The Batman (2022) ❌6.5/10
David’s full REVIEW
6.5/10
RT SYNOPSIS: Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.
RATED: PG-13 | Some Suggestive Material, Drug Content, Strong Disturbing Content, Strong Language, Strong Violent Content
AGENDAS: We counted at least 21 times of using religious profanity including “God,” “Christ,” “Jesus.” There was also a line about “white privileged men.” See nudity/sexual content below.
NUDITY/SEXUAL CONTENT: One scene where Catwoman is in underwear and her nipple can be seen through her shirt. A brief glimpse of dancer on a pole in club scene.
DAVID’S REVIEW: The latest installment of our favorite, superhero vigilante “The Batman” was a big disappointment. I commend Matt Reeves for taking the risk (I mean how many different ways can you tell the Batman/Bruce Wayne story?), but the movie fell short in many ways. Yes, there were some aspects of the movie I really liked. The film was beautiful. The cinematography and soundtrack were superb. It felt like a newer, more innovative Tim Burton Batman and it separated itself from its predecessors.
So, what went wrong?
First of all, the movie was about 30 minutes too long. The plot wasn’t interesting enough for it to be a 3 hour movie. It was your typical “how far does the corruption go?” type of deal that we’ve seen so many times before. The movie didn’t know what it wanted to be so it errored on the side of seriousness which made you feel “meh” throughout. People in the theater wanted so desperately to cheer or laugh, but the melancholy execution of the plot and characters made it hard to do so.
Poor character development of iconic characters such as Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon and Alfred fell flat and I found myself not really caring about either of them. There’s no excuse for this when you have a Batman franchise with this much history and success. The casting, screenplay, or both could be to blame for this. The Riddler was good, but not even he could overcome the movie’s issues. The fighting scenes were average - at best.
Finally, my biggest issue with the movie was its rendition of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The crime-solving mystery themed plot, not Batman, was the center of the film. Batman felt like a supporting role rather than the star of the show - this should never happen. The Bruce Wayne scenes were awful. Wayne wasn’t the charming, funny, swaggertisitic (yes I just created a new word) Bruce Wayne we’re used to. Who’s to blame for this? Short answer. Reeves. Pattison did a good job in the suit and mastered what he was given. The problem was, the Twilight star wasn’t given much creative room to work with and it felt like a very one-dimensional Batman. Again, I commend Reeves for trying something new, but it just didn’t work. Bruce was whiny, sad and seemed ashamed of himself and his family’s legacy. Bruce showed ONE emotion throughout the movie…depression.
Overall “The Batman” fell short. They tried so hard to set this one apart from the previous Batman films that they forgot about the small details that legends like Christopher Nolan and the team at Marvel Studios seem to understand. Either wait for discount day at the theaters or Redbox this one. 6.5/10
David’s Top Batman Films (Best to Worst):
The Dark Knight - Christian Bale (2008)
Dark Knight Rises - Christian Bale (2012)
Batman Returns - Michael Keaton (1992)
Batman Begins - Christian Bale (2005)
Batman - Michael Keaton (1989)
Lego Batman - Will Arnett (2017)
The Batman - Robert Pattison (2022)
