As all eyes turn towards The Batman, there are some wondering whether Matt Reeves will
live up to the challenge of giving us a new yet faithful adaptation of the caped crusader. He’s
directed several successful films over his career,
so things are looking positive going in. Following his 1996 rom-com The Pallbearer,
Reeves first gained recognition for the 1998 TV show Felicity, which he co-developed with J.
J. Abrams. However, it wasn’t until 2008 that he gained widespread attention as a director,
and from there, he's put out several movies as a director or producer, and has even been
nominated for a few directing awards. But what qualities and events in his career have made
Matt Reeves the next great blockbuster auteur, one that I have the maximum faith in to deliver
on this new Batman film? Well, it's time to go through some of his more prominent pictures
and discuss exactly what forms his approach to blockbuster filmmaking and what could be
carried into his 2022 movie. This video essay concludes my Road to The Batman series, where
I've created content on the previous adaptations of the caped crusader. But if you want to keep up
to date on any of my content surrounding The Batman, which releases next week, then don't
forget to support this video by giving it a like rating, subscribing to the channel and
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and instagram at cortex videos, which is all linked in the description below. But without
further a do, lets dive into my video essay on the filmography of Matt Reeves.
So if Matt Reeves is given a preexisting IP, he’s probably going to give you an intelligent movie
that is personally satisfying to himself and to his viewers. Whether it’s a remake,
sequel, adaptation, or an overly familiar genre of filmmaking, he can make it his own. A lot
of genre films today are based around a high concept and don't quite execute on those big
ideas, but for Reeves, it wasn’t his intention to primarily make movies about monsters and
superheroes, but he’s managed to make a career out of being a sort of auteur who writes and
directs blockbusters that are great cinema, expressing the deep ideas through his vision.
And particularly in the science fiction and horror genre, he's been able to explore his
fears, whether it’s a giant monster or a 12-year-old vampire. In particular, he can make
that kind of film a personal one. And when taking a look at the other major films directed by
him, they all have this personal aspect to it, something that further contains certain thematic
and cinematic motifs, ones that could even make their way into the latest installment of
the Dark Knight. Starting with Cloverfield,
a first film of a growing franchise, it acted as a great found-footage monster movie
that became Matt Reeves claim to fame. The director's 2008's kaiju movie
and genius use of marketing, could have easily become a series of gimmicks. But underneath the
expected the shaky cinematography and destruction, Reeves made the film into a love story.
Intercut with the night of the attack, there are glimpses of a single perfect day between two of
the characters, adding an element of emotion within the disaster that could have been
lost in a movie about a monster destroying New York. Visually, the film is dark and frenetic,
but Reeves keeps the creatures hidden in darkness and shadow, often shown from a distance
until it is the right time to show theme. Add all of this emotion, elements of character building,
horror and fear into the kind of Batman film we seem to be getting and this will work
well in a story of Bruce fighting both a physical and psychological war. The success of Cloverfield
is largely credited to the marketing, which kept the film secretive while just
slightly teasing it but Reeves’ success with this movie helped boost his career, and a franchise
that continued to grow. But the injection of an actual story in this kind of film and
doing it well was a feat that had producers wanting to work with Reeves on future projects.
But following Cloverfield, came one of my favourite films of the filmmaker that I've
personal watched and one that has convinced me that he's a perfect choice for a new Batman tale.
It may not have been the huge franchise straight away, but it was a chance to remake a Sweedish
film and do it in a way that fully makes it his own. There's a similar trend here in
all of Reeves reamkes, sequels or adaptations. He always adds something news and something that is
unique to his filmmaking style and persona. And while many people make a connection
between bats and vampires, the biggest link between the upcoming Batman film and Reeves
Let Me In will likely be in the detective part of the story. Reeves' remake of Let the Right One
In leans heavily into the concept of not everything being as it appears, something that
seems to be familiar in his upcoming project with The Riddler. And then there's also the idea of
a hero using his investigative skills to figure out who is pulling everyone's strings.
It is never entirely clear whether the intentions of Abby in this film are sincere or just as a
long-term tool for her, but that's what makes it so everlasting. It's a film I want to rewatch
because the motives and unorthordox minds and characters on display within this unfolding
mystery make the story worth telling. And add all the emotion and chemistry between the two leads
and you have a film that is once again personal and makes what could have been a bad
vampire movie into something quite powerful. The Batman Also finds Reeves re-teaming up
with Let Me In and Dune cinematographer Greig Fraser, and on that film he was able to create
realism through using natural light sources, giving it a warmer and lighter feel than
Cloverfield. And let's not forget that he's doing the same with The Batman and that he's almost
created an inspired shot of the car crash scene from Let Me In. Reeves has said in a recent
interview that this was the inspiration for his Penguin car crash scene in Batman, so we may
find even more inspired elements on display. And then there's Michael Giachinno who did the
music on Let Me In and the Planet of the Apes films, showing us that Reeves had built a
relationship with people he's worked with and a team that really know how to bring a Reeves
film to life. Let Me In was critically acclaimed upon release, with critics saying it was an
adaptation that didn’t insult the original piece, but was different enough to stand out on its
own. Considering Reeves did both the writing and directing for this movie, most of the
credit goes to him for the film’s development and success, and It was definitely a step in the right
direction to continue his successful career. Then came his two Planet of The Apes films,
ones that initially had a lot of problems in early production stages. Reeves would be jumping
into script problems with an approaching release date and he took on the challenge
with his writer Mark Bomback. But even with these early issues he delivered a blockbuster fueled by
unmatched motion-capture performances, an emotional tale of two warring families,
massive action set pieces that would make over $700 million worldwide. It's telling about Reeves
as a filmmaker when both Cloverfield and his Planet of the Apes films both resisted to
only focus on scale and spectacle of their genre. For Cloverfield, it was the intentional choice to
follow a handful of people through what could have been a typical monster movie,
but he restricted the exposition or explanations only to what they could work out themselves. And
then with Dawn and War, it was the story instinct that again drove these projects.
With the Apes sequel, he focused on a number of characters, picking up the action in it's climax.
But while it's tempting for a blockbuster to revel in that action, Reeves knew that Caesar,
played by Andy Serkis, who is also playing Alfred in his Batman film, was what the viewer
cared about the most. Therefore, the story's success lied in him. He became the star and focus,
with Reeves bringing a story that focussed on the creation of an ape society, told from
their perspective, and one in which war with humanity was a tragic failure at something more.
Like his other films, he again focussed his gaze on the significance of an emotional heart
in stories worth telling, particularly when it comes to a summer blockbuster. The decision
to prioritize the story of Apes on family, friendship, community, and tragedy is a big win,
if not the primary reason these films also had surprising intelligence and sophistication.
While also capitalizing on advancements in motion capture technology and stunning visual effects,
Reeves was able to bring a level of realism to the story's fantastic
subject. He grounded it with heart, emotion, his characters and primarily, his filmmaking. It's
something only a few blockbuster directors have accomplished, and it makes me look back to say
Christopher Nolan and how he was able to blend the blockbuster with the indie film to truly
make it his own with his unique style of filmmaking. Maybe Reeves is heading down a
similar path and based on what we have seen for The Batman it does look truly promising.
But that was my video discussing the films of Matt Reeves and his journey to becoming a great
blockbuster auteur. Hopefully, Reeves prooves us right come the release of The Batman next
week and once again delivers on adding all the emotion, the personality and flair that
his previous projects have all had. it's a dream project for him to do Batman, just like many of
the filmmakers before him, and I'm hopeful we will get a film we all want from this character
but one we also don't expect, in a good way of course. Reeves injects his films with a
study of humanity in the face of disaster and monstrosity.
This is a perfect match for Bruce Wayne's struggle with his true identity, especially
when facing down as many villains as he will. Joined by so many high caliber actors and
the talented crew that he has worked with multiple times, expect to find a nuanced character study
blended together in a huge action epic for the ages. Time will soon tell if that is the
case, but let me know down below in the comments section what you think towards the films of Matt
Reeves, and are you excited for his new take on the caped crusader
with all of his auteur characteristics that he can bring to a modern Batman film.
For lots of content on The Batman when it releases next week, then subscribe to the channel
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I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been Cortex and as always make some noise.