riddle me this what promises warmth from the cold what will freeze you to your soul
gotham orphanage let's investigate detective that's the key word here
we only got half baked light investigative work in prior installments that relied on
dramatic irony to catch batman up to speed on what we the audience already knew this works
well for cinematic storytelling but it doesn't exactly scream world's greatest detective does it
we need to see him do the actual work in this film he gets more thorough as a detective in a
way that feels like he can become famous for it in gotham and beyond this sets him apart from
gcpd and anyone else who might be decent at making crimes together why did it take so long to really
integrate the detective angle into a big screen batman story but matt really wanted to re-center
this film and and the batman in his origins this display of talent as a detective is what makes
going down the rabbit hole of gotham's history so exciting for the audience because it reveals some
truly depressing history about the wayne family the punishment for a curious eye it makes it feel
like a double-edged sword in the sense that he needed to investigate to save gotham and gotham's
elite but also found out that his snooping skills can lead him to learn far too much he probably
could have slept a lot better without knowing what happened to his mother our tortured soul of a hero
always punishing himself to save others pattinson is batman he's batman at his most tormented
the wounds from that alley may as well still be fresh he plays the role like an eight-year-old boy
stuck in a man's body who never truly healed the film never really explores bruce wayne the veneer
billionaire playboy too stupid and drunk to ever be suspected of being batman
that act may come later the role was written for his true self to be played to its fullest extent
he was designed by director matt reeves to unravel right along with his equally
psychologically challenged villains his ability to control himself and stop others that share
his obsessive tendencies of their darker halves is what makes him just human enough to play the hero
how much the villain selection for this film affected your experience as batman the riddler
he somehow made it into this kind of zodiac killer he's well intentioned he's smart
he's cool and he should be able to solve any crime that there is and solve it by himself
the crime in this film was a peculiar one at best protecting the rich and protected from the riddler
a man who was hurt by them as a child strange but it still called for the skills of a batman who has
to be 10 steps ahead of his villains to beat them to the punch line before gotham falls the riddler
was specifically chosen to highlight and challenge batman's cognitive and critical thinking ability
unassuming forgettable and seemingly tame edward nashton later changed to edward nigma aka enigma
in the comics made everyone look none the wiser including batman himself it's actually about the
two sides of trauma batman's born of trauma and so in this film maybe is the riddler and that is
kind of the seed from which everything else grew a wounded child looking for revenge no less than
his new foe the batman most importantly he is just as heady and obsessive as batman finally
a riddler that feels real and less flamboyant in theme he's not just the villain that wears
too many question marks he looks as makeshift as batman looks refined thematic but without trying
too hard he cares just as much about delivering consequences of the actions of the elite
as he does the spectacle of it all he's able to match batman and showmanship and thrill this makes
it feel more equal an explosive battle of wit led by two costumed freaks welcome to gotham city
welcome to a bold new take on our favorite detective he forgets that he is bruce wayne he is
gotham's elite he forgot that he himself could be a target of the riddler and that got alfred caught
in the crossfire it's almost like frankenstein's monster the wayne's neglect made this monster and
now he's lashing out at their son instead of that son he gets the surrogate father figure
it's similar to how dr frankenstein only fears for his own life to the point where
he doesn't protect his wife from the monster he created but batman inherited this monster
a monster still in need of the same healing he neglects himself by donning a themed costume
i never thought the riddler and batman could have so much in common they're both trying to make
their way to the versions we know them as today in fact everyone in this film is they're so raw
too new james gordon doesn't even fully trust batman yet he's not even the iconic version of
himself in the form of commissioner gordon no one in this installment is in their final form
not the pre-catwoman selena kyle not even the soon-to-be guardian of gotham this is a year two
development story not quite an origin story but an exploration into the shaping of a character
who has decided who he is what he stands for and how he is way in over his head with no way
back to turn it displays the consequences of accepting your true self in the form
of a created version to distance yourself and identity from the person that bears your pain
a mask if you will this film was a deep dive into the ego of batman the raccoon eyes of a
makeup wearing sleep-deprived batman who forgot to account for something and his obsessive mind
can't take it he loves to solve what no one else can and throw it back in the villain's face
undermining every single aspect of their otherwise well-thought-out plan
he loves having his own plan that he doesn't let everyone in on and just executing it without
warning which explains the scene with gordon sometimes instinctually he'll just wing it and
adapt shape-shift until he gets where he needs to be in the comics batman's also a master escapist
who in this film borders on clumsy or living shadow depending on how spontaneous he's feeling
what's green and black and is the most treasured thing on earth
the one man we rely on to be smarter than us and guide us through crime solving with effortless
yet intricate tech is stumped so now what this is exciting yet worrying for the audience that knows
that ex machina batman and title character will win but it just puts more of an emphasis on how
this type of find out next week on the adventures of the batman suspenseful take just pushes
us further into the comic book origins of the batman and how much crime solving is a part of
his struggle as a hero now i understand why the joker scene was cut out because we need our top
investigator of the night to investigate an arkham visit and an answer does not make for mystery
when batman failed in this film it was an intellectual failure
he was outsmarted a detail left undiscovered and a moment too late subscribe to join the universe
take him out make it hurt
riddle me this why didn't i quit when i was ahead
what is it report
the riddler is mine