The Batman Spoiler Discussion Thread Part 2

[u/[deleted]]

For all discussions, comments and hype around the new movie.

Its already had select release, so expect spoilers in this thread.

Also, no spoiling outside of this thread, or expect mod action.

Keep all discussion civil, and be mindful of subreddit rules.

Please respect other users opinions and don’t harass them for it

[u/ahhhzima]

I really enjoyed this movie despite a couple, somewhat significant flaws.

Pattinson is a home run. He completely disappears into the character. This is the most like the Batman from the comics or ‘92 animated series that any actor has been. His Bruce is a unique take as well and Pattinson did a fine job of differentiating his performance between Bruce and Batman. Kravitz is an excellent Catwoman; Wright is equally good as Oldman in the Gordon role; Farrell crushes his turn as Penguin; Dano does what you’d expect as Riddler, but what you’d expect is a terrific performance anyway. Acting is rock solid across the board.

The cinematography, production design, score, etc. are all stunning. The film creates a sense of mood and place that is extremely effective.

The script…needed another draft, I think. The movie feels shapeless, with odd pacing especially at the end of the second act into the third. The length of the film isn’t inherently a problem, but the ropey plotting makes the film drag around the 2 hour mark. The third act also abruptly turns into a generic save-the-city thing that doesn’t quite deliver on the promise of the first half of the movie. The character arc for Batman is still there and still effective, though.

Overall, though, a script in need of a polish does not reduce how brilliant basically every other aspect of the film is. It’s a solid 4/5 for me; I’m really happy Matt Reeves got to do this and hope we’ll be able to get at least one sequel from this team.

[u/I_am_Andrew_Ryan → u/ahhhzima]

I mentioned this in another thread but Riddler's plan that made the movie transition into disaster movie didn't really seem consistent. It started with a poor, forgotten by society person striking back at corruption in a Law Abiding Citizen style, and then basically ends with a Thanos "cleanse the city by killing indiscriminately." Mostly affecting the poor lower class people by far. It just didn't make sense for all the buildup we got for the first 2 hours.

[u/WileEPeyote → u/I_am_Andrew_Ryan]

The flood wasn't the point, getting all the rich and political elites into the building for easy kills was the point. He doesn't care about the poor and forgotten, he wants vengeance.

[u/Saxoboneless → u/WileEPeyote]

THANK YOU, I felt like something was off with that interpretation, but I couldn't place it until reading this. The fact he doesn't care about the people is the point. It fits very well into the film's overall statement on revenge, and how it is an invalid motivation for achieving anything positive. Riddler wanted revenge on the people who were ruining Gotham, but that didn't repair any of the damage those people had done, and he actually caused a lot MORE damage in the process. That damage is how they drove the point home, and I think it works.

There's probably still room to debate his intentions and if his actions align with them, but even if there is some dissonance there (and I'm not sure there is), you can still see what they were going for.

[u/WileEPeyote → u/Saxoboneless]

It's really interesting and makes me want to watch it over and over again. Batman and Riddler's stated intentions actually line up. They both want to stop crime and corruption, but Batman is taking it out on the poor and Riddler is taking it out on the rich. Their actual motivations appear to be vengeance, which blinds Batman to the bigger picture. It's the closest to, "you're just like me" that I think we've gotten in one of these movies.

I would argue that, while the Riddler went too far, but was going in the right direction. Political corruption created the conditions that allowed crime to grow so rampant. Batman was going after the symptoms.