The Batman (2022)

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Just saw this, still sort of processing specific thoughts. I feel confident that it's good, and almost as confident that it's not great, but I'm having trouble figuring out how good it is. Seems long to rewatch, but I also have a sneaking suspicion there might be more there if I do rewatch it.

If nothing else, I appreciate that it's different, and unabashedly so, and that it had to be in order to justify its existence. I'd definitely like to see Reeves do another.



I felt the final 30 or so minutes kind of fell apart, but I enjoyed everything which came before quite a bit. Here's something I wrote on the final half hour on Discord sometime ago:

I think my main issue with the final half hour of The Batman was how noticeably derivative it felt of The Dark Knight. Don't get me wrong - it's not like this was the first point in the film where the film's similarities to other movies were noticeable. After all, the similarities to some Fincher films (Se7en and Zodiac) were also present, but those similarities were comparably more superficial and didn't bug me as much. With the final half hour though, I couldn't get over the clear similarities to The Dark Knight. Whether you're referring to the interrogation scene, the 'you got me, but I still have more plans' reveal, or the final fight having similar 'not being able to save everyone' vibes, it felt like it was recreating parts to Nolan's film. Granted, it still could've pulled this off decently enough, except it had about 50% of the craft of Nolan's film since Paul Dano was far less compelling than Heath Ledger was (Dano is generally hit or miss for me) and the final fight was pretty unmemorable and didn't feel particularly exciting to watch. As an aside, the
WARNING: spoilers below
Joker cameo
at the end was unnecessary and could've been cut. Overall, the film failed to wrap itself up in a compelling way for me and was rather disappointing since most of what came before was very good.
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The trick is not minding
I felt the final 30 or so minutes kind of fell apart, but I enjoyed everything which came before quite a bit. Here's something I wrote on the final half hour on Discord sometime ago:

I think my main issue with the final half hour of The Batman was how noticeably derivative it felt of The Dark Knight. Don't get me wrong - it's not like this was the first point in the film where the film's similarities to other movies were noticeable. After all, the similarities to some Fincher films (Se7en and Zodiac) were also present, but those similarities were comparably more superficial and didn't bug me as much. With the final half hour though, I couldn't get over the clear similarities to The Dark Knight. Whether you're referring to the interrogation scene, the 'you got me, but I still have more plans' reveal, or the final fight having similar 'not being able to save everyone' vibes, it felt like it was recreating parts to Nolan's film. Granted, it still could've pulled this off decently enough, except it had about 50% of the craft of Nolan's film since Paul Dano was far less compelling than Heath Ledger was (Dano is generally hit or miss for me) and the final fight was pretty unmemorable and didn't feel particularly exciting to watch. As an aside, the
WARNING: spoilers below
Joker cameo
at the end was unnecessary and could've been cut. Overall, the film failed to wrap itself up in a compelling way for me and was rather disappointing since most of what came before was very good.
Both The Batman and The Dark Knight took inspiration from the same source material, Batman: Year One.



Just saw this, still sort of processing specific thoughts. I feel confident that it's good, and almost as confident that it's not great, but I'm having trouble figuring out how good it is. Seems long to rewatch, but I also have a sneaking suspicion there might be more there if I do rewatch it.

If nothing else, I appreciate that it's different, and unabashedly so, and that it had to be in order to justify its existence. I'd definitely like to see Reeves do another.

While I probably agree that it's good, and while I definitely don't think it's great, I was at least very pleased it was something different, because if was starting to feel like absolutely nothing was ever going to be done with genre to spice it up a bit



While I probably agree that it's good, and while I definitely don't think it's great, I was at least very pleased it was something different, because if was starting to feel like absolutely nothing was ever going to be done with genre to spice it up a bit
Just add a little neon and nipples... and there ya go!



Both The Batman and The Dark Knight took inspiration from the same source material, Batman: Year One.
Out of curiosity, which part of Batman: Year One are you referring to in relation to the derivative elements I mentioned up above? Because a quick read through of the plot didn't seem to find much similarities plot-wise between the source material and the parts I referenced in both films.

All I found was this phrase on Wikipedia which has nothing to do with what I'm criticizing: "Director Matt Reeves cited Year One as one of the inspirations for The Batman, with Robert Pattinson portraying a younger Bruce Wayne who is in his second year as a crime-fighter."



The trick is not minding
Out of curiosity, which part of Batman: Year One are you referring to in relation to the derivative elements I mentioned up above? Because a quick read through of the plot didn't seem to find much similarities plot-wise between the source material and the parts I referenced in both films.

All I found was this phrase on Wikipedia which has nothing to do with what I'm criticizing: "Director Matt Reeves cited Year One as one of the inspirations for The Batman, with Robert Pattinson portraying a younger Bruce Wayne who is in his second year as a crime-fighter."
I wouldn’t know, having never read it, but it is common knowledge they have cited Year One as inspiration for both, as well as Batman Begins.



I wouldn’t know, having never read it, but it is common knowledge they have cited Year One as inspiration for both, as well as Batman Begins.
Yes, Batman Begins (2005) was more directly based on the Year One comic series. (One might even consider it the movie version of the book.)
With Dark Knight being a sequel, it had far less that could be directly referenced to Year One.



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I wouldn’t know, having never read it, but it is common knowledge they have cited Year One as inspiration for both, as well as Batman Begins.
Yeah, but the elements of The Batman which I criticized as being derivative of The Dark Knight don't seem to be influenced from Year One. It feels more like a case of Reeves trying to recreate some elements from The Dark Knight rather than the DC comic in question.



The trick is not minding
Yeah, but the elements of The Batman which I criticized as being derivative of The Dark Knight don't seem to be influenced from Year One. It feels more like a case of Reeves trying to recreate some elements from The Dark Knight rather than the DC comic in question.
Then, The Long Halloween . Not disagreeing with the derivative nature of it, but merely citing the sources as an explanation for it.



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Then, The Long Halloween . Not disagreeing with the derivative nature of it, but merely citing the sources as an explanation for it.
I get that. Looking up The Long Halloween though, the influence of The Batman is still related to different elements than what I'm criticizing:

The Long Halloween serves as one of the primary inspirations for the story of The Batman (2022), directed by Matt Reeves. The film similarly depicts a more inexperienced version of the titular character in his second year of crimefighting, as well as illustrates the gradual transition of some supporting characters in Gotham City such as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin from more grounded individuals into the fully formed characters they come to be in the comic books. It also shares a similar tone influenced by noir film and detective stories, as well as introducing Batman as closely cooperating with the Gotham City Police Department and having a strong relationship with James Gordon prior to his becoming Commissioner.[19] The film also features minor subplots of Selina Kyle taking interest in Carmine Falcone due in part to his knowledge of her parentage and the question of the Wayne family's honor having ties to the Falcones and doing business with them.
It still seems like the derivative elements I'm referring to have much more to do with The Dark Knight, as opposed to those parts in both films being inspired by the same parts of various comics.



Fact: Batman Begins is the best Batman movie ever made and it isn't even close.

And FTR I'm speaking from the point of view of filmmaking and not giving a shit about how representative it is of Batman's comic book mythos. Because pffft



Fact: Batman Begins is the best Batman movie ever made and it isn't even close.

And FTR I'm speaking from the point of view of filmmaking and not giving a shit about how representative it is of Batman's comic book mythos. Because pffft
It's probably the most accurate representation of the comics as well (at least modern-era ones including the series it was based on: Batman Year One).