The Batman (2022)

Normally, I wouldn't repost something that I had seen so recently but it's been kind of a shitty summer for me and Batman is like comfort food.  This is my second viewing and it holds up pretty well.  I didn't get any new insights in it but that's not really what I was looking for.  I actually forgot about it when I was doing my Top Ten for 2022.  Didn't even include it in the ranking.  So it's a little surprising how often I thought about it since and I needed to revisit to see if I was mis-remembering or if it was Actually Good.  Verdict:  Actually Good!  I think it's still streaming on whatever Frankensteinian monstrosity (sigh) Max has become but I bought it.  Originally posted 07 May 2022.    I did not hate this movie!

Like many of you, I'm a little Batman-ed out.  Zach Snyder Batman has not been my favorite interpretation and I was concerned about yet another unnecessary origin story, but Matt Reeves Batman was refreshingly to-the-point.

Gotham City is wracked with corruption.  The mayor, Don Mitchell, Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones) is up for re-election against a feisty and motivated opponent, Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson), but is spared from losing at the polls by being brutally murdered by the Riddler (Paul Dano).  Riddler has a grand scheme to expose the many ills of his hometown, leaving a complicated trail of clues for Gotham's caped crusader (Robert Pattinson), in whom he feels a kindred spirit.  Batman follows the leads to an underground club run by the Penguin (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell), and a missing girl named Annika (Hana Hrzic), who might have witnessed some shady dealings of the late Mayor.  

Somebody finally let Batman actually do some detective shit!  Yes, he's still dark and gritty and emo AF but this time it works.  He looks like a 20-year-old billionaire stuck in permanent adolescence trying to figure out exactly what running around the city in costume is getting him.  Reeves has said in interviews that he wanted Batman to be more DIY, less high-tech, and that grungy effect works to astonishing degree.  And there are moments of humor that work even more because the rest of the film is so stark.  No spoilers, but about 3/4 of the way through, there is a reveal and Pattinson's "wait, wut" look is pitch-perfect.  Like, you can see his brain just blank and then frantically try and cover for it.  It's subtle but great character work.

But honestly the thing that impressed me the most was Colin Farrell.  It is unreal how completely he disappeared into that character.  Not even his voice sounds the same.  It might be his best performance ever and it's in a goddamn comic book movie.  That is wild.  The Batman is currently streaming on HBO Max but I don't know for how much longer.