Matt Reeves established that major studio franchise movies based on legendary film concepts didn’t have to preclude cerebral, emotionally rich narrative with his Planet of the Apes chapters. The Batman, a dark genre film in which the superhero trappings of cape and cowl, Batmobile, and fantastic gadgetry are woven into the gritty noir textures of a meticulously structured detective thriller, is no exception. This ambitious relaunch, led by Robert Pattinson as a Dark Knight with daddy issues with captivating intensity and a granite jawline, is set in a modern environment where institutional and political distrust encourages uncontrolled vigilantism.
The Batman appears less likely to be dismissed as nihilistic exploitation than 2019’s Joker, because it’s shaped by the perspective of a conflicted hero whose arc takes him from being an instrument of vengeance to a crime-fighter who refuses to surrender his hope of making a difference despite the daunting odds against him.
It’s a melancholy nocturne of corruption and mayhem, and as much as I wished for a few more glimmers of comedy, my attention never wandered over the three-hour run length. However, Reeves’ picture emphasizes the fact that at some point, someone — most likely Christopher Nolan — determined that Batman movies should no longer be entertaining.
There was a logical evolution in Tim Burton’s studio reinventions of the iconic DC franchise for those of us who grew up on countless reruns of the 1960s Batman TV series, with its campy parade of guest villains and cartoonish wham-boff-kapow combat sequences. Many of us consider his 1992 film, Batman Returns, to be a favourite, owing in large part to the lip-smacking performances of Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as a Catwoman destined — with no disrespect to Kravitz, who is fantastic — to stay unsurpassed.
The film’s immersive impact is aided by a visceral use of sound, but much more so by Michael Giacchino’s incredible music. In less capable hands, the symphonic underlay might have seemed overbearing, but the graceful incorporation of specific themes for Batman and Selina, as well as pre-existing music ranging from classical pieces to Nirvana, provides tonal variation, ensuring that The Batman never becomes a punishing downer.
