Vengeance is back and broodier than ever, and if you haven’t watched Matt Reeves’ The Batman then DO NOT read this article until you do.
Reeves’ portrayal of Batman (Robert Pattinson) is perhaps the most empathetic and psychologically aware version of the character we have seen on the big screen. Achieved through his grounding of the genre in the realm of detective noir, as well as a focus on Batman in his early stages of vigilantism, still trying to find his wings, Reeves humanises the character in so many interesting ways, and the film is all the better for it, writes Cape {town} Etc’s James Redman.
Film noir is the perfect genre to reimagine the city of Gotham. While the film’s visual style does not adhere to the classic noir dogma, due to the visually stunning cinematography of Greig Fraser, the atmosphere and mood of the film certainly does: slow-paced, intricate, cynical, and dark.
Going with this genre also enables Reeves to ground the characters and the setting in a sense of realism. In Reeves’ film, it’s not impossible to imagine characters like The Riddler and Batman existing in the here and now, walking among us undetected, unlike the sensationalised heroes and villains we have seen before.
In addition, the film completely distorts this binary opposition of good and evil, hero and villain. It asks the audience to relate to the ‘bad guy’, and questions the flaws in the ‘good guy’. You could even go as far to say that this notion of good and bad is non-existent in the film, but it’s all grey.
Reeves presents a less polished version of The Batman than we’ve ever seen before. The film starts with the masked vigilante having already established himself as The Batman, with no time spent on his backstory. However, he is very much in the early stages of his crusade to avenge Gotham and his parents.
Only two years into his quest, as his journal narrations inform the audience, The Batman, otherwise known as the worlds greatest detective, is not always the world’s best detective in this film (or superhero for that matter). He is never totally in control and his mistakes make him all the more relatable — real(ism). His narrations even question his own purpose: Is he really making any difference or is he making things worse? Anything but a self-assured hero.
Batman doesn’t quite have a handle on his tech either. The Bat Cave is remarkably understated in comparison to the magnificent lairs we’ve seen in the past. In a particularly brilliant scene, Batman escapes from a police interrogation room and upon making it onto a ledge of a high-rise building, he flinches in fear. Yes, believe it or not, The Batman is terrified of how high up he is.
Batman leaps off the edge and screams through the air, almost killing himself in the process. A very close call and incredibly human moment (the film is full of them). Even the Bat-symbol that Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) uses to summon the caped crusader is not the polished version we are used to seeing, but rather a chunk of jagged metal jammed into a standard searchlight.
While the film was hyper-sexually marketed as a bat and the cat love affair, the strongest partnership in the movie is arguably between Jim Gordon and Batman. In one of the closing scenes, Selena Kyle A.K.A Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) says she is planning on moving towns and when Batman does not follow her, she says, “Who am I kidding you’re already spoken for”, with her eyes darting to the bat signal in the sky operated by Gordon.
For a detective story, the characters are not the world’s best detectives,. They miss multiple clues on the way and the only reason they catch The Riddler is because he turns himself in, having been right under their noses throughout the film. The Riddler succeeds, the city seawall is imploded by his bombs and the city is left flooded. The real victor here is The Riddler, as he has eliminated the city’s corrupt leaders and his plan was a success.
The victory for Bruce Wayne is more of a personal redemption. His transformation as a character is evident through his entries into his journal titled, The Gotham Project. The inclusion of the journal entries as a form of narration is interesting as it brands this Batman as a young physician experimenting with different cures for the city, or a doctor like his father. We realise that his methods thus far have been tainted by his dark alter-ego, or his hunger for vengeance.
Throughout the film, Reeves plays with this idea of the nocturnal animal, as Bruce Wayne squints in the light and often wears dark sunglasses during the day when he is seldom seen in the light.
In the closing moments of the film, after he has rescued survivors trapped in the flooded stadium, another narration follows where Bruce realises what he must become in order to save the city. In this moment he transforms from a shadow to be feared into a beacon of hope, and for the first time in this movie, a hero who isn’t blinded by the light.
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