The Batman (2022)

8.5

In this, Batman (played by Robert Pattinson) pursues the elaborate serial killer The Riddler (Paul Dano) and must figure out why he's targeting his victims.

Director Matt Reeves definitely leaves an impression with this. The opening, introducing Gotham and Batman is just an excellently realized work of cinema. Visually, The Batman really captures the feel of being in a city with some excellent scenery ranging from dirty streets to the fancy but antiquated areas. Bruce Wayne's place in particular, is a fantastically busy neo-gothic looking affair. Also, Reeves really went out of his way to make the city look populated. Has some of the most crowded extras scenes I've seen in a while. Must've been quite an endeavor to put together.

This also has one of the most ambitious car chases put to screen. I've never seen a movie have a car chase in such congested, traditional city traffic. In fact, it feels a little too real like actual traffic accident situations and took me out of it a little. Also, this is the one scene where you question Batman's methods.

This has excellent lightning with a lot of good use of city lights. I can often be be annoyed by films that are too darkly shot, but this one always feels like the shadows are always in the right place, accentuating the scenes. 

Michael Giacchino's soundtrack really helps the film's mood; very sweeping and moving.

This film skips an origin story for or introduction to Batman. I think this might be the closest a live-action film has come to matching the feel of the comics (at least the more recent ones.) You just jump in with Batman, who's already been operating for two years and has already established a relationship with Lt. Gordon (Westworld's Jeffrey Wright). No live-action Batman film has ever focused on the detective side of the character as this. This is a straight-up mystery film mixed with a serial killer film and a crime film. 

The story, aided by the atmosphere of the piece, will keep your eyes glued. However, when you get down to it the film's basic concepts, the corruption and themed serial killer parts, aren't that original. Heck, the movie even reuses a couple plot points from the comics. This also repeats the idea from the first two Nolan films of Batman fighting against the established criminal underworld who have Gotham in their grip. Between this, the Nolan films, Gotham (the show if you're not familiar), and some of the animated films, including the recent The Long Halloween, I'm so tired of Batman stories reusing the same mob figures like Carmine Falcone (here played by John Turturro) and Sal Maroni. Do you realize that there have been two live-action movies with Carmine Falcone and none with the likes of such villains as Clayface, Mad Hatter, or Dr. Hugo Strange? If you ask someone for their top ten or five Batman villains, they're not going to say Carmine Falcone. Enough with the flipping Carmine Falcone and other mobsters stories, already!!! You're not paving any new ground!!!  

The movie didn't need to be three hours long. They could've easily cut down on the number of characters. Though I do like Zoe Kravitz's Catwoman and she has great chemistry with Batman, her subplot could've easily been cut.   

Understand that this is probably the darkest mainstream superhero movie put to screen. Things can get pretty unsettling, like even more unsettling than some of the Joker moments from The Dark Knight. (From a technical standpoint, I'm weirdly impressed with how they pulled this off with a PG-13 rating.)

Cast is great in this. Though you may argue that they make Batman a little too brooding and his Bruce Wayne appearance a little too emo, Pattinson does one of the best jobs of portraying a human Batman who is determined to do his all against terrible odds and is an empathetic man beneath his stolid persona. Wright is definitely one of the Best Gordons with THE best relationship with a Batman. He's kinda Batman's sidekick in this. Andy Serkis, who I don't think anyone suspected would be playing the role, is one of the best Alfred Pennyworths, though he doesn't get much screent ime. He's become so known for motion capture performances, it's nice to see how good a performer he is just by himself. 

Recommend. I wouldn't rank this as high as the Nolan trilogy or even Batman Returns. I felt those movies did a better job with plotting and characters. Also, the length, heavy tone, and the fact that the plot points aren't that original, hurts replay value. Still, this is a very strong, visually impressive, well-acted entry that does catch your attention.  

Zack Snyder's Justice League

 

8/10

Having helmed Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, director Zack Snyder's nextstep was to direct the Justice League. The whole thing was mapped out (WB gave Snyder a lot of control as the sort of architect of DCU), with more Justice League films planned. However, BvS didn't do as well as expected, resulting in the studios having less trust in Snyder and his darker, more serious angle. Then tragedy struck, his daughter committed suicide and he bowed out of the project. However, it seems WB execs had were losing  faith anyway: https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/wb-reportedly-blames-zack-snyder-justice-leagues-poor-performance/. Joss Whedon was brought in, and a lot was thrown out and an active attempt was made to make the movie more friendly to a traditional audience. However, now due to intense audience curiosity and AT&T wanting something big to sell HBOMax with, we've got what Snyder intended. 

The basic plot is the same: The Justice League forms to stop extraterrestrial baddie Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds) from conquering Earth. This is definitely a stronger work story-wise than the theatrical cut; the tone just didn't match with or had the confident setup of BvS. More weight is given to everything.  

The world building is so much more stronger than in the Whedon cut. This is probably the biggest strength to the film. Snyder is going for epic scope in this, and it does come across. Both Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Flash (Ezra Miller), especially Cyborg, have far better stories. 

It's been a while since I the theatrical cut, so I can't remember if Alfred (Jeremy Irons)  had less or the same amount of time, so I can't say they did him better here, but he definitely stands out with some of the best lines. (Flash has some good ones, too). I think I'll miss Irons the most out of the actors who'll no longer be reprising their roles after this. 

I know everyone else has said it already, but Steppenwolf is improved from the basic, paper-thin villian he was in the Whedon cut.  Now, he's still not the greatest villain. In the grand scheme of things, he's not that broad a character, still just the basic warrior type. But he's given legit background and motivation. 

I did think Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who were already introduced in BVS, weren't given as much to do as the new characters. I thought Superman (Henry Cavill) was as improperly utilized as he was in the theatrical version.

Snyder has learned to make the characters more accessible. Sure, the movie is still about them having the weight of responsibility on their shoulders that comes from being demigods and keeps them separated a lot from the common folk, but it feels a lot less in-your-face.

Though I am glad I got to see Snyder make the film he wanted, I think he was allowed a little too much freedom. Snyder didn't need to make this 4 HOURS LONG. Quatro, Quatre, Vier. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this had to be under two hours, but this long? The thing is that there were several scenes that could've been cut or shortened without damaging the film. The epilogue feels especially indulgent and overkill.

Visually, Snyder is one of the most visually distinctive directors out there right now. No other types of films look quite like his. This movie is no exception, great cinematography and action. But, Snyder's gonna Snyder. Everything still looks grey. (You wonder how crops grow in this world when the sun never shines.

Several of the computer animated characters aren't polished enough. Snyder's love of grey is lended to the color scheme of three of the antagonists. I guess this is particularly frustrating since in the comics, Steppenwolf and the other baddies from the planet Apokolips tended to be more colorful-looking. I also found it unnecessary for him to make Steppenwolf and two other baddies computer animated when their original counterparts were humanoid, or in the case of Steppenwolf who was originally yellow-skinned, human-looking enough. One of these computer designs felt particularly weird since the character isn't alien-looking at all.

I think that Snyder cut Steppenwolf is tougher-looking and leaves more of an impression then theatrical cut Steppenwolf. (They look completely different.) However, I still think he is kinda basic-looking. (You'd think Snyder'd learn his lesson after the criticism of how uninspired-looking Doomsday was in BVS.) The various tiny pieces of his armor are constantly moving and it's distracting. They don't move in accordance with Steppenwolf's body movements, they just move completely at random, and I can only ask "Why?!"

How does this movie compare to the theatrical? I'll level with you, my memory's a little sketchy, and I only saw it once. I noticed that my IMDB rating for it is higher than I thought it was. I can say that I think this is the second best of Snyder's DCU trilogy. Though a lot of people say BVS was the weakest, I thought it was just a stronger film than the other two with more interesting stuff thrown at you. I think this is definitely worth a watch if you can stand 4 hours and provided you don't have a total aversion to Snyder's style.