Another Take: ReelBob: ‘The Batman’ ★

Riddle me this: What’s dark, dank, long and forgettable? "The Batman."

Many adjectives have been used over the years to describe movies in the Batman franchise — powerful, intense, compelling, campy, silly and even ridiculous.

One word I have not encountered is tedious. But that is the perfect description of “The Batman,” cowriter-director Matt Reeves’ nearly three-hour take on the nighttime vigilante.
Reeves’ movie plays like a rehash of themes and situations from earlier Batman entries — most notably, those by Christopher Nolan.

And Reeves spends more time on mood and atmosphere than advancing his story.

“The Batman” is dark — it is at least 90 percent nocturnal — and very rainy; Gotham City must have relocated to some tropical venue as daily downpours seem to inundate the city.

Another problem is Robert Pattinson’s performance as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. In both personas, he speaks in a hushed monotone, making him indecipherable at times. And as Wayne, Pattinson seems to be acting either as a sulking teenager or as a young man suffering from PTSD.

He fails to give either of his identities any personality. At least Christian Bale gave his Bruce Wayne some public panache to separate his dual personality.

“The Batman” is an exposition-heavy enterprise; everything is explained to the audience, even what is so obvious that the dimmest filmgoer can understand.

The movie’s major offense is that Reeves, instead of creating his own Bat world, seems to rely on audience members’ memories of the Nolan trilogy to gain acceptance for his creation.

Reeves is aiming for a film noir-like Batman story, but the Dark Knight, supposedly the world’s greatest detective, does very little detecting of his own — mostly relying on others to unearth clues and pass them on to him. Reeves’ reliance on an inky mood and setting to carry the movie fails terribly.

It’s like watching a stare-down contest in slow motion; you know someone is going to blink, and you grow impatient waiting.

Alas, the cast lacks chemistry. Even though Reeves tries to instill some sexual tension between Pattinson’s Batman and Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman — who appears to be the only spark of life in the movie — the results are nil; Bruce Wayne’s relationship with Andy Sirkis’ Alfred does not gel because Sirkis receives very little screen time; and the partnership between Batman and Police Lt. Jim Gordon (a wonderfully gruff Jeffrey Wright) is never explained, simply taken for granted. It is one of the factors borrowed from the Nolan films with Reeves hoping that the audience will fill in the gaps.

Even Paul Dano’s Riddler — and the mystery surrounding his actions — are ill-defined and make little sense in the scheme of the movie.

The cast also includes John Turturro as mob boss Carmine Falcone and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as The Penguin, who in his few minutes brings some zest to the movie.

“The Batman” is a major disappointment that will leave fans of the Dark Knight and the entire franchise dissatisfied.

So, we will end on a riddle: What’s dark, dank, long and forgettable. “The Batman.”

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap substack and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE BATMAN
1 star out of 4
(PG-13), violence, language, disturbing images, drug use, suggestive material