When I first saw the trailers of The Batman, I immediately formed a bias against the movie. I thought to myself, “Oh no, not another Batman movie. Can we stop rebooting The Bat? Can we stop telling his origin story over and over again? Pretty Please?” Trailers were supposed to get you hyped for the movie, and well, this one did the exact opposite for me. I was deadset on skipping this Batman, with no remorse at all. I had a lot of problems with this version of Batman, but as the date drew nearer, good reviews of the movie started to pour in, and I gave in. Plus, I had to review the movie for those who look forward to my reviews.
So, I gave it a chance.
And, I told myself I would enter into this movie with an open mind.
What’s my verdict? The Batman is an average movie. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, but this really wasn’t a satisfying movie to watch, and I’ll tell you why if you keep reading.
GRADE: C
This movie is somewhat safe for kids to watch. There’s no nudity or blood whatsoever, but this is a violent movie. From here on out, I will discuss some spoilers.
To start, let’s get the bat out of the bag, and state that The Batman is not canon. It’s also not part of the DCU universe. This is Matt Reeve’s version of the Dark Knight storyline. Reeve’s is the director and writer of this movie, and is known for directing Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes. Those movies are all beautifully written and directed. I can’t say the same thing for The Batman.
Creating alternative storylines with our favorite characters, outside of their canonical universe happens quite often. For example, every Simpson Halloween Special is not canon. If it were, then half of Springfield would be dead, and everyone left alive would be some version of a murderer. One of my favorite Supernatural episodes is when Sam and Dean get sucked into the world of Scooby-Doo.
When alternative storylines are done well, it’s really a joy to watch or read. There’s some fan-fiction out there that is awesome. Then, when these alternate storylines are not done well, it’s cringeworthy. You’re probably wondering, how do you not make it cringeworthy?
Well, there is one rule you must always follow:
- RESPECT THE CHARACTERS – Know your original character’s backstory, especially their personality type and agendas, so you can write a believable character. Don’t stray from your character’s personality type, simply slide them from unhealthy to healthy, or vice versa, so they are recognizable.
For example, In the alternative storyline Injustice, Superman ends up becoming the enemy of freedom, and the enemy of the Justice league, the ruler of the world, after the Joker kills Louis Lane. Superman simply went from being a Healthy Type Two Helper to an extremely Unhealthy Type Two. Healthy Type Twos are overly generous. Unhealthy Type Twos hold grudges, and will take every good deed they ever did, and use it as leverage to abuse or control you.
Another example, In the cartoon Harley Quinn, on HBOMax, The Joker goes straight, ends up being a responsible step father, and in a steady relationship with a normal person. But this only happens after he is dumped into a chemical bath. Eventually, he does revert back to the old Joker, but this time, he gives up violence for love. This is a big swing in his character, but if you stay true to persoanlity type of The Joker, you can pull it off without pissing off the fan base. In the case of Joker, a writer would simple switch Joker from an Unhealthy Type 7 to a healthy version. The reason for the swing has to be believable. And when he’s healthy, it’s a matter of making Joker less reactionary and more contemplative.
If you’re wondering if there is a formula for creating alternate universes, the answer is “yes!” You simply take canon characters and just throw them into another universe, then just let them play, and you document it all as a writer. In the following fan-fiction clip, Batman is thrown into the Star Wars universe and faces off with Darth Vadar. Everything about Batman, Darth Vader, and Superman is canon, therefore believable to the fan base. Not one fan hand a single problem with this clip. In fact, every Star Wars fan loved this more than The Last Jedi. Every Batman fan loved this better than Josh Weeden’s Justice League. This is great writing.
Characters in The Batman were not canonical, and this is where this movie failed miserably.
Matt Reeve abused the lore of Batman, much how the lore of the Joker was abused when his solo movie hit the screen. Reeve didn’t just create an alternative universe for Batman to roam around in, he created a dark knight that was only Batman in name only:
- REEVE’S BATMAN isn’t a martial artists, but a brawler. His fighting style isn’t strategic, it’s just haymaker after haymaker mixed with rage, and that’s about it. I don’t think he swung a single kick. He also didn’t sneak up on any of his opponents. Reeve’s Batman told the audience he lived in the shadows, yet he literally walked up to criminals in the light, looking for a fight. Canonical Batman is pretty much a ninja. His opponents don’t see him coming. By the way, Reeve’s Batman walked headfirst into automatic gunifre as though he was Superman. You can’t even do that in the video game and expect to live.
One of my friends mentioned that he never saw Batman walk through so many doors in his life. He was right. Reeve’s Batman walked to the crime scene, he walked between a hallway filled with cops. The canonical Batman snuck up on everyone, including Superman, because he was that great of a ninja.
Reeve’s Batman didn’t have any ingenius weapons. Canonical Batman is kinda like the Tony Stark of the DCU.
If you’re wondering what type of Personality Type Batman is on the Enneagram, he’s an Unhealthy Type One. But in this movie, Reeve’s Batman really is more like an Unhealthy Type Four, or personality that is trying to find their purpose in life. - REEVE’S BRUCE WAYNE – We all have come to know Canonical Bruce Wayne as the charasmatic multi-billion dollar playboy. He’s highly visable in society, rubs elows with dignateries, and is the last person anyone in Gotham would think is Batman. But Reeve’s Bruce Wayne is the complete opoposite. He’s a recluse, depressed, and ready to join Dashboard Confessional with a moments notice. His hair is almost always in his face, his skin pale as a ghost, and body frail as a hungry child. And there’s really no differnce between Reeve’s version of Batman and Bruce Wayne. Both are dark and depressed, searching for a reason to live.
- REEVE’S CATWOMAN is poor, not intelligent, and not a jewel theif. In my opinion, the writers took all the femenism out of Catwoman, and made her nothing but a petite woke gril, out for vengence.
- REEVE’S RIDDLER wasn’t funny. I’ve always made the argument that The Riddler was much funnier than The Joker, which is why Jim Carrey pretty much nailed the character. Reeve’s Riddler was emo. To make things worse, his riddles weren’t that great.
- IT SEEMED AS THOUGH EVEYRONE WAS EMO. Type Four Indvidualists are your emo personalities. Most artists are Type Fours, living their life through a metaphoric lens, trying on new identies like hats, not knowing how to define their purpose in life, always in search to be “authentic.” The entire city of Gotham seemed to be a version of a Type Four.
Here’s my argument. The characters in The Batman are only masquerading as characters in the DC Universe. The only thing they have in common with the characters you come to love, is their name and their look. Take away their costumes and names, and they are unrecognizable.
REEVE’S TRIED TOO HARD TO BE DRAMATIC
99% of the scenes were dark. Every character overacted to tell the audience subliminally, how terrible their life was. Almost every male actor delivered their lines in a hoarse voice. Almost every scene was scored with eerie music that made you feel as though you were walking into a haunted house.
I hate to quote the Joker here, but “Why so serious?”
I don’t think anyone in Gotham knew what a light switch was. Batman claimed that he lived in the shadows. Well, that was pretty easy when 90% of the city was in the shadows. Can someone turn on the lights, please?
THERE WASN’T MUCH CRIME SOLVING
I was told that this Batman movie would exploit his detective skills, because apparently, the other Batman movies didn’t. That’s not necessarily true. Michael Keaton’s Batman was constantly in his Batcave trying to figure out the Joker’s next move. Ben Affleck’s Batman infiltrated Lex Luther’s computers and had a file on almost every Justice League superhero. Christopher Nolan’s Batman used every single cell phone in the city to pinpoint where the Joker was.
This Batman was not much of a crime detective. He could solve riddles, but that’s about it. He didn’t even have a hunch who the Riddler was, and didn’t figure out his master plan, at all. Batman, in this movie, was actually a horrible detective, and didn’t prevent any crime from happening at all.
There was truly no feeling of mystery in this movie. If Matt Reeves wanted a detective movie, he should have hired out a mystery writer to pen a good crime story. I’ve seen better detective plots on Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods, of Hawaii Five-O, or my favorite detective show, Pysch, than this Batman movie.
THE MOVIE COULD HAVE ENDED A LOT EARLIER
Talk about a messy anti-climatic ending to three hours. There were too many “a-hah!” moments in the third act. What are “a-hah! “moments? Well, they are sudden plot twists that appear out of nowhere to surprise the audience. Usually one “a-hah moment” is all that’s needed to satisfy the audience. But after Batman captured The Riddler, there were five or six more a-ha moments that just kept extending the movie further and further. Next thing you know, you’re 45 minutes has passed and this movie still is’nt over!
THE MOVIE IS INTERESTING ENOUGH TO ENTERTAIN
I can go on and on about the problems the movie has, but in the end, it’s watchable. And it’s not a boring movie, by any means. The movie is three hours long, and it pretty much holds your attention all the way through. So it doesn’t fail in the entertainment aspect, and because it’s entertaining, there will be a lot of viewers who would give this movie an A. But for me, canon counts…as well as screenwriting.
Steve Young
