From the opening 5 minutes, to the Batmobile chase and the detective scenes, there are
many moments in Matt Reeves The Batman, that in my opinion stand out as being classic ones
in a comic book film.
But after multiple watches of the film in IMAX, one scene has stood out to me the most,
whether it be because of it's reveals, it's approach to identity and moral
questioning.
The particular scene I'm talking about is the Arkham prison sequence, where Batman and
the Riddler have a face to face exchange.
It's a scene that sets up the third act but it also serves as a kind of culmination
of the first two, one that fully addresses the central themes of Matt Reeves film and
get's to the heart of what both characters are
feeling.
In this video, I'm going to be disucssing why the prison scene in The Batman is a perfect
moment for the film and the identity theme that runs throughout.
But before I get into it, if you want to keep up to date on
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But without further a do, lets dive into the perfect scene
from The Batman.
Now I was originally going to do the batmobile chase as my perfect scene video essay, and
it's one that to this day is still my favourite in the film.
And while I might do another video discussing the technicality of that
scene, there was another moment in the film that I think provides for much more of a conversation
around the character-central events.
It's a moment that perfectly encapsulates the theme
of identity in this story and one that deals with the threat of potentially expossing that.
I'm speaking of the face to face arkham prison scene between Batman and Riddler.
Now while the build up to this moment reminds you of certain scene from The Dark Knight,
where Heath Ledger's Joker plans to get caught, it acts
quite differently in the context of this film.
Yes the Riddler wanted to get caught, and planned all along to wipe out Gotham City
by causing it to flood, but alongside the impending
disaster that refers to the events of Batman: Zero Year, it further get's into the mindset
of both of the central characters.
Paul Dano's Riddler has every reason to think that he and
Batman were on a similar page after the early events.
The caped crusader, a quite damaged early interpretation of the Batman we know, was
actually the one who revealed Gotham’s corrupt by solving Riddler’s clues, and he even
brought Carmine Falcone into the light so Edward Nashton could wipe him out.
For most of the Riddles he followed exactly what Edward expected
but it's this part of the film where this goes in the opposite direction.
It of course takes him longer to solve that final clue about the city's destruction but
primarily, Batman is not on the same page as the riddler.
It's what ultimately seperates him from the individual seated on the other side of the
mirror.
It's a scene that communicates a quite important double meaning, in which to begin with, our
vigilante believes that the Riddler has figured out that he’s in fact Bruce Wayne.
But the second is one which he soon figures out, and
that is the realisation that Riddler actually means that Bruce Wayne was the final piece
of Gotham’s elite that didn’t fall to his plan.
While they may share similar goals in terms of being vigilantes that aim to remove evil
from the city, the difference we learnt from this scene is that Batman still cares about
Gotham, whereas the Riddler is quite happy to see
it all be flooded.
This is the primary difference between The Dark Knight's interogattion scene and this
one.
That film's iconic scene, probabaly one of my favourites of all time, is focused on showing
how Batman is continuosly a step behind the plan of the Joker.
And while the Riddler prison scene does lead into the final step on Riddler's destructive
plan, it also serves a completely different purpose.
The Batman scene isn't an interrogation like The Dark Knight one is, it's primarily showing
us these two deeply disturbed orphans, seperated by a mirror
of reflections.
They both go completely off the rails during this conversation and it could have been the
moment that Batman becomes just what Riddler expected him to become.
And that is like him.
Someone who feels disgusted by Gotham's system and what it has done to the poorest who fall
beneath those in power.
And Riddler is of course one of those people.
Bruce also went through a hard time, but like the
Riddler outlined in this scene, his security of wealth and also having people like Alfred
to help him through those diffult times, gave him
the opportuny to be something more than what the riddler becomes.
So this mirror between them starts as a reflection, but by the end of the scene, it also becomes
the diversion between them.
It's not a hero interoggating a villain, it's an interogattion of the traumatised individuals
that allign on either side.
It's key to note that throughout The Batman, the Riddler goes to the extreme to expose
the corruption in Gotham and while these rich figures drive Edward to utter madness, the
Waynes and ultimately Bruce is the example that gives
him the most anger and hatred.
We fully understand this from the moments where he sends an explosive device to Wayne
Manner and then here in this scene, as he stresses on not
successfully killing Bruce Wayne.
It perfectly portrays the inner-anxieties of both of them, with Riddler conveying the
jealousy he has towards Bruce's life of privelage and that
his father was one of the reasons for his own mental collapse.
And then there's also Bruce, who's not only worried that he knows and
might expose his identity, but he's also deeply angerred by the fact that he got involved
in this whole plan.
He did exactly what Riddler wanted him too right up until this primary
moment, where there becomes a separation between them.
And don't get we wrong, a lot of my small gripes with the Batman come in the final 30
minutes that follow this particular scene, but I personally believe that this scene is
not the cause of that.
This moment fully deals with the identity theme and the reflection of two traumatised
orphans on the opposing sides of a mirror, that the previous two hours were
building towards.
It was the step that the film needed to truly give us the differences in motivation, and
integrally highlight why Batman is different from his orphaned villain.
Yes we all the know the difference between them, but in a film where there's numerous
moments in which Batman could go off the rails and become
exactly what he fights, it is needed as a build up to the heroic moment we see at the
end.
It's Batman in his early years figuring out what it means to be a true hero, and while
he isn't all there yet, he's on the path to becoming
something better.
This scene is one that truly sets the path in the third act for that to happen, because
of that seperation between him and the Riddler.
At the beginning of this scene, the mirror between them is a distorted refflection, but
by the end, it's in fact a separation between.
It even acts as a wall that stops Bruce from breaking through and doing
something quite violent.
Ultimately, this moment is also a great example of two known actors at the top of their game,
who are brillaint at showcasing the duality between the two main characters.
From Paul Dano's horrifying screams to Robert Pattinson's
more calculated quiet reserved responses, you get into the mindset of both of them.
In fact I'd argue that it's that best scene at
showing exactly what Matt Reeves and the actor wanted to accomplish with this Batman film.
They stated that they wanted to make Bruce Wayne and Batman more alligned and that you
can see more of the emotion he feels while he
wears the cowl.
I think it's the best we've ever seen that in a Batman film and this is the moment I
turn to the most.
Just through the eyes of his character, we get a sense of everything
he is feeling.
The way his performance conveys the fear when he thought Riddler knew who he was, was something
you needed so that you can see all of these emotions play out.
It's a moment where all of the power behind the cowl diminishes, and it's a part of the
transition he takes into the hero that Batman can be.
And had either of them gone a little deeper, the movie could have ended in a completely
different way than what we saw play out.
In my opinion, I think it's clear that Riddler doesn't
know that Bruce Wayne is Batman for these very reasons.
It would remove the purpose of this scene and alongside this, the whole belief that
The Riddler follows in this film, would have collapsed if he knew that the person
he kind of worshipped was the same person he hated the most.
There's also the greater idea of arrogance that he doesn't quite understand who
stands before him.
And all of this plays out as it should if you consider the events of the previous two
acts.
Also, what aids the effect of this scene is the filmmaking that's used to convey the kind
of things I've talked about.
We get mainly closeups of Batman's face and the riddlers
throughout the majority of this scene.
That is broken in a brief moment where Bruce looks at a camera in the corner of the cell,
because he's worried that those outside will recieve
what Riddler is saying, if he truly believes it.
Obviously he doesn't, but just through the camerawork, the audience is made to feel just
as worried as Batman is in these moments.
In some of the shots we also see the reflection of them placed on the other person behind
the mirror and that does a solid job in portraying that mirrored orphan idea I talked about
before.
And the music and sound in this scene only adds to the tension as it builds and builds.
It rises even further as Riddler goes off on a manic scream and also when Bruce
repeatedly hits the glass, finding out that Riddler's plan has only just begun.
Overall, it acts as a scene that truly get's to what this film explored.
The idea that both of these orphans are damaged, but ones that have gone
through a differing sense and scale of trauma to the other.
Riddler was extremely traumatised in the orphenage growing up that linked to
the underservice of Thomas Wayne.
He feels anger towards the waynes, tries to uncover the corruption and present it to the
city in a quite hateful way by the end.
But his hope that another traumatised vigilante will help him
is something he didn't fully realise.
Bruce is a traumatised individual but he's one that had the benefit of being able to
pull himself together and do good for the city.
They are two orphans who reflect each other, yet they completely move away once they get
closer in this scene, and realise their separating motives.
But that was my video discussing one of my favourite scenes from Matt Reeves The Batman.
It's one which like I said, deals with the reflections of two vigilantes, one that eventually
decides to become a beacon of hope for Gotham, and another who has been pushed further and
further into madness by Gotham's corrupt undertakings.
It fully explores the moral ideals of what it means to be a vigilante but then also
shows us what can happen when someone is pushed the wrong way and becomes more alligned with
revenge.
Riddler uses the idea of Orphans and in particular, the story of Bruce Wayne
to especially highlight this theme and it captures exactly what the film is challenging.
The tense filmmaking only elevates that and this
is a moment that has only got better and better for me the more I've rewatched it.
Of course we all have different opinions on the conclusion that follows this, but I think
it does work decently in a follow up to the events
of this scene.
But I understand others may feel differently and may have another perfect scene in mind,
so let me know down below in the comments section what you think towards the
prison sequence, alongside what your favourite scene is from Matt Reeves film.
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