Bullet Points: The Batman
Another chapter in Batman’s Hollywood legacy is about to be written with the release of The Batman on March 4, 2022 with Robert Pattinson donning “the bat suit” for the first time.
- Not So Happy Halloween: The movie begins on Halloween Night with the brutal murder of Mayor Don Mitchell. The mayor’s murder ends up being the first in a string of murders committed by The Riddler (played to creepy perfection by Paul Dano) targeting Gotham’s most powerful figures. With each murder more and more of Gotham’s corruption is uncovered and The Riddler’s mind games only increase. In fact, at the scene of each murder, The Riddler leaves a card for The Batman (Robert Pattinson) and while it takes time for the mystery to unravel, it is clear that there is a reason that the serial killing Riddler wants to involve The Batman so directly. I know when it was first announced that there were those who scoffed at Pattinson being cast as The Batman, but the same could be said back in the 80s when Michael Keaton got the nod… the scoffers were wrong then and they are wrong now. Pattinson brings out the tortured soul that is Batman possibly better than any of his predecessors and more importantly, I believed him as The Batman.
- Rogues Gallery: The Riddler is only one of the villains that is featured in The Batman… there’s also Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin) played by Colin Farrell. And before I go on let me say this, if you did not know that Farrell was playing The Penguin you would have no idea while watching the movie. That is a credit to some talented behind the scenes movie magicians and Farrell himself… Last but no least is John Turturro as notorious mobster Carmine Falcone… a man who has been well connected to Gotham’s elite for decades and man who has a very personal connection to Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz, Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Bat Backup: As you may know, Selina Kyle is also The Catwoman and Selina’s quest to find out what happened to her friend that worked at Falcone’s club, intersects with The Batman and Gotham City Police Department’s manhunt for The Riddler. The Batman is able to convince Selina to work with him and it isn’t long before the romantic sparks begin to fly. But Selina is not the only ally Batman can count on in The Batman… With so much corruption being uncovered there is one power player that The Batman does trust, that being super cop James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright, No Time to Die). Wright was the absolute right man to play Gotham City’s crusading cop, in fact I can say that the casting choices across the board in The Batman deserve an A+ …And last but not least is Bruce Wayne’s most trusted ally, Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis, War for the Planet of the Apes). Alfred is a rock for Bruce Wayne in The Batman and helps keep everything together for the Wayne Family legacy.
The Batman delivers a compelling story filled with gritty realism and top notch performances from a star studded cast. The Batman didn’t even feel like a superhero movie, it felt more like an action crime thriller that happened to have a superhero as one of the main characters. But with that said, there is still some comic book elements for superhero diehards, with the bat gadgets you would expect and of course, the Batmobile! In fact the introduction to the Batmobile was easily one of my favorite scenes in the entire movie and the fact that it led into one of the big action sequences in the movie certainly did not hurt.
And now it is time for me to lead you into these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Soundtraxx: Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” is featured and it perfectly matches the tone and feel of the film.
- Favorite Quote: “What the hell is this good cop, bat shit cop?!” – Oswald Cobblepott
- More to Come: It was a safe assumption going into The Batman that this was not going to be a one and done deal, but the introduction of another classic Batman character being in the latter stages of the movie was 100% confirmation there is at least one more epic movie for The Dark Knight to come.