty undecided on Robert Pattinson.  Christopher Reeve was the best Superman because he played Clark and Superman as two distinct characters. I mean, he changed his posture, gait, and voice between the two characters. Christian Bale did the same for Bruce and Batman to a lesser extent.  I need to see something besides Edward Scissorhands to fairly form an opinion on Pattinson.

[KSpan]

1 hour ago, Chimera said:

The world's greatest detective finally got a movie with a little of his detective work in it. That was needed. I still prefer the dynamic where he does the detective work because the police won't. I don't feel like this movie set that stage enough. That mutual distrust of the police is why the Gordon-Batman dynamic works so well.

The movie definitely played on a few bits of the Batman origin that most movies ignore. I still feel they should have done more to explain his moral compass - he seemed to have no issue with the traffic explosion but was adamant about preventing Selina from killing. 

Batman is incorruptible - that's what is supposed to set him apart. Was the highway death zone a learning experience? Definitely should have explored that some more. It's like it happened and everyone was ok. They didn't even take the Penguin into custody afterwards.

And there was definitely a lot of Batman in the movie. That's why I'm pretty undecided on Robert Pattinson.  Christopher Reeve was the best Superman because he played Clark and Superman as two distinct characters. I mean, he changed his posture, gait, and voice between the two characters. Christian Bale did the same for Bruce and Batman to a lesser extent.  I need to see something besides Edward Scissorhands to fairly form an opinion on Pattinson.

I haven't seen the whole thing yet (now past the church scene), but I feel like this version of Batman really has little to no Bruce Wayne left in him. Bruce truly is Batman's alter ego rather than vice versa, and Batman isn't great at being Wayne.

[Bama Panther]

I have seen bits and pieces of it while my son has watched it. From the little I've seen, it seems to just fit the mold of the fairly recent DC movies (dark, dark, rainy, and dark). Some of the reviews here give me some hope, but I'm not holding out much for this being more than recent DC movies like Justice League, Batman vs. Superman, etc. I just don't get the need for the continuous dark cinematography. Maybe it will change my mind once I watch it in full.

[Davidson Deac II]

On 4/21/2022 at 9:12 AM, Khyber53 said:

Did we see the same movie? Watched it last night. 

Three hour snooze fest obviously written in someone's angst-filled Forever 21 journal. Pattison walking around with the black makeup around his eyes just made me think he was Robert Smith of The Cure fighting crime.

At least Halle Berry isn't the worst Catwoman anymore. Wow, Zoe Kravitz is to acting what her dad Lenny is to classic rock. And worst mask of all time... did no one even go "Hey, are you sure you want it to look like a toboggan with a chinstrap that's being used as a nose wiper?" 

The Riddler and his Army of Incels, well, that was definitely a new take. Basically it turn Oliver from the Brady Bunch into a psycho. 

So many things were ripped off to make this movie, and poorly in the process. Se7en was lifted from whole cloth and the scene with the capture of Riddler began with a riff on Edward Hopper's The Nighthawks. 

Honestly, they did the whole thing better on Gotham, and Gotham wasn't that great. 

And don't get me started on the Batmobile. It was like some kind of trailer park fever dream kit car, that was inexplicably rear engine AND rear-wheel drive. Step on the gas and that thing is just going to start doing donuts whether you want it to or not. And the big car chase? How many people died fiery deaths and neither Batman or Commissioner (soon to be) Gordon don't bat an eye for even a moment.

Sound was terrible and the dialogue was nearly inaudible for the first quarter of the movie. Lighting was non-existent in that "I wanna be edgy and film noir AND let's not put too much into the scene dressings" vein of direction. 

The one moment that the movie becomes self-aware and laughs at itself, the flying squirrel suit escape, did crack up my whole family, but we couldn't even try to take it seriously from then on out.

I want those three hours of my life back. Is it the worst Batman movie so far? Nah, the Joel Schumacher Batsuit with Nipples ones take that cake, but woof this one was lousy. For someone to have such great starting material and lore, so much funding for the project and access to such top level actors (except as mentioned above), to turn that dreck out is pretty mystifying.

 

Just watched part of it on HBO max.  Got bored and tuned out after about a third of the movie.  

[d-dave]

Man, I really wanted to like it.  My students raved about it.  I thought Robert Pattenson would be a cool change up for the Batman character.

I had major issues with the second half of the film.  It was was so boring!  Laborious!  Painful!  I really liked the Riddler character and the themes about extremism. But there was exactly ZERO joy in the film.  It was three hours of negative emotions.  Also, Andy Serkis was criminally underserved.  He's a fun actor, and they didn't use him enough to really push the heart of Bruce.

That's not to say it was a waste of screen for me.  The use of light and shadow was amazing.  I loved so many of the shots.  There were some great looking images created out of the film.  Despite the whole batmobile "thing."  When it punched through that concrete, that was a great looking shot.  I really loved the production design on the film.

At the end, the final reveal about Daddy Wayne felt so weak.  There wasn't catharsis at all.  I hope that Reeves learned something for his next film.  I actually like Pattenson, and I think he's an interesting Bruce Wayne.