Review: The Batman (2022)
Brimming with atmosphere, if occasionally clunky
The fourth live-action Batman iteration for the big screen in as many decades, The Batman does a lot of things very right, and never outstays its welcome, even with a runtime of almost three hours. From the outset everything feels oppressive and hopeless, which never lets up throughout the somewhat meandering story, a couple of unearned relationships, and a few very expository lines. But the entire cast is great, especially the Bat, the Cat, and the Question Mark, and their relationship triangle is excellent, thematic and believable.
From this point onwards, there be minor spoilers.
The Batman is not quite an origin story; instead of asking ‘How does someone become a masked vigilante?’, it asks ‘So what if you’ve been beating up mobsters and poor people for over a year, and nothing much seems to have changed?’. This Batman (a very stoic and emo Robert Pattinson) is already a presence in Gotham, with a few toys, a Batlight (I assume that’s the word?), and a working relationship with police lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright, great as ever). It is this relationship, along with the one Batman has with his manservant (I assume that’s the word?) Alfred (Andy Serkis keeping a straight face) that are rather underserved. There is pay-off with little to no build-up, and it ends up feeling unearned.
Luckily the Batman’s antagonists (Batantagonists? I assume that’s the word?) do the heavy lifting in this regard. Paul Dano is suitably scary as The Riddler, even hidden behind his mask as he is most of the movie. His gruesome acts are not explicitly shown, but the implications are bad enough and the crazy is clear. Zoë Kravitz is an amazing Selina Kyle (or Catwoman, if you must), swept up in things beyond her control, but able to hold her own. The two of them are both foils and mirrors to the Batman, broken by trauma and lashing out at those perceived to be responsible. And it works very well.
An assortment of thugs, mobsters, corrupt cops, and dirty politicians brings Gotham’s seedy underbelly to life and it’s probably Colin Farrel’s the Penguin who steals the show here. Mostly because he’s unrecognizable beneath heavy prosthetics; was that the best choice, to ugly up an actor in this way? I have no idea, but the end result is great.
The entire design is full of leather and steel, dark and bulky, not unlike the Batman. Together with the low light and a camera that rarely takes a step back, but stays almost claustrophobically close, there is a constant sense of dread. The Batman himself often looks small, like a surly teenager acting tough to mask his fear and his loneliness. He fights like a careless brawler as well, definitely not always in control of the field of combat, which contrasts nicely with Selina Kyle’s lithe style and grace.
So yeah, pretty great, and apparently with two sequels on the way. I will no doubt enjoy them, but hopefully this is the most dour we’re going to get with this Bat. We could all use a break.
