10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching The Batman Years Later

Summary

• Chemistry lacking between Batman and Catwoman impacts romance narrative.
• The Batman is too long, scenes may have drawn out runtime unnecessarily.
• Deleted Joker scene and lacking Batman gadgets impacted film’s quality.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman is one of the most celebrated Batman films of recent years, but upon further reflection, it has a few real blemishes that become more obvious years later. Not part of any pre-existing Batman continuity or the upcoming DCU continuity, The Batman was a moody, atmospheric crime drama that just so happened to star Gotham City’s iconic comic book characters. As great as The Batman is, it’s impossible to ignore some of its flaws upon a rewatch two years later.

Admittedly, there’s a lot The Batman does right. The gorgeous cinematography and art department work crafts an engrossing and gloomy movie vision of Gotham City, and the all-star cast make for some of the most interesting incarnations of classic Batman characters in a long time. But The Batman is far from perfect, and it’s worth pointing out the areas it falls short in despite its many strong elements.

10 Batman And Catwoman Don’t Have Much Chemistry

Strong Individually, But Weak Together

Poor Robert Pattinson can’t seem to get a break with his movie romances. While the Twilight movies helped launch his career, his chemistry with co-star Kristen Stewart was almost negative, thanks in no small part to the book adaptations’ poor direction.

While both Pattinson’s Batman and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman give great performances individually, as a romance, they don’t have much chemistry. After discovering Catwoman, Batman spends most of his time giving her orders, only to become frustrated when the morally-gray thief doesn’t want to follow suit.

By the time they part ways in a supposedly heartbreaking scene near the end of the film, it doesn’t feel like their working relationship has developed into anything romantic. The Batman seems to have Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle get together just because it’s expected of them, not because their characters particularly seem to want to.

9 The Batman Is A Little Bit Too Long

Matt Reeves’ Epic Surely Could’ve Had Some Fat Trimmed

The Batman
isn’t able to get away with its gargantuan runtime in the same way as films like
Oppenheimer
, which justify their lengths as necessary with every scene being crucial.

It seems as though blockbuster films have gotten longer and longer in recent years, and The Batman is one of the most egregious offenders. Clocking in at a staggering 2 hours and 56 minute runtime, The Batman isn’t able to get away with its gargantuan runtime in the same way as films like Oppenheimer, which justify their lengths as necessary with every scene being crucial. In the case of The Batman, the film certainly feels like it’s three hours long.

The Batman features several scenes that, while cool, seem to only exist to pad out the runtime with action sequences. Prescient examples include the Batmobile scene in the chase with The Penguin and the glider escape sequence at the Gotham City Police Department. An excess of moving parts, such as the Falcone sub-plot, also contributes to the film’s glacial pace.

8 One Of The Best Scenes Was Deleted From The Final Cut

Barry Keoghan’s Joker Deserved Screen Time

Paradoxically, among the scenes Matt Reeves did choose to leave on the editing room floor is one of the most gripping moments of the entire story. In a deleted scene, Batman actually requests some help from an old nemesis he’d already put behind bars in Arkham, none other than Barry Keoghan’s Joker.

The pair’s relationship is similar to Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in TheSilence of the Lambs, making for a fascinating power dynamic as Batman attempts to glean some insight into the Riddler’s actions from his other villain.

It’s a shame this scene didn’t make it into the final cut. For one, it could’ve teased a deeper history for the nascent version of Batman, who hasn’t been fighting crime for all that long by the events of the movie. More importantly, it would’ve been a fascinating way to showcase Batman’s resourcefulness, not to mention show off Barry Keoghan’s haunting Joker performance.

7 Paul Dano’s Riddler Is More Silly Than Scary

His Intimidation Factor Erodes All Too Quickly

From the opening scene, Paul Dano’s the Riddler starts off the film with a chilling sequence, slowly carrying out his sickening crimes with a callous methodical joy. As the first live-action movie incarnation of the Riddler since Jim Carrey’s goofy pajama-clad performance in Batman Forever, The Batman promises to do the character justice with a genuine threat to Gotham City.

Unfortunately, by the time Paul Dano’s Edward Nygma is unmasked, he utterly loses all sense of intimidation or agency. It’s revealed that the Riddler believed himself to be on the same “side” as Batman at first, punishing Gotham’s leadership in the same way Batman punishes its criminals.

But his temper tantrum upon figuring out that Batman isn’t a fan veers a little too far from dangerous insanity to silliness, creating an unintentionally funny scene. The sly, expressive faces of Dano’s performance further diminishes his scare factor, resulting in memes like the “Does He Know?” YouTube thumbnail to arise mocking the character.

6 Colin Farrell’s Penguin Makeup Is Kind Of Unnecessary

Great As An Actor As Farrell Is, His Presence Is Almost Distracting

Colin Farrell is a brilliant actor, and no mistake can be made about how impressive it is that he’s able to lose himself in the role of The Penguin. Many viewers didn’t realize that Farrell was the one behind the crooked nose and scarred face until the credits rolled, the Irish actor being an utter chameleon thanks to some impressive prosthetics.

But once the novelty of the performance wears off, it begs the question as to why The Batman couldn’t have just cast someone who looks more like the Penguin in the first place. Farrell’s marquee value is wasted in a role that obscures his face, and the extra effort of hours in a makeup chair to achieve a look that a lesser-known actor might’ve already had seems like a wasted effort.

Yet Matt Reeves aims to get more mileage out of his performance with the upcoming The Penguin series on HBO. Farrell’s over-the-top New York Italian accent already makes The Penguin seem like enough of a caricature of himself in The Batman without the cartoonishly exaggerated features.

5 Batman’s Skills Are All Over The Place

The Batman Can’t Decide If Its Hero Is A Good Fighter Or Not

The Batman features perhaps the greenest movie Batman to ever put on the cape and cowl outside of perhaps Christian Bale’s version in Batman Begins. As such, it’s understandable to believe he doesn’t have every aspect of crime fighting fully figured out yet, hitting a noticeably bigger number of stumbling blocks compared to his other cinematic counterparts.

Yet The Batman can’t seem to find a consistent skill level at which Robert Pattinson’s incarnation operates. In some scenes, Batman is a complete tank, wading through automatic gunfire like it’s nothing as the bullets bounce off of his suit and even taking a nearly point-blank bomb blast while out of costume.

But confusingly, Batman also gets clipped by a random Riddler follower with a slower-firing weapon in the climactic final battle, which seems to almost permanently injure him. Batman’s track record in combat and the consistency of the punishment he can take is visibly inconsistent on a rewatch.

4 Robert Pattinson Is The Weakest Bruce Wayne By Far

Batman Isn’t The Only Important Aspect Of The Performance

Among the wider scope of movie Batman actors, Robert Pattison shows off a phenomenal performance. Capturing the broodiness and edge of a more freshly-traumatized Batman whose worst days are still close at hand, Pattinson effortlessly pulls off the look and feel of the Caped Crusader.

But it’s his broad daylight appearances that leave something to be desired. Bruce Wayne’s public persona is typically more of a mask than Batman is, with most Bruce Wayne interpretations being suave, selfish playboys that no one could ever suspect of being Batman.

But Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is a reclusive shut-in with the exact same public-facing persona as Batman, making it hard to believe no one had ever figured out his secret identity. Every other Batman actor makes some effort to distinguish Bruce Wayne, but Pattinson feels like the same exact character, just without a mask.

3 The Batman Is Style Over Substance

Dialogue And Development Take A Backseat To Visuals

If there’s one thing The Batman should be praised for, it’s the visual direction. Matt Reeves is a genius at crafted brilliant shots that wordlessly tell a story with breathtaking images, from the upside-down shot of Batman wading through the flaming wreckage of his car chase with Penguin to the slick, reflective surfaces of the rainy Gotham city, The Batman is a true visual feast.

However, it’s the more intangible areas in which The Batman falls a little short. The dialogue of The Batman leaves something to be desired, with lines like “I am vengeance”, delivered straight in a gravelly whisper, only being forgivable because of how stunning Robert Pattinson looks when saying them.

Without its visual themes to back it up, it’s safe to say critics wouldn’t have been as kind to other aspects of
The Batman.

The mystery-thriller nature of the plot can also quickly crumble away in areas upon close examination, and the film’s performances are literally buried beneath masks, shadows, and the conceit of the dreary neo-noir style. Without its visual themes to back it up, it’s safe to say critics wouldn’t have been as kind to other aspects of The Batman.

2 Batman’s Gadgets Are Kind Of Lame

Matt Reeves Doesn’t Allow His Batman Many Fancy Toys

Batman’s movie gadgets often blur the line between science fiction and superhero stories, with Bruce Wayne’s wealth and influence allowing him to stay on the cutting edge of technology. But with The Batman, Matt Reeves took a much more subtle approach, grounding Batman’s utility belt further in reality than ever before.

Barring the glaring exception of the video streaming contact lenses, most of Batman’s technology in the film could easily exist in real life. It’s not like the universe of The Batman is too grounded for more fantastical gadget ideas, with over-the-top characters like the Penguin and the Riddler feeling right at home next to elaborate high-tech devices.

It’s simply hard to get excited about Batman pulling a single blocky batarang out of his chest to throw once or take ten minutes zipping up the realistic squirrel suit he uses to glide from rooftop to rooftop. At least the Batmobile is one of the coolest designs to ever make it to the movies.

1 The Batman Has Too Many Villains

One Or Two Of The Film’s Antagonists Could’ve Been Cut

If there’s one classic blunder that adversley affects superhero movies more than any other genre, it’s having too many villains. Ever since Sam Raimi’s infamous Spider-Man 3, plenty of comic book movies have fallen into this same pitfall, cramming their runtime with as many villainous faces as possible.

Unfortunately, The Batman fell prey to this same classic pitfall. Between the Riddler, the Penguin, Falcone, and, to a lesser extent, Catwoman, The Batman is packed with villains and anti-heroes that Batman has to contend with.

The end result is an incredibly lengthy film that doesn’t get to properly develop any one of its antagonists, a dangerous prospect for the first in a new universe of Batman movies. Hopefully, a sequel to The Batman will have a tighter focus, resulting in a more satisfying narrative and more reasonable runtime.