The Batman

[Dandy]

We have not been discussing much about this movie as it creeps closer (42 days away!) and so much more has been dropping as the lead up to the movie.

The movie will have a runtime of 2:55 with 2:47 of that being move and eight minutes of credits.

The main theme has been uploaded to Spotify and the like, but the file I heard was four separate themes in the same track.

Several magazine interviews and official photos have dropped.

The film was shot in 2.39:1 ratio, which nearly matches Dolby’s 2.40:1 perfectly. No scenes were shot in IMAX, and they are merely upscaling to the IMAX screen if anyone was trying to decide which to see it in.

There have been a slew of toys released, and even official Oreos where there is a website that lets you tour the batcave.

Who is pumped?

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

yeah im really looking forward to it

 

[SFH]

I'm looking forward to it, but going to have to do a liquid fast before the film at this rate. I survived Spiderman last month, but damn.

 

[Dandy]

A full scene has been dropped officially. Spoiler tags are for the title of the scene in the link, just in case:

Spoiler

'The Batman' Offers a More Extensive Look at Its Funeral Scene

The first full clip to come from the film.

hypebeast.com

 

[Dandy]

Anyone looking to watch this before anyone else, OR anyone that needs a heads up on when spoilers will be rampant, this is your warning. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 8am for advance IMAX showings on 3/1:
Batman IMAX on 3/1

Tickets for the regular 3/3 afternoon through evening showings go on sale 2/10.

I will be internet dark for a few days starting 3/1.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Got my ticket for Wednesday, March 9th for a 3:15 PM showing. Didn't really want to fight the weekend crowd and most people are still working so I'm not expecting too many kids/teens/disruption factors.

 

[Dandy]

I have tickets for 3/3 at 5pm. I’ll be going internet dark (except for work) starting 3/1. I have already seen too much IN HEADLINES on Reddit and Google searches. I am now not going to be browsing or searching anything that way, but once the early premieres hit on 3/1, I’m gone.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

Everybody tag @Dandy with spoilers that may or may not be true

 

[Dandy]

If you think Kreese is a good detective, you have zero idea the kind of reaction I would have to that. Everyone wants to be a gangster until it is time to do gangster shit.

 

[Dandy]

OH

MY

GOD

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

...good?

 

[Dandy]

No

 

[Dandy]

Because it was amazing.

 

[BruiserBrody]

My ultra comic book geek coworker texted me to avoid at all costs. I didn't get further analysis. I assume Emo Batman turned him off.

 

[Dandy]

‘The Batman’ Flies Even Higher With $134 Million Debut at Domestic Box Office

"The Batman" had a bigger opening weekend than Warner Bros., the studio behind the comic book adventure, initially expected.

variety.com

Great news all around on the opening. I also think word of mouth can give this movie some legs.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Finally saw it and my (very brief) thoughts...

It was good and I liked it for the most part. 7.5 to an 8/10 I'd like to re-watch this again to see if I like it more but the thought of almost 3 hours again isn't super appealing. Probably put this ahead of Batman Begins, barely. It reminded me of The Dark Knight if that felt more plodding and less tightly-paced.

#1: Pattinson was good as Batman. I'd like to see more of him as Bruce Wayne but he reminded me more of Keaton's style as opposed to the "Playboy Billionaire" common portrayal. Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, to me, was a scene-stealer though and a real highlight. Paul Dano as The Riddler didn't quite land to me and I like Dano as an actor in other roles he's done.
#2: I wish the Riddler/Batman stuff played a stronger role, which it may have in a much tighter script/edited-down version of the film. At times it felt like Batman's solving of the situations was a little... fast partly to get into the Penguin/Falcone/Catwoman/Annika plot stuff. The

Spoiler

Joker teaser at the end felt like a necessity and I've seen word that they are eyeing Anya Taylor-Joy as Harley if/when a 2nd movie gets made, which I'd be all on board with

#3: The movie was too god damn long though. It had a ton of plot threads weaving in/out throughout for both Catwoman and Batman. Again, I liked the movie on the whole but myself and a good bit of the audience I was with was getting physically restless at times. The editing/pacing was all over the place.

 

[Dandy]

Re: Your review, @HarleyQuinn

Spoiler

Bruce Wayne not being the millionaire playboy was a major part of the story. He is emotionally scarred and Batman is his only persona at all times. His voiceover narration at the beginning of the movie explains that he believes that striking fear into the criminals is his mission but he is doubting that he is making a difference. Bella Reál corners him and tells him he is not doing any philanthropy or helping the city. He sees that his father’s attempt at funding the city was squandered by the corruption funneling the money into their pockets. By the end of the movie, his narration explains that he realizes he can make a difference in other ways, like Bruce Wayne’s philanthropy.

This movie was the origin story of the Bruce Wayne persona that he creates as the mask for his true Batman persona. That will be shown in the subsequent films.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Re: Your review, @HarleyQuinn

Spoiler

Bruce Wayne not being the millionaire playboy was a major part of the story. He is emotionally scarred and Batman is his only persona at all times. His voiceover narration at the beginning of the movie explains that he believes that striking fear into the criminals is his mission but he is doubting that he is making a difference. Bella Reál corners him and tells him he is not doing any philanthropy or helping the city. He sees that his father’s attempt at funding the city was squandered by the corruption funneling the money into their pockets. By the end of the movie, his narration explains that he realizes he can make a difference in other ways, like Bruce Wayne’s philanthropy.

This movie was the origin story of the Bruce Wayne persona that he creates as the mask for his true Batman persona. That will be shown in the subsequent films.

Yeah, I realized that. Again, a re-watch will work for me better on this film but tbh a lot of it kind of got muddied/disappeared from memory just due to the sheer overall length of it, just seeing it 1 time, etc.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

very good movie but not great. It was definitely too long. I thought Dano was great whereas I thought Pattinson was just fine and Kravitz was good but nothing special. Farrell was also very fun even if he was basically unrecognizable.

Spoiler

I respect the idea of not really showing Bruce Wayne in this movie as a concept but it made him far less interesting to me. Maybe it will help the story long term in latter movies as we see him grow (I really liked the ending as he realized Batman could also represent hope) but as a standalone it didn't land for me.

Also hated the requisite "Not All Cops" scene when they arrested Falcone. I found that even less realistic than the guy in the Bat suit. Still probably a 7 or 8 of 10 despite my gripes.

They also overplayed the classic Batman theme a bit much for me. I love it but you don't need to hit it up that much. Loved "Something in the Way" though.

 

[RedJed]

I thought this indeed was great, the complex detective storytelling with a bleak and dark tone was a perfectly balanced fit for what I was looking for in a new Batman film and direction for the franchise. I was fully engaged for sure. I think its one of those films as well that needs a rewatch to fully appreciate it. Score was tremendous as well

 

[Gary]

I Goddamn adore this movie. It gets so many things right, but one of them is that it reminds me of one of the reasons I loved "The Suicide Squad" in that it actually feels like the people behind it are actually going out of their way to make something that feels like a movie. It has actual sets and props, plus there's CGI but it isn't done in overkill. It's not constantly being done with ugly, concrete colored greenscreen. There's humor, but it doesn't rely on quips that eventually get annoying. The action set pieces are amazing. I could go on and on, but I love this movie.

 

[Epic Springs]

Yeah, I really, really enjoyed this one and think it's a really great entry worthy of the Batman name. Only think that griped me was Robert Pattinson's hair which is a very minor complaint. The length didn't bother me.

For those saying it was too long, what would you have cut?

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Yeah, I really, really enjoyed this one and think it's a really great entry worthy of the Batman name. Only think that griped me was Robert Pattinson's hair which is a very minor complaint. The length didn't bother me.

For those saying it was too long, what would you have cut?

This is mostly going off memory but there are lots of scenes that could've been truncated by 5-10 seconds that would've added up to a few minutes. I do think the coffee shop scene felt like a natural movie ender and the pacing kind of fell off for a bit for me after that although what followed was obviously necessary but it all felt almost like a "studio inclusion" rather than a natural continuation in that window.

Some of the scenes that could've been trimmed that came to mind immediately not necessarily in order... I'm also not advocating cutting out an entire scene, etc. but I do think 10 seconds here or 20 seconds there would add up.

Spoiler

#1: The initial scene was fantastic but could've been tighter. Once you see Riddler standing motionless in the background, you get the immediate impact and it goes on while you're just waiting for the ambush/kill moment.
#2: Post-Batman/Catwoman scene at the end where they ride off I felt could've been trimmed a little bit and gotten the same emotion/impact across.
#3: Riddler giving himself up was again, a great scene but like #1 it felt like it went on a beat too long with the zoom in on the cup. We know it's Riddler. Felt like they needed a "trailer spot" thus the cup inclusion.
#4: A minor one but the woman being loaded on the gurney and grabbing Batman's hand. Small scenes like that fit the movie but easily could've been "extended scene" material on the DVD/Blu-Ray.
#5: The pull out shot of Colson? in the car, again, great visual but I don't think was necessary to go as long as it did.
#6: Personal preference but I think you could've either edited down to a few lines or just cut the Riddler video to his followers re: the flood/taking out the Mayor. The group physically showing up in costumes with guns to take out the mayor-elect still would've made sense after seeing the members supporting Riddler at the funeral scene earlier.

 

[King Kamala]

Premiering on HBOMax on April 19th for cheap/lazy people like myself. Airing on HBO on April 23rd for my dad. Seems bizarre that a major blockbuster is airing on TV less than two months after its released in theaters but these are strange times I suppose.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Premiering on HBOMax on April 19th for cheap/lazy people like myself. Airing on HBO on April 23rd for my dad. Seems bizarre that a major blockbuster is airing on TV less than two months after its released in theaters but these are strange times I suppose.

Haven’t gotten to see it yet between work, and getting someone to watch my kid. At this point I think I’ll just wait for HBOMAX.

Super weird with these quick turnarounds. Used to be a year or longer between theater, and the VHS release.

 

[Dandy]

WB changed all releases to 45 days to streaming after the theatrical debut date. This was reported on here and discussed if I am not mistaken. HBO Max will be getting all those WB movies like that as a change from the previous 90 day window and last year’s same day releases.

 

[Epic Springs]

Yeah we went from a year to home release to pretty much same day. If you give people the option of paying money to see something in theaters or just simply stream it, chances are people are going to just save money and watch it at home. I'm guilty of this myself. Batman was the first movie I watched in a big theater since before the pandemic.

 

[King Kamala]

I still prefer seeing movies in theaters but living in a rural area with no transportation, I've got slim options. My only chance to see capeshit is when I'm spending weekend in Boston. And next time I'm in Boston is in early April when I go to Dynamite and at that point, I might as well just wait another week and a half or so to see it on HBOMax.

 

[Incandenza]

This was a passable diversion in spite of its length; the part that really dragged for me was

Spoiler

the last half-hour after the Riddler's arrest. And I'm not as invested in these things as a lot of people are, but they're really gonna bring in the Joker again in the next one? Aren't there plenty of other Batman villains that haven't been done to death?

Always a pleasure watching John Turturro. Colin Farrell was a hoot, but he made me pine for the days when Hollywood would cast a character actor for that kinda part instead of slapping prosthetics on a handsome man in order to ugly him up. JFC Zoe Kravitz is fucking hot, goddamn.

 

[Dandy]

@Incandenza

Spoiler

No, Matt Reeves has said that he wasn’t doing Joker for the next one (as of right now). That was the person that will be Joker before he has fully become Joker though; someone that has already crossed paths with Batman but he has not yet become Joker. Joker may be in the future of the franchise as a definite, but his appearance was not to set up a sequel. It was to show that there is a bigger world to this Gotham with all that Batman will face.