Monday, June 6, 2022

The Batman

Actors: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell

Rating: 8 out of 10, is yet another in the seemingly endless series of caped crusader reboots and while the characters are old hat, this one takes you in a different direction. It doesn’t go into the cosmic level events of recent DC universe goings on. It’s basically a police procedural about the always morally challenged Gotham City and a pair of orphans. This is a new take on the Batman origin story and Pattinson really surprised me in the title role. I thought he was too metrosexual to sell the needed Y-chromosome aspects of the hero but he does it. He reminded me of the surprise Michael Keaton achieved when he was so effective despite the lack of physicality (at that time). Pattinson transforms from a waif-like Bruce Wayne into a supremely dangerous superhero. The movie is long but I hardly noticed the time because of the relentless pace. The rest of the cast was equally good especially Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano, who always plays an awesome psycho, as the Riddler. I also heard Colin Ferrell was in the movie but I never saw him. I checked afterwards and he played a major role as the Penguin but was unrecognizable underneath a veritable mountain of makeup. There were also some very subtle odes to the prior Batman incarnations that you’d have to be a real fan (guilty) to catch. I always love it when a series film reboot does that. So, at least for this film, the hype was redeemed. I loved the movie.

MVP: Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman

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