Saturday, May 21, 2022

Two Paragraph Review: The Batman (2022)

 

What a terribly dull movie The Batman turned out to be! On some level, it's practically fascinating how directorial hubris and a total lack of any originality merged together for this huge, but empty and endlessly-lasting film. While initially there was so much focus on Robert Pattinson as Batman, the end result almost has nothing to do with him, neither in a good or a bad way. Instead, he's just there, creeping about, like all other characters in the film apart from one - Selina Kyle (all of the energy in the film goes to Zoë Kravitz playing Selina).

Narratively, the bottom line is that you can't take Se7en and turn it into a movie in the Batman universe by turning the lights off. Furthermore, you can't do it by thinking that the brilliant Se7en is all about a serial killer and dark noir-laced spaces. That is why The Batman takes place throughout the film in very badly lit environments, thinking that it will make it into a dark and brooding, serious movie. But, there's nothing happening in those spaces, apart from time passing (very, very slowly). That is why this approach just made it into a tiresome film that has basically nothing besides Zoë Kravitz.