I'm gonna try to add everything that I forgot to mention during my TikTok Batman review because....yeah, I'm shy and it sucks.
Sooooo....The Batman. I thought it was great, but I should mention straight away...it's pretty tough for me to NOT be entertained. Perhaps I'm simple. Perhaps it's tough for me to criticize. Perhaps I'm not an old curmudgeon who looks to yell at every kid on my lawn. Fact is...I don't have that critical eye skill. Not to the point of breaking down every single minutia of how a scene is shot or pulling apart themes that may or may not be there.
With that all out of the way, yeah it was really really good. It looked beautiful. It should be experienced on a big screen just to see some of those amazing shots. Some other Batman movies have the action and movie shot so dark you can't see what is happening. There is one deliberately dark action scene, but it serves the purpose of the violence taking place at the moment. You actually get to see Batman in the movie. He's not constantly standing in the rain or some dark corner. You see his silhouette against the skyline and...for a comic nerd like me...you want to see your superheroes looking pretty majestic in the moment.
Now, you're thinking....great...it looks good, but IS IT GOOD? Well, if you've ignored me saying over and over that it is, let me breakdown what I specifically liked about it. Superficially, there's no FVCKING corny ass growl voice. Ugh, both previous Batmen had it and it drove me insane. It makes me feel like you're trying to prove you're a bad ass, so ugh, no. Second superficial thing? Acknowledging the use of black smudge makeup under the mask! Helllooooooo...we know you use it so to NOT see it when Batman used to take his mask off...dumb. Batman is supposed to look exhausted and battleworn so having black smeared on his young face makes sense. Don't forget Bruce is a recluse and LOOKS it. Now, building off the "young" part, I get that Pattinson is 35 (I can't tell you how old that makes me feel *sob*), but he is definitely younger than Batfleck. I don't need to see Grandpa Jones playing Batman, especially when it's made clear in this movie that Bruce Wayne is only in Year 2 of being the caped crusader. He's unpolished, figuring things out, not relying on an arsenal of Bat Toys to save his ass. However, during this time he has mapped out an uneasy relationship with the police and it's great to see. He isn't hiding from them, he is a known commodity in the city, no matter how much some of the cops hate it. What it does give you is the sense of respect Gordon has for him as an ally. Not only taking care of what the cops can't at times, but also the respect he has for his detective skills. Let us not forget...Batman is a detective. He's not the grunt who just kicks ass, he figures shit out. He wants to put the bad guys in jail, he doesn't want to kill them. He's aware of his uncontrollable rage and pulls back from using it...most of the time.
More of my thoughts include:
**Him utilizing the fear that he brings is pretty fun to watch (opening scenes of the movie)
**They show more of the damaged human Bruce is. That doesn't make him wimpy (I can already hear emotionally shut off men rolling their eyes), but it recognizes that someone who dresses up as a bat to fight crime probably isn't mentally stable
**Supporting cast is great, but there are a lot of them so expecting to get a deep dive into any ONE of them wasn't going to happen.
**If you're a Court of Owls storyline fan, you'll see the similarities.
**Yes, it's 3 hours long, but the pacing is good. Any "slow" part tends to be a tension building scene so there's a purpose and it isn't to have you check your watch.
Elle's rating system: Worth the full ticket price
So go see it. If you hate it, feel free to send me a message about your wrong opinion ;)