LM23 Rating: Theatrical experience.
I’m more of a fan of the Marvel movies than DC Comics, but I try to watch them all anyway. I’ve seen all of the Batman movies since the Michael Keaton days. I faithfully watched Batman even when the baton was passed onto George Clooney, then Christian Bale and even Ben Affleck. Who, I still can’t believe was ever Batman but alright I guess.
My biggest complaint about Christian Bale and Ben Affleck is that both seemed to have been instructed to speak in a low, gravelly voice of a down but not out superhero. Those Batman movies were okay, but I’ve never really been wowed by any of the Batman movies, and yet I still watch them. There’s something comforting about watching a movie in which there is some familiarity with it and you’re waiting to see what stays the same and what doesn’t.
And so even more shocking when it was announced Ben Affleck was anointed the next Dark Knight was that it was going to be Robert Pattinson from Twilight. No lie, I did try to read one of the books and stopped after a couple of chapters. I even watched the first installment, but didn’t quite get with it.
The casting of Batman seems to have a trend of actors that you don’t ever really think would ever play Batman. Like they come from a list of left field actors who appeared in Esquire and Details magazines. Although when I try to think about who would be more likely to play Batman, who’s a mix of edgy darkness and morals, I’m thinking maybe a younger Keanu Reeves or John Cusack. Or even Colin Farrell when he was the heartthrob actor back in the early 2000’s.
Speaking of the aughts, The Batman jumped back on that bandwagon of all the hipster bands of the 2000’s that just had to have “The” in their names. Who can forget the onslaught of the “The” bands in the 2000’s like The Strokes, The Vines, The Hives, The Killers, The White Stripes, and on and on. What a better way to introduce a reboot of the Batman series by installing the actor who became every teenage girl’s twisted dreamboat from the 2000’s by calling it The Batman.
The latest trailer for The Batman promises an even darker, moodier and angrier Batman. There’s no humor, no feel good moments. Everything in the atmosphere seems ominous with its lack of color palette. It’s as if it just started raining and the rain is not ever going to stop. You really do feel the gloominess and raw grit of this Batman through the cinematography. We see Batman not hesitating to beat and inflict pain against those in his path. Strangely enough, the bad guys he’s beating up don’t really seem like bad guys as there’s no context given to the beat downs. If you didn’t know Batman was the good guy, you may think he’s crossed over to the other side for this movie. He unleashes his fury and doesn’t seem capable of controlling himself. Batman doesn’t seem to understand when enough is enough even if he’s setting a bad guy straight. Batman is definitely the archetype of the anti-hero here.
The big name bad guys that do appear include The Riddler and Penguin. Although I have to admit, I only know it’s The Penguin because I heard Colin Farrell was playing the character. The Penguin in this version of Batman does not look like Danny DeVito’s Penguin who actually looks like the Arctic bird. Colin Farrell is completely transformed into some other guy in this movie with extra weight and less hair. Zoe Kravitz appears as Catwoman but she seems to be more of a good guy than Batman based on this trailer.
This trailer is essentially giving us the heads up that Edward the vampire is not in this movie. Instead, they’re introducing us to Robert Pattinson, The Batman. And Batman is not here to save the world, but he’s out for vengeance. The trailer strikes all the right chords with the moody music and glimpses of the stars and characters in the movie. It also ends in a most stylistic artsy way with the upside down perspective of the Penguin as he’s trapped in his flipped car and Batman is making his way towards him. You almost feel sorry for Penguin like he’s the victim in this final moment of the trailer.
Again, I’m not a big Batman movie fan but I will definitely go see this movie in the theatre.
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