POBB March 4, 2022

Pick of the Brown Bag

March 4, 2022

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  While you're waiting for the latest of my comic book critiques, enjoy this special review of The Batman.

Coming from somebody who thinks Michael Keaton is the only great live-action Batman to date, this praise should be more meaningful.  Robert Pattinson is one helluva Batman, and The Batman is an extraordinary Batman film.

The creative team behind The Batman seems to have listened to the criticism of the previous films and checked the boxes. 

First and foremost, Pattinson uses his own voice albeit with a very good American accent.  You don't get the ridiculous Fat Albert modulation that plagued Christian Bale's Batman.

Second, Batman's got ears.  Batman should have long ears.  Else you're in danger of making him into Helmet-Man. 

Nevertheless Ben Affleck was pretty good in Justice League.  

Third, Pattinson, who trained in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu for the film, can fight in the bat-suit.  

Boy, can he fight in the bat-suit.  

We haven't seen this kind of group battling since Michael Keaton's Batman.  I'm happy when Batman is the greatest martial artist on the planet.  By the by, the movie's fight scenes are sharper than what you may have seen in various trailers or clips.  I was agog.

I'll even admit the fights in both number and prowess eclipse those of Michael Keaton's Batman.  Sorry, Mr. Keaton.  You've still got the Bat Nut-Cracker.

That makes you the meanest Batman ever.

Third, one of the silliest nit-picks I've heard over the years had to do with one of the final scenes in Batman Returns where Batman tears off the cowl and the eye-black disappears in the edits.

The way they dealt with the eye-black in Batman Begins is turning Bale's back to the camera.  That's not any better.  In The Batman, they emphasize that the eye-black is real, not artistic license.  

This makes Pattinson look more like the Crow in some places, but it's better than simply ignoring it, I suppose.  That brief scene in Batman Returns never fazed me one bit.  I didn't care because Batman Returns is a perfect Batman film.

The Batman takes place in the beginning of Batman's career.  He's a known quantity to the police and an ally to Lieutenant James Gordon portrayed splendidly by Westworld's Jeffrey Wright.

Wright also provides a lot of the humor in the movie.  I know that some people will object to the immersive darkness in The Batman.  That's why the Idiots That Were at Warner Brothers hired Joel Schumacher, and we ended up with not one but two Nipple Man atrocities.  

In The Batman the Dark Knight Detective matches wits with a realistic serial murderer.  Not a psychopath in a crazy-quilt costume nor a killer whose acts dilute under the pretense of artistry and misplaced humor.   I appreciated that there's no comedy in the murderer, nor his hideous actions.  

Comedy in The Batman arises in the reactions to Batman and his methods.  It's subtle, not one-liners or even wry wit.  For example, the police, early in the film, do not like Batman.  The CSIs on the other hand see him as a valuable resource for forensics.  It's a wonderful scene that must be witnessed to understand.

Another amusing moment can be found mid-way through the movie.  Jeffrey Wright almost gapes at the Batmobile.  A very mean machine but like the Neal Adams version of the craft, easily camouflaged with regular automobiles.  I'll not spoil the image.

The killings plausibly challenge the World's Greatest Detective.   The Batman is fascinating in how it seems to reboot Michael Keaton's films in the same way that Sherlock reboots the Basil Rathbone films.  

Both prior sets of movies exhibit the detective aspects.  The new presentations update for existing and cutting edge science fiction technology.  They advance Sherlock Holmes and the Batman into modern times and modern thought.

Batman's foray leads him to encounter familiar faces.  The Penguin brilliantly portrayed by a grossed up Collin Farrell is back to being a mobster.  Owner of the Iceberg Lounge.  At least on the surface.  

And of course Zoe Kravitz's superb Tom King/Mikel Janin inspired Catwoman.  Forgive me.  I have no umlaut capabilities.  

There hasn't been a bad Selina Kyle, and that includes the Adam West television series.  Zoe Kravitz continues a long fe-line of Catwoman portrayals.  She brings streetwise savvy to the part but also conducts a fantastic old school heist.  Thus marking her as an arch thief.

Batman's and Catwoman's relationship is surprisingly delicate.  The chemistry between the two actors is palpable.  However, Catwoman isn't written to be a love interest in The Batman.  

She is highly independent, even more so than Michelle Pfeiffer's treatment.  Moments evolve where Catwoman clearly demonstrates a passion for Batman, but the writer remains invisible.  It's her choice.  As it should be. 

Another villain from Batman's rogue's gallery gets named, but he is in fact a conglomerate that includes Black Mask and the Rat Catcher.  I may even imagine a draft script in which Batman must eliminate them from the suspect lists.  Nevertheless, writer/director Matt Reeves doesn't stray from the villain's original compulsion.

That said.  The villain's signature does not define him.  Extremism breeds from his twisted rationale.  This added element leads to an intriguing finale, predicated on a single foreshadowed mention.  In this last act, The Batman of the darkness becomes a superhero to Gotham City.  I was reminded of the way San Francisco adopts Godzilla as their savior.  That's a good thing by the way.

The Batman begins a new and valid cinematic journey.  I look forward to Robert Pattinson reprising Batman in a sequel and hopefully many more films to come.  Also on my wish list, a Zoe Kravitz Catwoman movie.  Make it a heist film, please.  As to what I didn't like about The Batman.  Well, I could have done without the songs.  That's when The Batman seemed typical.