The Batman - 8/10
Directed by Matt Reeves
It's been 2 years since I last wrote a review and oddly enough the last one I wrote had Kirsten Stewart in it and this has Robert Pattinson. Oh well... let's get on with the review.
When I first found out that Robert Pattinson aka Mr Twilight will be the new Batman, I was thinking to myself, "this fella cannot lah. What is he going to do sparkle his enemies to death ah?" Fortunately, He has sort of proved me wrong. Robert Pattinson as Batman? Good, he has the look. Perhaps the voice can be alittle darker. But Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne? Terrible. This pundei is a billionaire but cannot afford a comb to comb his hair ah? Whats's with the emo look? And the topless back shots of him were disgusting. He needs to pack in some muscles if he wants to show off his back. All I saw was bones. That was my one of my two peeves about The Batman. Pattinson was a terrible Bruce Wayne and it's a good thing that there weren't many scenes of him.
Apart from that, the rest of the cast was pretty good. Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman will never beat Michelle Pfeiffer. That one take of using the whip to blow out candles has cemented her as the best Catwoman ever. However, Zoe is definitely better than Anne Hathway and Halle Berry. Her fight scenes were pretty slick. Maybe get a better mask.
Colin Farrel as Penguin was amazing. You can not tell it was Colin cos of the fantastic make up and how he speaks. A damn good redemption for Colin Farrel in comic movies cos he was absolute shit as Bull's Eye in Daredevil. Penguin is also one of the scene stealers for this movie. He has some funny lines.
Paul Dano as Riddler was perfect. I've always admired Paul Dano's works and he revels at quirky yet evil characters. Characters from Little Miss Sunshine to There will be Blood. Paul Dano is one actor, everyone should take note of. His rendition of Riddler is way different from the campy one Jim Carrey did. His mask reminded me of Kickass. He was definitely more terrifying without the mask.
It was nice to see John Turturro aka Jesus (Big Lebowski) as Carmine Falcone. His scenes were not many but there is a reason why. Andy Serkis as Alfred is my 2nd peeve. He is the worst Alfred ever. Serkis just doesn't cut it as Alfred, all scenes involving him and Bruce were dull and painful to watch.
I still think The Batman is a really good movie and I definitely enjoyed the production part of it. The fight scenes were brilliant. There was a particular gunfire fight scene that was damn impressive and reminded me of the Darth Vader fight scene in Rogue One. Interestingly enough, The DP for Rogue One is the DP for The Batman. Greig Fraser. So far the movies, Greig has done have been amazing. Dune, Zero Dark Thirty and Vice. He really captures some brilliant shots. I also love the tone and colour of the movie. There are tinges of green for Riddler scenes and red for Batman. There have been complains that some of the scenes are alittle too dark, I have to disagree on that cos it does capture the state Gotham is in.
The Batman is about 3 hours long and the pacing was good that I do not feel the time at all. It really did feel like a crime, whodunit detective story (Bats is a detective afterall). You can feel the change Bats goes through. From his monologue intro which was doom and fear to his outro which was hope. The new Batmobile had a really cool intro with a weird abrupt pause but the car chase scene was brilliant.
All in all, The Batman is a interesting take on the classic comic and I would recommend Batman fans to watch it in the cinema.
