THE BATMAN

this was one of those movies I really wanted to see but totally forgot existed for a while. better late than never.

Two years into the never-ending mission to rid Gotham City of violence and municipal corruption, reclusive billionaire and masked vigilante Bruce Wayne realizes that the vast metropolis still oozes with crime. With the mayor killed at the hands of the Riddler, a psychotic terrorist hitting corrupt high-profile targets, Bruce joins forces with Commissioner Gordon to piece clues together and take down the elusive killer obsessed with the Wayne family and Bruce himself. As Gotham's self-appointed dark knight tries to find his feet, a white-knuckle, cat-and-mouse game attracts cryptic allies and dangerous adversaries, and no one is safe from harm. But is Batman a blessing or a curse? A friend or a foe?

I love how clearly different this is from any other Batman property we've seen so far. Somewhat similar to JOKER Gotham feels like an 1980s New York, yet it's full of bordering on futuristic technology That doesn't even exist today. It feels like the classic Gothic architecture of some of the earliest comics GOTHAM CITY, naturally evolved to where it would be in 2022.

Even in its tone it feels like the natural evolution of the Batman comics melodrama, In the far more violent and nihilistic tone of this movie fits right in with Robert Pattinson's traumatized Batman. I heard him saying an interview that this is the Batman that never got over his parents' death, and that is beyond clear and his performance. He feels closer to RORSCHACH Is it any Batman we've seen before, and I personally love how over the top some of the more emo scenes can be. Batman is straight up a depressed 20-year-old who barely listens to Alfred That doesn't even give a shit if his entire family legacy goes bankrupt.

Apparently in just two years of being the Batman He's feeling increasingly hopeless that he's having any impact at all, but surprisingly this whole Riddler nonsense sort of makes him feel better. It's sort of hilarious we're watching Batman get his groove back in contrast to the extreme violence of this movie's riddling serial killer, And still this movie works really well for me. It's quite well paced, mixes in just the right amount of levity while keeping the extremely dark tone, And it's full of Very strong performances by incredibly talented actors.

Batman villains are always stronger than Batman himself, and this Riddler performance is on par or above some of the most iconic joker performances out there. I'm a big fan of both the character design and Paul Dano's performance, And I think his crazy ass preparations for this role really made it something unique. “There were some nights around that I probably didn’t sleep as well as I would’ve wanted to just because it was a little hard to come down from this character,” Dano said. “It takes a lot of energy to get there. And so you almost have to sustain it once you’re there because going up and down is kind of hard.”Dano added, “What I felt was the opportunity that Matt was giving with a villain in this film was more real, potentially more terrifying.”He's easily the most terrifying villain we've seen in the DC universe so far, And this movie highlights a lot of the reasons why I prefer the DC universe over MARVEL.

Just like with the SAW franchise I'm a big fan of the extremely violent and gritty soap opera style antics, And I love how this movie manages to be genuinely horrifying while still feeling straight out of a comic book.

The boundaries are always changing on exactly how long a movie can be and can't be, but at a whopping 2h 56m this movie definitely feels a bit played out and overly complicated. Great if you think those long melodramatic moments are funny sometimes, but not so great if you're an ADHD riddle stoner who just wants to get this show on the road. Like any good Blockbuster It has its fair share of OH FUCK YEAH moments and works farmer often than it doesn't work, it's just a real test of attention span.

there are a lot worse ways tospend 3 hours

8/10