[honk]

I've seen The Batman, more like The Badman, am I right? No, just kidding, it's actually really good! A few minor details that aren't really critical to the quality of the film to begin with - I'm delighted to report that we don't see the Waynes being murdered for the millionth time here. Their murders are mentioned at the beginning of the movie, and that's literally all the reminder anyone needed. Also, while I'm not 100% sure on this, I don't believe that Batman causes anyone's death either directly or indirectly in this movie, which would make this the first Batman movie since 1997's Batman and Robin to have him not be a killer, which itself was the first Batman movie since 1966's Batman to have him not be a killer. On the negative side, I'm sorry to say that the scene of Batman casually wading through a stream of concentrated gunfire entirely unfazed is not a dream, a hallucination, or an unreliable narrator's account of fighting him. It's presented entirely as-is, meaning that this Batman is essentially bulletproof. And it's not even consistent, because when Batman fights in hand-to-hand combat, he visibly reacts whenever he does take a hit. How in the world does a punch hurt this guy when a hundred bullets at once don't even make him twitch?

But like I said, none of those are really substantive strengths or weaknesses of the film. The soundtrack is nice and portentous without going into Hans Zimmer "BWAAAAA" territory. The action is fast-paced and appropriately brutal - this Batman has a rough, scrappy fighting style that I really like, and the one big Batmobile scene is a joy to watch. The movie looks fantastic; I'd go so far as to say that it's one of the best-looking capeshit movies ever. The cast is great, and Pattinson in particular shines in the lead role, making his gloomy emo version of Batman compelling where a lesser actor would have just made him thoroughly unlikable. The story is a bit different to what we've seen in previous Batman movies, as this time our hero is primarily trying to solve a mystery. The inspiration - the very, very obvious inspiration, to the degree that one might even call this movie an homage to it - is the film Se7en, and just like with Joker and its riffs on Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, I'm not sure if leaning so heavily on this inspiration will really invite many positive comparisons. Is "it's like [insert classic here], but with capeshit!" really a good selling point? In any event, it's good to see Batman do something different every once in a while.

I do still wish that Reeves had decided to go in another direction than gritty realism. We had more than enough of that angle with three Nolan movies, and in general it feels like such a dull, "safe" route to go down with the franchise after Snyder's movies crashed and burned. "Oh shit, guys, our attempt at a Batman who lives in a world of magic and aliens didn't work out! Let's go back to what Nolan did; everyone loved those movies!" I say this knowing perfectly well that it wasn't a studio mandate to go with this take on Batman, but something that Reeves wanted and fought for. It was a genuine artistic decision, but it feels like a boring corporate decision, you know? I'd love to see a good filmmaker one day take on a Batman who isn't strictly realistic, one who lives in a world where he might one day have to fight the likes of Clayface or Poison Ivy, but it looks like that won't be happening any time soon. Speaking of tone, though, the movie isn't really as grimdark as the marketing and reviews have played it up as. It's about as dark as the Nolan movies, certainly nowhere near as miserable or cynical as the Snyder ones.

One more criticism, and it's a minor one - this movie really could have done without the extended Joker tease at the end. Personally, I'm a little burned out on the Joker in general, but I get that he's a big moneymaker, so they want to use him in the inevitable sequel, and so they tease him in the first movie. Okay, but don't show him! Have the Riddler be slipped a note from him or something. And if they insisted on showing him - don't show him for so long! Have him just appear for a second, or say just one line. But no, the scene he's in goes on for over a minute, and he has several lines. It's way too early to be doing this. Wait until the fucking movie he actually has a substantial role in comes out! Giving him an inflated cameo like this just reeks of desperation. Talk about shooting their load early.

So yeah, I liked the movie! Go see it!

[Rama Set]

I just saw it and mostly agree with everything you said except for a few points. The score was a little relentless in using the feel of the Nirvana song. It worked for the tone of the movie but the movie also became a bit of a slog in the third act. I also, over three hours, hoped to see a bit more of a soft spot from Pattinson, maybe when he talks to Falcone? I don’t know. It feels like a bit of a nitpick because the rest was pretty great.  Great script (the Riddler was fucking diabolical), great acting (the Riddler was fucking diabolical). I loved how they used so many extreme close ups with Batman, like Reeves tried to give you a feeling of being in the suit. The sound editing, especially in the batmobile scene, pulled you through the story. Yeah, really well done. I can’t wait to see what the next reboot does.

[junker]

I've seen The Batman

holy shit why was this movie so long and why did i not check the runtime before going

[Rama Set]

I've seen The Batman

holy shit why was this movie so long and why did i not check the runtime before going

They could have cut Catwoman and made the movie better and shorter.

[honk]

The movie is definitely far too long. There's no reason any capeshit movie should ever be three hours long, and I honestly suspect that a lot of this trend comes down to filmmakers who want people to think of the movie they've made as being suitably "epic." They're regularly cheered on by the worst kind of fanboys online, so I don't think it's ending any time soon. I certainly wouldn't have cut Catwoman from this movie, though. I guess you'll explain to us why you didn't like her, Rama.

I have more thoughts on the overall story, and seeing how the movie has been out for a week by now, I'm going to drop the spoiler tags. Here comes an official

spoiler waddling
I didn't care for the Riddler's ultimate plan of flooding Gotham and arranging a mass shooting. The thematic clash between him and Batman up to that point was a really strong one, with Batman's frantic struggle to distance himself from someone who ultimately was just another vigilante like himself, albeit with far harsher methods. The contrast between them essentially goes out the window when the Riddler decides he just wants to kill tons and tons of innocent people out of a rationale that's largely nonsensical. He's not a foil for Batman anymore, he's just another terrorist trying to spread as much chaos and destruction as he can. If that sounds familiar to you, it's because the central conflict in all three of Nolan's Batman movies lay with villains who were terrorists trying to spread as much chaos and destruction as they could. And undoubtedly due to the influence of Nolan's Batman movies (particularly TDK), we've seen plenty of villains in genre movies being reinterpreted as seemingly motivationless terrorists, like Lex Luthor in BvS, or even non-capeshit villains like Khan in Star Trek: Into Dumbness. I get the appeal for filmmakers. It's easy to write villains who just want to kill people and cause chaos in a general sense rather than ones who actually have specific goals and take specific actions to reach them. But it's been done, entirely played out, and we're really past due to be seeing something new.

Speaking of trends kicked off by TDK, I like that this movie kind of plays with the "getting caught was part of the plan!" villain twist that so many movies have done. The Riddler anticipated being caught, so his arrest was technically part of his plan, but it wasn't a means to an end, or something that was critical to the rest of his plan moving forward. There's an appreciable difference there that I found refreshing. I also enjoyed the twist of him being a fringe social media personality. The bit will probably be dated in a few years' time, but for what it is right now, it's a clever piece of satire. If only it had been used to set up something less tired and worn-out than a plan to kill as many people as possible. Maybe if the plan had been for his followers to storm a fancy ball or party for the new mayor, and kill the elite members of society who show up as guests? I think that might have worked better. And a final point about the Riddler - I really liked the fake-out about him possibly knowing who Batman is. It's very cleverly written, Pattinson really sells the tension and fear in his face while he confronts the Riddler, and looking back on it now, it would have been pretty stupid for the Riddler to have just "figured out" who Batman is offscreen. I feel like this happens in a lot of Batman adaptations. A villain just sort of figures out who Batman is offscreen and we're supposed to take that as proof of how smart they are. It's dumb.

[Roundy]

Okay, spoilers.

I enjoyed the Riddler confronting Batman about being Bruce Wayne because it's a fun nod to the Hush storyline in the comics. I saw it coming and it gave me chills when it happened.

Overall I really enjoyed it. I loved that it played up the detective aspect of his character and that it kept true to the no-kill aspect of his character. How hard was that?

I wasn't a fan of emo Bruce Wayne. I guess I always thought it was an integral part of his character that he put on the playboy facade as a way to differentiate Batman from Bruce Wayne, something Christian Bale and even Ben Affleck put across well. There are like one and a half emotions from Robert Pattinson in this movie.

Okay, he wasn't bad. He served.

Dano was chilling, that monologue was amazing. But better than Heath Ledger's Joker? Come on.

I agree that the Riddler flooding Gotham story came out of nowhere and made little to no sense in context. The only thing, I guess, is that Riddler always has been a bit of a psychopath, and he probably felt a lot of power from all those followers ready terrorize the city at his behest, so maybe? It was a fun set piece, anyway.

Is it just me or has the "I am because of you, hero" trope, and the general anxiety that the hero is actually making things worse, been a bit overused? It was effective here, don't get me wrong, it just felt old.

I also think they nailed Batman's relationships with both Gordon and Alfred, as well as the general atmosphere of Gotham City. And I don't know why anyone would dislike Catwoman's part in this? That was something else that was done well. For the most part they really nailed the relationships between the main characters.

I also liked Turtorro as Carmine Falcone. They're setting up a nice little side plot about Gotham's underworld. I'm sure the Penguin series will continue that. We'll see how that is. I thought Penguin was kind of the weakest of the main characters in this.

Overall, considering it stars a former sparkly vampire, it was surprisingly really good, probably truer to the comics overall than Batman Begins.

[Rama Set]

I thought making Bruce Wayne socially inept was good actually. He has been so obsessed with the Batman that he has no life outside it, and his dark side is overwhelming him. It leaves room to develop the playboy, if Reeves gets to do another movie.

I thought the Catwoman story was good, but I think it was a really long movie and you could have cut that story and made the movie better. I’m not sure if it brought anything integral to the movie.

[honk]

I can see why they cut this. It doesn't really add anything new to the story, and including this scene would arguably have overshadowed everything else in the film in the minds of many fans. Aside from that, eh...I don't think I really like this Joker. Maybe it's just me, but I almost think that Keoghan is trying to imitate Heath Ledger's Joker, at least in part. The voice sounds awfully similar, and he smacks his lips like Ledger's Joker did too. I don't think there was a mandate from the studio to have him try to recreate Ledger's performance or anything, but much like the general emphasis on grittiness and realism in the overall film, it feels - not necessarily is, but feels - like a very conservative, corporate-minded attempt at overcorrecting from the missteps of the early DCEU movies to be more like the Nolan ones. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but the problem with the early DCEU movies wasn't that directors like Snyder and Ayer chose to embrace the fantasy/sci-fi elements of the DC universe instead of keeping everything gritty and realistic, and the problem with Jared Leto's portrayal of the Joker wasn't that Ayer and Leto chose to interpret the character differently to how Nolan and Ledger did. As much as I liked The Batman, I'm worried that this new series has locked itself into a path of very well-worn and inherently very limited territory.

[Rama Set]

the fanboys are triggered

[honk]

But what do you think, though? This is a very important subject.

[junker]

I can see why they cut this.

They should have cut another 30-45 minutes...

[honk]

04/11: Tangentially related to capeshit:

https://gizmodo.com/jurassic-world-dominion-colin-trevorrow-giga-dinosaur-1848773708

I'm not sure if I can ever forgive Spielberg and Brad Bird for unleashing Colin Trevorrow on the world. Of all the bad directors out there who owe their careers almost entirely to their privilege and connections rather than to any real merit of their own, Trevorrow is probably the worst.

...

In other news, Ezra Miller has apparently lost their mind:

https://www.avclub.com/the-flash-ezra-miller-arrested-second-degree-assault-1848818555

Who knows what this will mean for the upcoming Flash movie?

[Roundy]

Maybe they'll get Grant Gustin to play him. There seems to be some demand for it.

[Roundy]

https://cosmicbook.news/batman-destroys-zack-snyder-justice-league-hbo-max

More evidence that the popularity of the Snyder Cut is vastly overrated and was just amplified by an extremely vocal minority.

For anyone hoping that the popularity of the Snyder Cut would result in HBO Max releasing an "Ayers Cut" of the original Suicide Squad, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[honk]

04/25: Grace Randolph isn't exactly a reliable source, and I question if she actually qualifies as an "insider" rather than just a prominent and vocal fangirl - I mean, come on, anyone who watched the Oscars could have told you that the whole "fan favorite" segment was an awkward and embarrassing moment for everyone present. No inside information was needed to figure that one out. Nevertheless, the Samba TV information seems legit, and it makes sense. It's a vocal minority that somehow bluffed WB's new owners into thinking that Snyder was a widely beloved director, and given Snyder's lucrative new deal with Netflix where he's now once again making expensive blockbusters with what appears to be his usual full creative freedom, it looks like Netflix fell for it too. I'll admit that I'm a little annoyed by it. In a perfect world, everyone would be free to make all the movies they like exactly the way they want to and all that, but this is a world with limited resources, there are only so many seats at the table, and the opportunities that Snyder continues to receive must necessarily come at the expense of someone else. Private companies can do what they want with their own money, of course, but I think it's a shame that the guy with half a dozen major critical and commercial failures (or at the very least, underperformances) to his name is being given yet another chance when there are so many aspiring directors and writers out there who never even get one chance.

https://gizmodo.com/joker-2-script-todd-phillips-joaquin-phoenix-dc-films-b-1849031772

We live in a society. I wasn't a fan of Joker, and I really doubt that a sequel from the same creative team won't just be more of what I disliked, but I guess I'll watch it when it comes out anyway. I have to, right? I can't just not watch it. Like the article discusses, the title indicates shared madness, which has led to speculation that the story will introduce Harley Quinn. I have to admit, going down that route is a good idea if they want to spark controversy and grab everyone's attention once again. A story about a ruthless criminal who manipulates, bullies, and brainwashes an innocent, professional young woman into becoming a criminal herself as well as his girlfriend - but you know, he's sympathetic, and maybe this is more society's fault than his? I can already see the outraged headlines.

In other news, even more legal problems seem to be piling up for Ezra Miller:

https://www.avclub.com/ezra-miller-protective-order-filing-parents-of-tokata-i-1849039302

https://www.avclub.com/ezra-miller-now-accused-of-housing-3-kids-on-farm-fille-1849102751

Oh, and there's a trailer for Black Adam:



Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate is inspired casting, but I don't know if the rest of it looks all that promising. It feels like it's trying too hard to be all cool and edgy, especially with details like the exchange about killing people.