*CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD*
I had an interview with some of the cast and crew of the film before seeing the pre-screening of “The Batman.” During this interview, I heard firsthand what filming this movie was like, how the actors connected to their characters and got some snippets of what was to come.
Going into this movie screening, I had no idea what to expect. I hadn’t seen any Batman movies before this and honestly had not seen much of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). I only knew a few things:
- Batman’s parents were wealthy and died when he was young.
- He’s a crime-fighting vigilante.
- He lives in a city named Gotham.
- Gotham is rampant with crime.
This made me a bit nervous. Would I understand what was going on? Should I know who any of the characters are? Do I need to brush up on my comic history before seeing it?
None of this ended up being a problem, and as a first-time Batman viewer, this movie was clear and left me wanting more of the DCEU. I’m now excited to watch all the past Batmans, compare them with Rob Pattinson, and see where the story may be leading to next.
Where this movie came from
Matt Reeves, producer and director of “The Batman,” talked to me about his inspiration in our interview. He began with a “deep dive” into many of the Batman comics. He then felt stuck by movies like “Year 1,” saying that, “something in the tone of that and felt cinematic in a way that reminded me of an American ‘70s movie.”
You could definitely see these influences throughout the movie, with the classic film noir motifs of cynical heroes, harsh lighting, back-alley intimidation, secret clubs, and money.
“Batman: The Long Halloween Part One” also provided some inspo, Reeves shared. “[It was] super important, [the] idea of a serial killer and Batman got caught up as the world’s greatest detective.” (When you see the movie, you’ll see what I mean.)
Despite the inevitable influence of Batman’s long history, the cast and crew recognize the differences in this one.
Paul Dano, who played The Riddler loves the dynamic of Batman and his character. He says, “You couldn’t have this Riddler without The Batman. The dynamic between them, there’s some boundary there that is really beautifully explored, and there’s more murkiness to the reality, it’s less just hero and villain and black and white, and it’s not just protecting the status quo. There is something wrong in this city and it’s hard to have a villain who, some of his ideas are wrong, just the execution is off.”
He also said that, “[There was] a lot of Woodward and Bernstein, with corruption and ‘how high does it go?’ and there’s [a] forged connection and a taxi driver.”
And while this Woodward and Bernstein reference didn’t make much sense to me off the top of my head, he is referencing Bob Woodward and Alfred Bernstein, the two American journalists who paired up and covered much of the Watergate scandal reporting in 1972. Knowing this adds so much power and context to the message he portrayed, especially knowing Watergate’s real-life effect on the government and trust from American citizens.
Seeing this connection come to fruition in the film only adds to the realism throughout that makes the story so horrific. The political landscape, corruption, and rebellion, although fictional in “The Batman,” reflects the tension in societies today. This powerful realism taps into our fears as viewers and brings this movie-watching experience out of imagination and into reality.
Dano comments on this, saying, “The contact with reality in this character, to come from an emotional and psychological place, makes it really scary.”
Things I loved
Let’s just get it out of the way, okay? Pattinson looked good. Like, I was fanning myself in the theater, good. I loved his fresh-out-of-the-suit black eye makeup look, his clean-faced Bruce Wayne, and everything between.
Pattinson really enjoyed playing The Batman and found the acting transition easier than it may have been for a superpowered hero: “[Batman’s vigilantism] allows for an opening a bit easier, he usually comes back all fully realized and confident in his heroism, and in this I loved all the frailties he has, [just think about] in the scene where he’s jumping off and using the cape for the first time. Batman has always been kind of fallible, he’s just a man in an armored suit, it makes it more interesting to play in many ways.”
Some people were worried about the sexualization and objectification of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and while she did tend to only wear skin-tight clothing, there were a few scenes where Pattinson was shirtless without it adding much to the plot, either. For this reason, I don’t think that Kravitz’s sexy catsuits and high boots were too big of a deal, especially with her character working at a club as a bartender and first-hand-girl to some powerful men.
It fit with Catwoman’s narrative of using the men around her to get where she wants to be, as well as the scummy image of the men she worked for. Kravitz also used her sexuality as a weapon when talking to Gil Coulson in the club just before his kidnapping and eventual murder.
In fact, producer Dylan Clark commented on Kravitz’s change of personality and demeanor that came with her costumes, saying she did “such an amazing change of behavior” every time Catwoman’s hair changed.
Moving to the main villain, The Riddler. So authentically creepy, it felt like a realistic creepy that could happen in our world, instead of a fantasized and hard-to-imagine villain. This only added to the grit and unease that kept my palms sweating the entire movie.
And then he had his social media immersion. This added a more lighthearted tone that made you realize you had been holding your breath. I laughed out loud when I saw his livestream and the hearts that followed. When he live-streamed the rats all over Commissioner Pete Savage’s body, it was surreal. If something like this was happening IRL, I’m sure there’d be a livestream or social media following of some sort.
The corruption that shaped the film added to the realism, too. The way that citizens of Gotham knew their officials were corrupt but didn’t know what to do and felt powerless was a clear direct at our state of affairs. Every town, state and country has some corrupt official that we know of, and the slow unveiling of just how deep this corruption ran in Gotham was chilling.
This movie reigned above other superhero movies in some ways (definitely depending on what kind of hero movie and movie watching experience you want). For me, the setting really played into it. Sure, many other hero movies have seen the collateral destruction of New York, D.C., San Francisco, London. Even though they use places we know, sometimes it really does feel like you’re in another universe. These movies really feel like a different planet, regardless of the use of real cities. This really shows the contrast between showing and telling. Despite Gotham City being fictional, I still felt like I knew it, had visited and connected with its people.
And, it’s time to talk about that kiss that didn’t happen quite enough for my taste. Batman and Selina’s vibe was clear from the start, with Batman a bit too interested in getting information from her. And the actors felt it, too.
“[The chemistry] was, I don’t know, it was very easy, me and Rob have been friends for a very long time, I think a lot of it was on the page,” Kravitz dishes. “It’s really what Matt wrote, the connection that they find in each other and why they connect is so so clear. I feel it was kind of built-in – they both felt alone their entire lives. To meet someone who has a similar way of thinking and who grabs you the way they do, and it’s a big deal for the characters too. If you’re connected emotionally from your character then it’s easy.”
Pattinson continued, “If you have another performer who you can really see putting everything into it, it’s a reflective experience, and it makes you want to work harder. I’d look over at Zoë, and I’d see she was working so hard. You want to put as much work in as them.”
And Kravitz wasn’t the only one who put in the work and transformed for her character. The Riddler had to undergo both a physical and psychological transformation of mindset and, usually, a mask. And even without his full face-covering mask, he always wore the thick-rimmed, circle, clear glasses.
Dano, The Riddler himself, even felt an odd connection to what made his character: “One of the ways you fool yourself as an actor is to let the clothes and props contain so much of the energy for you. So I wouldn’t take any home, stay there and stay home. My relationship to saran wrap is a little different now. [There is a] Gotham sanitation jacket that was never used in the movie [that I took home]. It’s really really cool.”
These glasses and the mask were even worn by his goons at the end of the movie, tributing his message and platform while they attempted to overtake the city.
John Turturro, who plays Carmine Falcone, spoke about The Riddler’s glasses: “So the world can’t really see [the person wearing the glasses], I met a person like that, my father knew them and he told me, ‘don’t look in his eyes,’ because his eyes were kind of dead and seductive. And my father was right – that that person has remained in my mind and I kept that in the back of my head [while filming].”
And the relationship with James Gordon, the police commissioner with whom Batman worked. I mean, the level of trust that Gordon had in Batman was so so high. People pointed to Batman as the source of the problems in Gotham, they doubted if he was helpful, they yearned for his identity.
Jeffery Wright, the actor who plays Gordon, says: “[Gordon and Batman were] friends because of desperation, two isolated characters on a sea of mistrust that is Gotham. For Gordon, it’s out of utility, for Batman there’s something in the core of the character that we’ve come to know that is honorable there, he recognized that there’s some of that in Gordon. And I think Gordon, he thinks there’s something useful in this guy, again it’s early days of this relationship, he has few partners of himself that he can trust. We don’t make assumptions about the level of trust and who The Batman is. In previous films we see he is heroic and strong and iconic, when we introduce in this first scene, it’s wonderful for me because there’s questioning Gordon about how this guy is, and questions in the audience about who this guy is.”
Things I didn’t love
Perhaps the most obvious fault was all of the plotlines. By the time the movie ended, I forgot all about the beginning plotline of the murder of Mayor Mitchell. While it tied into The Riddler’s story, specifics were lost and forgotten as we moved on to Alfred, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and the new mayor.
This issue really came to light nearing the end of the nearly three-hour-long screening. I thought the movie was over when who I assume is the Joker told The Riddler that “Gotham loves a good comeback story.”
Within the Catwoman story, we didn’t know for sure that she was Catwoman until a good bit into the movie. She first references it when pushing Kenzie off the roof, and saying that she “has nine lives.” Then, at the end, she talks about her and Batman as “the Bat and the Cat.”
And just in case this isn’t enough to convince you to brave the three-hour screening time, hear it from the cast and crew of the movie themselves:
John Turturro (Carmine Falcone) “[I was] really happy to be in it and be part of it, that’s the truth, I couldn’t believe I was in a Batman film, [I was] really struck at the relationship between Robert and Zoe, I thought there was something unusual about what they were doing.”
Robert Pattinson (The Batman/Bruce Wayne) “I saw a few iterations and it gets more and more impressive each time. So unbelievably impressed by the time I saw it.”
Matt Reeves (producer) “[This is a] younger batman, younger in the arc, center of mystery to pull us into this path of characters, immersion into someone else’s perspective, feel like you’re seeing something from someone else’s POV, you think its from batman but it’s The Riddler, never know whose perspective you’re in.”
Dylan Clark (producer) “[Matt] pours himself into every aspect of the filmmaking. Matt is an amazing director and writer. He knows once you’re on the set, so much can happen on that day. [He is] the most thorough, dives so deeply into the characters, this is 80 years of Batman, our ambition had to be great, and a lot of weight comes with that. Putting the teams together took a lot of effort, the actors had to carry that weight. These great actors all signed up, all showed up and committed every ounce of their talent, as a producer it was very gratifying.”
“The Batman” screens in theaters only on March 4. Get your tickets here.