New Batman movie stuns audiences!
*This review will contain spoilers!!!
On March 4th, the highly anticipated new Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight hit theatres. I got the chance to watch the movie on opening night on March 3rd. I went in expecting a lot and probably too much. The movie nonetheless was great and is already in my opinion the 2nd best Batman movie of all time upon only watching it once. I am sure overtime that it will pass The Dark Knight.
The film pulled in over 128 million dollars through the opening week. The movie, directed by Matt Reeves, was a cinematic masterpiece and was one of the most immersive Batman movies ever. Reeves has directed movies like War for the Planet of the Apes and other great movies. The film starred Pattinson as Batman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, and Colin Farrell.
While Pattinson was outstanding in his role, someone else took the spotlight. This is none other than Paul Dano’s Riddler. Dano took the Riddler from a loser of a character in the Batman universe and made him one of the scariest villains we have ever seen. I have never seen another Batman villain so menacing other than Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Dano starred in other movies like Prisoners(2013) and Swiss Army Man(2016). None of these roles compare though to his take on the infamous Batman villain. He impacted and switched the feeling of the film from the second he entered the screen. Not only was his look menacing but just the way he spoke and moved around.
The movie delivered us a different view on Batman and brought us different takes that we have never seen before on these coveted Batman villains. While Riddler stole the show, I feel Colin Farrell gave us a great take on the Penguin. We had not seen Penguin on screen since Danny Devito dropped the ball in Batman Returns(1992). Farrell was barely recognizable in his makeup for the Penguin but gave us a great look on the crooked side of him.
Easily the best scene though was the Penguin chase scene with the Batmobile. The cinematography throughout this entire scene might have been the best I’ve ever scene. Especially when Penguin crashes and the camera goes upside down and you see Batman and fire behind him.
One thing that I disliked about the film was Alfred and Bruce’s relationship. For a three hour movie I felt like they did not develop Alfred enough. He is just this crippled man that Bruce barely cares about. At least that is what I got from the movie. I know the film is more just focused on Batman but I felt they could of done a better job with that.
Three things were teased during the film for potential future villains. The first being the character Hush. After the movie was done, there was a post credit scene which showed the website they have been using to promote the movie. This website is rataalada and has been giving riddles to users throughout the movies hype and release. Many people were greeted with a reward for doing these riddles that showed a scene where we see Thomas Wayne running for Mayor, a word pops up on the screen saying Hush. This refers to a reporter that had dirt on Bruce’s mother that Thomas Wayne eventually had killed. This reporter’s name was Thomas Elliot. In the comics this is the identity of the character Hush. Hush is a character that can take the identities of people by wearing their face. Many believe all this shown throughout the movie is too many coincidences to not be teased for a future film.
Next, we see Batman in the final fight scene when Selina is about to be killed, inject himself with this green liquid. This again caught the eye of audiences and is believed to be Venom. This is the liquid that Bane uses to make him stronger. It had a similar reaction to Batman after he took it.
The final tease we got was at the very end of the film when the Riddler is in Arkham Asylum. While he is freaking out in prison we hear a voice call to him. After we look closely on the shaded face in the
shadow we can make out that it is Barry Keoghan who was originally rumored to play Joker in this new adaptation of the Batman. He then laughs at the end making us only assume that he will indeed be the next Joker.
For the future of this new Batman universe, we are rumored to get a bunch of shows that I am assuming will release before the next movie. These will include a Penguin spin-off show most likely regarding his rise to power in this new world, an Arkham Asylum spin-off show, A Catwoman spin-off show, and maybe a Gotham PD spin-off tv show.
The most excited I am from all these is Arkham Asylum. I think it has the most potential from all the rest with endless opportunities. They could bring in so many different villains from this that we know and love. Another thing that I have been seeing is that it could be about the Joker and Riddler teaming up. This could lead to them teaming up and eventually breaking up with bad blood. This would then lead to a war between the Joker and Riddler. This would be just like the comics “The War of Jokes and Riddles”. This also takes place in Batman’s second year as the caped crusader.
I think the movie was amazing and was well worth the hype it was given. It definitely delivered. I love how they have set up a lot of different paths that they could go down and I think Matt Reeves has proven himself capable of making a great Batman movie. I cannot wait to see what he has planned for us!
“I GOT SIX NUMBERS. ONE MORE WOULD HAVE BEEN A COMPLETE TELEPHONE NUMBER.”- Kevin Malone
