Batman, never a day person, is plunged into perpetual night in Matt Reeves’ nocturnal, nihilist, neo-noir take on the Caped Crusader.
Reeves’ three-hour-long “The Batman” includes plenty of action, character introductions, gadgets and other various superhero accoutrement. But it is no extravaganza. This “Batman” is a morose mood piece, soaked in shadow and rage, that has stripped the comic’s archetypes down to abstracted silhouettes and grubbily human characters. If Jim Carrey’s Riddler were to wander into this movie, he would fit in about as well as Bugs Bunny in “Taxi Driver.”
Scorsese’s movie, with Travis Bickle sneering at societal collapse, was a prominent influence on Todd Phillips’ muddled “Joker,” but it may be more so for “The Batman,” which likewise rests on the precarious psychology of its DC protagonist. Robert Pattinson’s is a young Batman, relatively new to the gig and suffering mightily from the nightly battles with Gotham’s most depraved. A feeling of helplessness consumes him, and a sense that he can never stem the tide.
