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
