The Batman - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Batman



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
The Batman has had a long and rocky road to get here. Originally it was supposed to come out starring Ben Affleck, but with the demise of the Snyderverse, Ben Affleck having to drop out due to personal reasons, and the fun of covid, that movie basically got scrapped and rebuilt. This time with Robert Pattinson and a whole new take on Batman. It also got delayed due to the extended effects of covid over the last 2 years and it morphed into a 3 hour long film that has a lot of things going for it, but also has some issues with bloat.

Instead of redoing an origins story, Matt Reeves (Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield) throws us right into the middle of year 2 of Batman’s reign in Gotham City. Batman (Robert Pattinson) is a known force, and is working with the Gotham police department to capture thugs and criminals. His latest case is one of mystery as he’s trying to track down a mysterious serial killer who keeps leaving clues for the Bat along the way. He’s found a sort of kindred spirit in Detective James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), but Batman is sort of lost and aimless. He’s angry, vengeful (“I am vengeance” being his catch phrase), and struggling to find find his center. This leads him down a rather dark path as he leaves a wake of chaos and near death behind him as he tracks the killer.

That path leads him to gangster Penguin (Colin Farrell, who is positively unrecognizable) and his boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), who lead straight back to the Wayne family and a whole host of secrets that Bruce/Batman had no clue existed. However, he finds a center in the actions of a good hearted criminal Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) and ends up finding a monster that is both darker than he ever could have imagined, and remarkably similar to himself.

Unlike other Batman stories, Matt Reeves takes a wildly different approach to The Batman. Instead of bringing Bruce out into the light, he completely shuns the light, dousing Gotham in perpetual rain, and a downpour of villains and monsters. It’s dark, twisted, and reminds me a bit of Seven and the visual aesthetics of Let Me In. It’s incredibly intoxicating in many ways, and offers a completely different take on Batman. For once we get to see Batman ACTUALLY acting like the brilliant detective he is instead of just a super hero. The Riddler has always been one of his deadliest rogues in terms of intellect (alongside of Bane, who was butchered in all in screen adaptations as the Spanish super hulk actually was the smartest of all of Batman’s counterparts), and the deadly game of cat and mouse is awesome. I also loved that they had Batman working with the police in many ways, and that he wasn’t just this guy they hunted. Something that has always been missing from the recent Batman films.

HOWEVER there is also some problems with the film. The movie plays out as a slow burn thriller that really captures you, but it also is a bit bloated and messy in places. The film has too many villains and too many sub plots for what it was trying to accomplish. It was like they tried to cram two movies into one film. On one hand we have a hunt for The Riddler (Paul Dano), but we also get full stories for Carmine Falcone, some with Penguin, and even the forbidden love of Cat Woman/Selina Kyle (who was over utilized in the film, and not helped by Zoe Kravitz’s mediocre acting abilities). The first 2 acts with Batman searching around and dealing with Falcone and Penguin was great. In fact, I absolutely loved Colin Farrell as Penguin. He was the highlight of the film and stole every scene he was in. Even catching The Riddler was solid enough. But it’s the last 50 minutes of the film that feels like they went over board. The whole unfolding of The Riddler’s secret agenda came across as cliched and rather cheesy. Not to mention they sort of ruined his character by making him a complete psychopath ala The Joker (who shows up in a glimpse scene near the end). Paul Dano is FANTASTIC as the unhinged Ridldler, but it’s too much of a carbon copy of The Joker to really feel unique. And that was disappointing as they could have made him a really memorable character. Instead he felt like Joker light. The whole wrap up with the flooding and Bruce learning to give up the whole vengeance thing just felt forced and tacked on as well. Simply put, too much content for one movie, as it felt crushed and shortened even though the movie is just shy of 3 hours long.

Again, while I have some issues with the movie, it’s still a really solid film that takes a lot of much needed risks. It’s dark, twisted, and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. Also, Michael Giacchino’s score is to DIE FOR. That remixed Batman “theme song” is creepy and foreboding, really allowing the Batman to come across as terrifying and a force to be reckoned with rather than just your average super hero. It also has that “one scene” that really stands out and wows audiences as well. Each Batman film has one. In The Dark Knight it was the rooftop tumble chase scene. In Batman vs. Superman it was the scene where Batman rescued Martha Kent. In this one it’s the chase sequence between Batman and The Penguin. An absolutely jaw dropping scene that was easily the most watched of the whole movie.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material




Video:

In stark contrast from the 4K UHD disc, the Blu-ray disc suffers a bit, and it was something I was afraid of. The Batman is an INCREDIBLY dark and bleak looking film, and all of the stunning stress test capabilities from the 4K UHD meant that the Blu-ray limitations were hit much faster. The disc looks generally good, and the image is stable, but the black level capabilities of Blu-ray just can’t keep up, leaving the image looking really soft and hazy. Look at the scene where Batman walks into the apartment with Gordon at the beginning. All of the cops faces look blurred and super soft. Black crush is also quite prevalent as well as banding. It’s a decent enough transfer, but the 4K UHD disc simply blows it out of the water.



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Audio:

The Batman comes with a Dolby Atmos track and a Dolby Digital lossy track (luckily the Atmos track is chosen by default) and holy cow, what a track. The Atmos track is just audio perfection, as it kicks off with a massively moody and atmospheric tone that just sets the stage for the rest of the movie. Deep bass is very common throughout, as Batman pummels, pounds and roars onto the set with the muscle car Batmobile. The Penguin chase scene is probably the most powerful and intense scene with the Batmobile’s jet engine throbs with power, just rips the walls down. Little things like bullets bouncing off of armor are heard perfectly, as is gravel under a footstep, and the creaking and groaning of wooden flooring as Batman moves over it. Dialog is of course perfect and centered up front, and the Atmos overheads get a crazy amount of discrete work with rain falling overhead, as well as the score literally pulsating from every corner of the room. Absolutely awesome audio track that one of the best of 2022 so far.








Extras:

• Vengeance In The Making
• Vengeance Meets Justice
• The Batman: Genesis
• Becoming Catwoman
• Looking for Vengeance
• Anatomy of The Car Chase
• Anatomy of The Wingsuit
• A Transformation: The Penguin
• The Batmobile
• Unpacking The Icons
• Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary

Final Score: ​

The Batman is an interesting entry into the Dark Knight’s film repertoire, but one that has it’s flaws. I may be in the minority (the rottentomatoes score doesn’t lie), but I felt it wasn’t AS good as it could have been, but it was certainly entertaining. I actually look forward to the sequel that’s already being planned, and hope they can go a little bit slower next time and pace themselves with how much content they can cram into one film. The Blu-ray has mediocre video, GREAT freaking audio, and a solid array of extras. Good Watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turtourro
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Written by: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig, Bill Finger
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish, Portuguese DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 176 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 24th, 2022

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[mechman]

As a hater of distended diatribes in the movie industry, this is one of rare current feature that I found to not be too bad at 3 hours long.