Tuesday, April 19, 2022
The Batman
Why try to remake the Batman story for the umpteenth time & risk critical comparisons by rabid fans? To make it work successfully, you will have do a different take on this classic comic book hero without stepping too far out of bounds.
It was a dark & stormy Halloween night when Gotham City’s mayor is murdered by a mysterious serial killer/misguided vigilante (Paul Dano) leaving behind his cryptic messages. Enter police lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) & another vigilante, Batman (Robert Pattinson) in on to the case. This is a noir detective story where our traumatized reclusive billionaire crime fighter is in his first 2 years of playing Mr. Vengeance & is really trying to figure himself out. These are early days of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) & Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell). Will the Cat & the Bat join forces & will they be romantically linked? Will the Riddler outwit everyone & always be one step ahead? Can you figure out the rat before the reveal? This is a darker version of the Caped Crusader who can be violently brutal. If you like puzzles, can you solve the riddles before characters onscreen? At nearly 3 hours long, will you enjoy the psychological insights to the key players or will you be bored to death? I was impressed with Pattinson’s performance. I️ enjoyed this different interpretation of the Batman saga & looking forward to see how this storyline develops in the coming sequels.
Alien gives it 3½ “Good Cop/Batshit Cop” stars out of 4.
