The Batman has the unenviable task of finding something new to offer onscreen following Tim Burton's genre-changing films, Joel Schumacher's bright and comedic crowdpleasers, Chris Nolan's dark and heralded Dark Knight trio, and the most recent Batfleck films that hinted that there is nowhere else to go with Batman. Not to mention a Lego Batman and the camp-tastic 1960s TV and movie series.
What the new, The Batman (2022) got right was finding a new lane for Batman that works — returning Batman to his "Detective" sleuthing days in a psychological thriller more in line with Seven (1995) and True Detective (2014) than Zack Snyder's Justice League (2017, 2021). The car is cool too.
What The Batman got wrong is not stopping after the first two hours. If the film had ended at 2 hours and 7-minutes like Seven, we'd have a film worthy of your ten bucks. That Fincher film introduced us to entirely new characters, unlike the familiar Waynes, Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler, made us care about them and took us on a rollercoaster ride that didn't need coffee to sit through. Director Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield) falls into the superhero universe trap that everything needs to be bigger, louder and earth-changing by the end. The last hour is mostly unwatchable.
Yes, Robert Pattison's jawline looks great and Zoey Kravitz looks purrfect in the iconic suit, yet somehow, even with the long-running time, we never get under the masks of any of these characters to know them or root for them. I'm sure they'll get to try again.
In a nutshell: They got so close you could see how a similar film could have worked. A smaller scope would have made The Batman a bigger treat. P.S. Not for kids.
Award Potential: None. Cinematographer Greig Fraser is likely a winner this year for his work on Dune.
Where to watch: In theaters.
The Ten Buck Review: Not worth ten bucks.
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