Has "The Batman" found a fresh approach to some very familiar material?
Or is it flying around in the dark? Keep watching
to find out what the critics are saying about this highly anticipated release.
The various TV and movie adaptations of Batman over the past 80 years or so
have run the gamut from colorful and campy to grim and violent.
The latest installment in the franchise is director Matt Reeves' "The Batman,"
in which Robert Pattinson takes the reins as billionaire-turned-vigilante
Bruce Wayne. It reportedly follows him throughout his second year of fighting crime in Gotham City.
While protecting the city, he faces off against Paul Dano's Riddler,
a serial killer who begins targeting high-profile residents and broadcasting his killing spree.
This will be the notorious villain's first appearance in a Batman film since 1995's "Batman
Forever," in which Jim Carrey's portrayal of the puzzle-obsessed criminal earned critical praise.
After facing production delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film is finally slated
for its theatrical release on March 4. "The Batman" also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman,
Jeffrey Wright as Police Lieutenant James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth,
and Colin Farrell as the Penguin.
The first wave of critical reaction to the film was positive, with many praising the
gritty return to form, but as the release date draws closer, more nuanced takes are coming out.
As of the making of this video, "The Batman" has a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes,
so it's largely faring well with critics. In a review for Strange Harbors, Jeffrey Zhang praised
the film's fresh direction given just how much other superhero fare is out there. Zhang wrote,
"'The Batman' is a grand mosaic of interlocking pieces
that fit together as a refreshing antidote to superhero fatigue."
He singled out Kravitz's performance as the highlight.
"You got a lot of cats."
"I have a thing about strays."
Similarly, in her review for Insider, Kirsten Acuna said that there "isn't a weak link in the
cast." She also dismissed concerns about the film's nearly three-hour runtime, and took a
big swing, stating that Robert Pattinson is the "best live-action Batman since Michael Keaton."
"Now you wanna get nuts? C'mon! Let's get nuts!"
She added that Reeves and the crew, quote,
"had reverence for Batman's history on and off the screen."
IGN's Alex Stedman called "The Batman" a "gripping, gorgeous, and,
at times, genuinely scary" film and praised its psychologically dark portrayal of Bruce Wayne.
Like the other critics, she noted how this film is totally unlike its predecessors
while still capturing the heart of the source material.
For Slashfilm, Chris Evangelista argued that this might be the best "Batman" movie to date, writing,
"I know there will be plenty of people who feel they are burned out on all things Batman.
That there couldn't possibly be room for yet another retelling
of this same old tale. But 'The Batman' defies all the odds."
Although "The Batman" has received plenty of praise,
some critics were less than enthralled by the long runtime and dark color palette. In his
review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle concluded that, as a whole,
"'The Batman' is mostly just a collection of bad ideas."
He praised Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano's performances but expressed
confusion about Robert Pattinson's performance, calling it "stiff."
"Justice. The answer's justice."
LaSalle also questioned Reeves' dystopian direction,
calling it "very 2019, as pre-pandemic as skin-tight jeans." He added,
"[Reeves] comes up with a knockoff of 'Joker,' only without the wit and without
the great performance, just a flimsy idea that everything is awful, corrupt and rotten.
And he assumes that this concept is so deep and profound that he needs three hours to develop it."
For Paste Magazine, Jacob Oller called the film "ambitious and dedicated to its vision," but said,
"[It] can't crack how to make the World's Greatest Detective seem like one at all."
Oller says Pattinson's Batman is "not
different enough to outrun his legacy's ever-growing shadow."
Polygon's Joshua Rivera wrote that the film's biggest issue
is its inability to stand out among the rest of the franchise. He wrote,
"'The Batman' is frustratingly safe, a movie full of potential for more
and settling for less. It preaches to the choir,
reinforcing the same ideas trodden over and over again across five movies, multiple video games,
and every comic book in the mold of Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's 'Batman: Year One.'"
You can decide for yourself when "The Batman" hits theaters March 4, 2022.
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