Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“I believe that whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you… stranger.”—The Joker, ‘The Dark Knight’
“Long long time ago, I can still remember…” I had a blog that was called I Hate Popcorn that was a movie review site. And yes, I do hate popcorn although I will make exceptions for caramel corn. Mary can’t watch a movie without some kind of popcorn; my favorite being M&M’s.
In that former blog I offered reviews of movies I saw in the theater or watched in my modest home theater room that previously had the very last 3D plasma TV that Samsung—or anybody else—made. After that great TV’s demise, it was replaced by a Sony OLED that, I think, isn’t as good but here’s what Tech Radar had to say about the differences:
“Since plasma powers its pixels individually, it’s possible to turn off a pixel fully – which means plasma screens can display true black in the areas of the screen that need to be so, just as with OLED. Combine that with relative high peak brightness, and plasma screens are able to deliver wide contrasts. In addition, because plasma TVs are capable of high refresh rates, on-screen motion is usually smooth and convincing.”
I quit writing the blog because it interfered with my enjoyment of the movies I was watching but the modest success of my Joe’s Book Club has inspired me to create Joe’s Movie Club and I’ll give it a try for a few months or so to, you know….
BATMAN vs. THE BATMAN
Let’s start with this: What follows is my opinion only. While Mary agrees with me, I haven’t found a single other person who does. Most people, especially all the young people that I’ve spoken to about The Batman love it, but this review is just my opinion and I may be wrong. As background, I believe that ‘The Dark Knight’ is the ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ of superhero films. OK, I know that Batman isn’t classically a superhero… and now onto my take on The Batman.
Initially I was really excited about The Batman. It was being directed by Matt Reeves who directed several movies I liked including Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. I’ve loved Robert Pattinson as an actor since I first saw him in ‘Water for Elephants;’ he was great in ‘The Lost City of Z’ and terrific in ‘Tenet.’ So I thought what’s not to like? Plenty as it turns out.
The Batman, as conceived by Matt Reeves, seems to be a mishmash of other film’s ideas and tropes that separately are quite nice but don’t hang together to form an entire, rational film. The great parts of the film do not connect enough to make a single, coherent and more important interesting story. Too many different things are happening on screen while little holds these disparate parts together. While the same criticism could be hurled at ‘The Dark Knight,’ its writing, direction, cinematography and editing not only work together but, in turn, make it a classic (superhero) movie.
Reeves has stated his desire to craft Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in the mode of the late Kurt Cobain, which seems like an odd choice. Maybe he should have watched ‘Tenet,’ where he would have seen Pattinson play several scenes as a character who would have made a much better Bruce Wayne that what you see in The Batman.
And many parts of The Batman seem derivative: The scenes in The Riddler’s lair seem lifted directly from David Fincher’s ‘Seven’ a movie that has a similar rainy, downbeat mood but is many, many orders of magnitude a superior film when compared. Seven’s budget was $33 million, adjusted for inflation that would be $63,292,440 today. The Batman cost $185 million.
Likewise the exciting and it is, heart poundingly so, car chase between Batman and The Penguin is a bit of an homage to
Things I loved. Let start with Zoe Kravitz as the best Catwoman since Michelle Pfeiffer who was the best part of Batman Returns. Kravitz’s chemistry with Pattinson is off-the-charts and their scenes together; especially those on the half-built skyscraper are not only superbly acted but are also beautifully photographed. If only the rest of the movie worked so well. (OK, the ending with the two on their own motorcycles was awesome too.) Jeffrey Wright as not-yet Commissioner Gordon was perfectly cast, although why are all of his scenes with Pattinsonn done in a whisper? John Turturro’s performace as Carmine Falcone is also subtle and menacing but putting Colin Farrell, one of the handsomest men in Hollywood, in makeup from Warren Beatty’s 1990 Dick Tracy seems like stunt casting. Although Farrell pulls some depth from behind that makeup and makes the most of the character, a testament to his acting ability. And Greig Fraser‘s cinematography is great to look at—he was the Oscar winning DP for Dune— especially in 4K on a 65-inch Sony OLED with Dolby surround sound.
With its disaster movie ending, shoe horning Barry Keoghan (channeling Heath Ledger) in as The Joker—I guess that’s who’s talking to The Riddler— at the end gives the movie too many endings rivaling only ‘The Return of the King’ which had five “endings” but only ran 201 minutes in it’s theatrical release. The Batman is 176 minutes long. ‘Lawrence of Arabia‘ ran 216 minutes and is gripping from the first frame to the last, something that’s not true of ‘The Batman.’
The real question is: Did I like the movie?
It was OK. In my old rating system I would have given it three kernels 
You can send me movies—DVD, Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray— to review that can be used in these videos to: Joe Farace PO BOX 2081 PARKER, CO 80134