The Batman (2022)

These are fun. Off the cuff discussions on movies and streaming series, both new and old together will attempt to bridge the gap between Hollywood industry insider and the casual viewer. This is Alec and I’m Ben and you're listening to the Cinema A to B podcast. Hey everybody, Welcome to another episode of Cinema A to B joined here by my co-host, Alec. Hey Everybody. And I'm Ben. And today we've got a mega blockbuster from 2022. It is the Batman. Start us off. Yeah. So I liked it a lot.

So especially the first two thirds, or at least the first three fourths really, really enjoyed it. I know there is a lot of hate on Pattinson and but I think he's absolutely fantastic as an actor. I really liked him in this role.

I really liked the take on the Batman because it really went old school because, I mean, the Batman is supposed to be the number one detective of all time, like, I mean, Sherlock Holmes level detective and modern Batman movies at least have focused less on that, have focused more on the toys, on the fighting, on his ability to do that.

I mean, even Nolan doesn't really focus on his being a detective, whereas this whole movie, like the first, you know, two thirds, three fourths of it, is him trying to figure out the stuff and being the detective. And also balancing the life of being Bruce Wayne and all that stuff. I really, really enjoyed that aspect of it. The latter third or latter latter quarter gets into a much more predictable action Batman thing, which wasn't bad.

You had a couple of really nice, pretty shots, but it didn't it didn't do anything for me. It wasn't it wasn't as fun as the first first portion because it just felt like we went back to the this is the same kind of Batman stuff that we've seen for years, but really, really enjoyed it. And I didn't get that stupid like everyone was saying, the emo Batman or feeling this feeling like I didn't really get that. I think it had more to do with how he looked. Yeah, it is Wayne.

Real, pasty and pale and the dark circles under his eyes. But it was finally believable, right? I mean, this guy is nocturnal. Mm hmm. Right. And basically sleep deprived. Yeah. And it's, what, year to year two on the job? Mm hmm. I mean, this thing opened really strong. The voiceover. That whole montage is really cool. This, I think this nailed the mood of Batman as well as anything we've seen since. Since the 89 film, which is, as I love the Nolan movies for the most part.

I mean, I really like Batman Begins in The Dark Knight and Rises is is just very hit and miss movie, but none of them ever really hit the tone of what Gotham is like, other than the Narrows in the Nolan movies. Gotham is not really a place where it's like, Oh, is it that? Is it that terrible to live in the Nolan films? Gotham has these pockets that are really bad, but for the average person, until the Joker shows up in Dark Knight, like, there are areas of Gotham that are fine. Mm hmm.

That's not the case with this version of Gotham. This reminded me of. Of Tim Burton in the opening of 89 Batman, where, like, it didn't matter where you were. Like, the criminal element was everywhere. It was going to find you. And now, is this movie really nailed that really well? My only complaint kind of is I've got a few I've got a few gripes with this movie. I also really enjoyed it. One would be that I think they made it too grounded. Coming off the Nolan movies, I was like, Really?

We're going to get another really, really grounded Batman. Like, you're not are you not going to leave the wiggle room for the more fantastical rogue's gallery that he he comes up against? And I can't tell yet. Like they did it because they didn't offer me anything in this movie that wasn't particularly grounded. Like the villains are all super grounded and and, you know, Riddler and which I did like the whole take on the Zodiac Killer inspired Riddler. That was pretty cool.

No, I, I, we did mention this off off air, and I think it warrants discussion that our favorite cinematographer, Roger Deakins, said that he felt like this was the best shot movie from from 22. I'm not sure I agree with him, but I do think it was criminal that it wasn't nominated for best cinematography. Well, especially because it got what, makeup and hair, visual effects and sound. I mean, this is a beautifully shot movie. It really is.

Maybe it's not as pretty as what people wanted because it does have a tendency to go kind of golden and brown and stuff. I talk about the last last quarter, but that scene where he lights to flare in the water at the end was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, like was fantastic and just looks really good. Like, again, I completely agree with you. This should have at least been nominated if not not one. Yeah, I thought I thought that was pretty criminal, that it wasn't given that that opportunity.

Yeah, I like I like Pattinson is he is bulked up as he probably should have been fine Probably not. But that's not the end all be all. I don't think of casting of Batman movie. And the reason I say that is because my favorite Batman, which is Michael Keaton, is not a physical specimen. You know, he's nine, he's tiny, He's just great. He's great in the suit. His voice is awesome. His he's I don't know, there's something about his the intensity in his eyes and stuff.

And Pattinson kind of really comes close to channeling that. And there was a intimidate and fear element that they kind of created with this with the way they shot it, where he is coming more out of the shadows, way more than even a Nolan movie. I don't know if there's some digital work, some of that looked kind of maybe it was a digital effect. But yeah, he just kind of emerges more from the shadows and has that whole tactical look to his suit, which is pretty cool. The whole year.

Two thing I really liked in the end, their take on the Batmobile is tremendous. Yeah, that whole sequence, by the way, the whole the whole chase sequence, the whole car sequence with the Batmobile. And it's amazing. The last big car chase in Ronin in New York to bring it up, because in Ronin, there is even a drum beat that kicks in at a certain point in the Batmobile. Chase there kicks in at a key moment in the Ronin chase in Paris, and it's winning.

It's when they go against traffic and start driving against the traffic. I'm telling you, Matt Reeves and his editor, they they saw Ronin, which ruins the greatest. I know people love Bullitt. Rollins got the best car chases ever put on screen. I will second that. I agree. Yeah. There's the cars are cooler in Bullitt no doubt about that. The charger and the the Mustang. But the actual chase work start driving in in Ronin because you get two or three really great car chases.

Well yeah, the Batman totally. It's heavily inspired by that and that secret, the whole sequence is cool. Nothing fires up. And I saw that thing in Dolby Atmos, and I know that movie all fired up. I was like, This is bad ass. This. They they nailed it. I think they actually are in a good place that this thing wasn't it was well-received. It made a ton of money. But I think there's room to grow with whatever a second installment looks like.

Yeah, and I think they could actually go a little more fantastical with the equipment and stuff like that. Even though they grounded it in this movie. Like, I don't feel like I don't feel like it'd be a weird transition, you know? I think they just wanted to start possibly small and then see how this does and then go on. But going back, I think Pattinson does exactly kind of what you said.

He gets that inner torture that Keaton does a great job at, that having in the Tim Burton films like Val Kilmer was and George Clooney were definitely the more of the Playboy Bruce Wayne's where I felt like Michael Keaton's version was definitely much more of the tortured soul who had to play at being kind of the playboy, but really wasn't, you know, that character, you know. And you get a little bit of that with Christian Bale in the Nolan films.

But really, I mean, I think it's it's fantastic with what patterns and does I mean I if you were to tell me that you told me the guy from Harry Potter and Twilight was going to be, you know, the next rising star of fantastic films, I would not have believed you. But after seeing him and, you know, and Tennant and this, it's just he's gotten he's fantastic. He's he is really I'm interested to see where he goes from here.

Yeah. And I, I fortunately had had watched his film The Lighthouse before, well before this came out. And so when they cast him, I was like, Ah, this guy's got chops again. If anybody is actually and that's an obscure movie. But if you've seen The Lighthouse, you knew Robert Pattinson could act his butt off opposite Willem Dafoe Yeah, yeah.

They he more than holds his own And Williams is good and actors there is I mean Williams amongst the all time great underrated 100% on this is he is like he's he's got a much broader range than people get him give him credit for that he's got a weird looking face that's what it is he does have a weird looking face. Yeah so he's sorry Willem, if you're watching, I apologize. Well, he knows this insecure. He's he's amongst the best actors of his generation.

He's been around forever. I mean, Platoon and. Yeah, I don't know why we got off on a Willem Dafoe challenge. He's not even in this movie, But, you know, the performances are really solid in this. I think the other one that I really would would single out would be Zoe Kravitz. Zoe Kravitz, I think is solidly number two, playing Catwoman behind behind Michelle Pfeiffer. And it's a really different take on the role.

She's much less psychologically damaged than than the Michelle Pfeiffer version, which which I liked. So hopefully she's back because she's really, really good. And then Jeffrey Wright, a great actor, but the writing just didn't give him any opportunity to to flex really like he's he's solid but it is don't give him a whole lot to do. It's just kind of him in balance and kind of milling around crime scenes and, you know, talking in low voices.

So I think there's room in a sequel for for Jeffrey Wright to be given more to do. Yeah. And then it's so hard to believe even watching it again that that's Colin Farrell. That's like, I know it's awesome. Yes. Like we don't give enough credit either about the stuff that he did. No, we don't. It's because he achieved so much early success like he was. He was the IT guy so early on in his career when he shows up, he's just I mean, obviously just he just got nominated again.

Yeah, he's turning he's turned into more of a chameleon now that he's older because I think he he suffered the same issue that Brad Pitt did, which is they're so good looking that they lose. I think there's certain roles they lose out on because it's like you're well, you're too good looking to play that part, which happens. That happens in Hollywood.

There's certain roles that you don't get cast because you're actually you're too good looking to be convincing as the down and out guy, the guy that's down and out. I was like, because it's like, Well, if a guy looked like that, he wouldn't be down and out. Yeah. So yeah, Colin Farrell's tremendous and he'll be back there doing some sort of spinoff show with him, with Penguin. I saw they were starting to shoot that, some sort of limited series trying to bail out naivety.

Warner Brothers. Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. So he'll, he'll show up again, I'm sure. But yeah, I think there's room to grow for this for whatever the Batman two is. Even as successful as this was and as well-received it as it is, it is. I think they've got like, I don't feel like they topped out what is possible.

And now unfortunately, I think they there's there does seem to be a segment that absolutely hates this movie like just he just just despises this movie and there's no convincing them otherwise because I went into this with pretty low expectations, because I saw the hate online of people, just how bad it was and stuff like that. So, I mean, it's not. It's really not. And again, like everyone hated Pattinson for Batman and I was like, you know, he's not as I'm, you know, emo moody kid.

I mean, like he's moody but like it in the sense of being Batman, of, you know, dealing with this, of not getting enough sleep, of being that nocturnal animal when we're not supposed to be like it. It totally works out like I'm okay. And going off what you said of him not being built, like I can understand this in year two, you know, he's not as built out as he's supposed to be, you know, like, yeah, you know, he's still learning like all the stuff that actually he needs to focus on to.

You'll notice he you'll notice, though, they never put him up against like anybody physically that, that your brain would be like, oh they would overpower him like in it. But he's still pretty vulnerable. I mean he gets he gets the crap kicked out of him is what as much as any Batman movie I can recall seeing. Now, the reason I haven't like singled out Paul Dano is because Paul Dano just kind of did Paul Dano as Riddler and he's really good. But I've seen him kind of be like that.

I mean, I basically saw him do that whole yell thing when when he's in jail. Pattinson's calling him like a freak and stuff, and he's like yelling, No, no, no. I mean, I saw him give that exact same performance in there Will Be Blood. Yeah, I don't want to take anything away from the guy because he is a very good actor. But that was just a great casting decision to put him as this this version of Riddler.

And they had a million different ways they could have gone with Riddler because traditionally what we've seen is, is a much more comedic, eccentric character. And. And Jim Carrey. Yeah, not an absolute psychopath. I don't know. He created a mood. I love the version of Gotham. I really do. And I don't want to see this in the DCU at all. The new one coming up like no. And they seem content to.

Not that it doesn't fit that, but that it's it's one of their properties that is actually still making money. And so fortunately they did Greenlight for two because Warner Brothers is just a hot mess right now They are using it so much like you really drove Nolan away and they're getting ready to drive away Villeneuve after he's done with the Dune movies, I don't think he's going to stick around with the studio.

Yeah, because they've just been pushing this stuff right into streaming and not giving it a theatrical. When you I knew the game was up when they when Nolan said, I've got to find a new studio, like I knew right then and there, there was bigger issues at work than just the dumpster fire that's DC and yeah yeah, they've got problems. Hopefully they get rectified because Warner Brothers is always one of my favorite, if not my favorite studio. They do a lot more TV.

I mean, they've you know what, Ted Lasso, they're you know they're they're involved with are doing. Yeah, but like come on, all the all the tax write offs stuff that they just pull right off HBO Max you know there's back episodes of stuff that don't want you watch anymore because the in order for them to write it off, they just have to it can't be distributed anywhere. Yeah, it's a mess. It's an absolute mess.

So yeah, hopefully they get that ship righted because I, I love Warner Brothers but people running in are just or that were running it just managed to screw stuff up in like a 2 to 3 year window like really quickly fell back to the the Batman Africa. Yeah this is a this is a tangent filled episode of cinema to be and unfortunately yeah. I mean, so I would just say if you haven't seen it and you like Batman, definitely see it. Don't believe all the hate that it's getting.

I mean, you may have a different opinion of it, but you know, from the two of us both enjoying it, I think it's a good different version of Batman that we haven't seen in a while. You know, if you've seen David Fincher's Zodiac. Hmm. Yes. And you haven't seen the Batman, I think you're going to like the Batman because it pulls all draws a lot from from that film. And it's less it has it has good action, but it's more of a horror thriller cycle kind of a psychological horror thriller.

Yeah, Detective show kind of a thing. Yeah. The detective stuff is is pretty well done, although it kind of suffers from well, not as much. I always love the whole funny analogy of Raiders of the Lost Ark that if if you take Indiana Jones away like nothing changes. And there's a certain element of there's a little bit of this was Batman and it's like if you take Batman out of it, what would anything really change? But it would. It would.

But you definitely don't get an all powerful take on Batman. And I appreciate that. Like, it did feel like one guy trying to do the vigilante thing sometimes successfully, sometimes not. And that felt fresh. Yeah, because in every other movie, Batman's always already really pretty polished. So in this this isn't in the car is cool. What more do you need?

And if there's an almost a ronin, then you going to make Ben super happy kind of hurt The fact that it was released in March so early people forgot about it. Yeah. And what it was was it are to No, it's it's a PG 13 and my daughter my daughter has seen most of the Batman movies. She'll be she'll be six here soon and she she adores Batman and I just can't I can't now I can't let her watch this one. This is this one's really, really dark. Very dark, which I like.

But yeah, it's not this isn't a kid's Batman movie. I wouldn't even see. Dark. Dark Knight is for kids either. With. With Joker and stuff. I you know, it's a little too crazy. Yeah, right. So, yeah, she, she wants to see this thing, but it's kind of it's going to be it's going to be a while. Yeah. Because it is heavy. So. So wrap it up for that. Wraps us up for the Batman. The Batman and that wraps this up for season one. Oh, my goodness. I can't believe season one's already over.

Crazy. Yeah, I figure do 13 episodes a season. We get four seasons in a calendar year, although we didn't start this thing til late January, so won't fall completely right. But yeah, that's how we'll do it. And I don't think we're planning on taking any sort of break between seasons right now, the way we've been churning right along, having too much fun. Yeah, we are. We're having a blast and we appreciate. We appreciate every listening.

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