![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitteryvBehold a rare 2-4-1 post abt two movies I watched three years ago and have just revisited this past January. This was largely thanks to my cousin gifting me a 2-yr subscription to MAX last December. I happen to find out that both The Matrix: Resurrections AND The Batman are available for streaming over there. I figured "why not watch both again?" So I did exactly that, hahah.
Although i won't write abt their respective endings, I will be spoiling some plot points here and there. SO, EXPECT MEDIUM-LEVEL SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.
The Matrix: Resurrections.
I might be misremembering, but a lot of folks (myself included) were v. hyped abt this return of Neo, Trinity, and co. When a photo of Trinity driving a bike with Neo behind her was released, ppl went WILD. Everyone was THIRSTING AND READY.
Then the first trailer dropped and the buzz was moderate-to-positive. Once the movie came out, though, the overall reaction was 😒.
My Matrix credentials: have watched the first movie a ton (even bought it on DVD), bought the soundtrack, bought (and played) the Enter the Matrix game, generally loved the 'verse. Wasn't interested in fic or the fandom (so IHNI what any of that was like.) The second movie was okay. I liked where it was taking the main storyline. Sadly, I didn't vibe with the 3rd movie at all. It felt like the team had run out of ideas and so they patched up whatever was at hand, YMMV.
The movie premiered late 2021. I watched it for the first time sometime during the first two weeks in 2022. My overall feeling when I finished it was "well, that was a movie, I guess." Keep in mind that this film came out 22 yrs after the first movie premiered.
The Matrix: Resurrections finds Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) as a famous (if lonely) game developer. He's dissatisfied with his life; it seems he went thru some kind of episode that resulted in a mental breakdown. Now he's on meds, getting therapy, etc. One day, his boss tells him that the company is going to reboot The Matrix, i.e. the game that Anderson created. While in the midst of trying to figure out what to do abt that, Anderson begins to realize that everything he'd thought as delusions were actually real.
That coincides with some folks coming in to confirm AND remind him of who he really is...
As I said, the hype was thru the roof. It made sense since the first movie had resonated so much with its audience given its themes of alienation, technology becoming more insidious (lorde, we had NO idea what was to come), etc. It would ping with movies that also premiered in 1999 and touched on those same themes (American Beauty, Fight Club, and Office Space. The fact all 3 of those movies centered white cis dudes is not lost on me. BUT I DIGRESS.) So much time had gone since the last movie in the franchise and ppl were eager to see how the most recent entry would reflect the current (2020s) sentiment.
It WAS awesome to see Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves. Their chemistry remains top notch. You WANT to see them TOGETHER all the time. They remain v. charismatic.
I also liked the intro to the next generation of characters. Particularly Jessica Henwick as Bugs (she's the character with the bright blue hair). She was badass and likable. Seeing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus was neat! Especially since, in the movie's timeline, Morpheus would've been either really old or dead. The movie reworked a loophole of sorts to bring him back into the story that I ultimately found clever.
Adding to that was finding out how the humans in the real world had evolved as well. Their lives had changed so much in the 20-odd years since Neo's sacrifice. The same goes for the exploration of how would the Matrix evolve in order to create a better cage to keep humanity shackled. The action scenes were fine; nothing that made me * _______ * , but I didn't mind them.
Do I have any criticisms?
🙃🙃🙃
I'll start by saying that movie was too long.
The main problem is that this film had two v. strong and different storylines vying for A-Plot status (one being Neo realizing Thomas Anderson is a false persona & reintegrating himself as a human being; the other one is abt how Neo and co. were gonna defeat the Matrix. Again. ) Not to mention all the side storylines.
And, since the movie tried to focus on all of that, none of stories got the level of attention they should've gotten.
I also felt the movie wasted the opportunity to have Trinity and Neo together a lot more BEFORE they team up for realsies after realizing who they are. I wanted additional insight into what Trinity's Matrix life was like aside from the two glimpses (at the cafe) of her husband and their kids. Yes, there's a scene of her at her workplace (a garage cuz she's a female mechanic. HOT!!!), but it's only to put her in danger.
In the movie, Neo looked at Trinity while at a cafe. It's clear this wasn't the first time he'd seen her. However, he didn't know her (or, better said, didn't remember her.) Then he met her again thanks to a cowoker only to find out that she's not only married but also had three kids. O___o?! .
The third time happened they met for a coffee date in the "friendship only" sense. For ~reasons, the movie never showed them talking on the phone or texting or whatever, so it was v. abrupt. Then more plot occurred until they finally recognize who they were and what they meant to each other. I really wish we'd seen MORE of the two of them getting closer since they are the heart of the movie. It felt like the movie took shortcuts to get them back together without showing much abt her life in the Matrix or, again, Neo and Trinity starting to become friends.
Perhaps the movie would've worked better if either the movie had been abt Neo reconciling with himself AND reconnecting with Trinity OR it'd been split into two movies so that there would've been enough space for each main storyline to develop properly.
They should've also turned the callbacks and Easter Eggs to earlier movies wayyyy down. Like to 10%.
The big bads were ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Neil Patrick Harris (as the Analyst) was totally miscast. Between him and Jonathan Groff (Smith), Groff was a way better villain. He did menacing and playful really well. Patrick Harris was a facsimile that didn't work. Perhaps the fact that they're both white, cis, and gay dudes who both chose to be v. nasty in how they reacted to each other AND to Neo (once Neo remembered who he was) , it almost felt like watching the SAME character, IDK.
ANOTHER THING was the styling. The first three movies had a latex, leather, and vinyl look that was a nice treat for the eyes. But this movie paired everything down and it was the SADDEST OF ALL SAD TROMBONES. They kept the sunglasses thing and that was abt it.
OH, and I haaaaaaaaaaaaated what they did to the Merovingian. He was a cheesy villain the 2nd and 3rd movies, but this 4th movie brought him back for nothing. >:(
Finally, I have to give a Content Warning for one particular sequence in the last third of the movie.
Trinity and Neo are driving to a safe place to leave the Matrix from. Hordes of people are chasing them. Suddenly, the Matrix takes over people's minds in surrounding high rises and prompts them to jump out their windows. It's an EXTREMELY DISTURBING moment due to the sounds and images of bodies hitting the ground as Trinity does her best to dodge them. I genuinely HATED that moment, would've cut it completely from the film, NGL.
Do I recommend it?
I actually don't, LOL. Felt unnecessary, had a bloated plot, and was unsatisfying. I'm giving it a 2 out of 5. And that's only cuz of the older!Trinity and Neo being awesome together and certain moments.
Queerness level
It's there? I think Bugs reads queer to me the same way other background characters do like Eréndira Ibarra as Lexy. IMO, Lexy's admiration of Trinity is more like a raging crush, YMMV.
The Batman (2022)
This movie dropped Spring 2022 and I'm pretty sure I watched it sometime in late May. BUT THEN, FESTA 2022 (BTS' yearly anniversary celebration that goes on for 2 weeks in June) happened. BTS had a family dinner where they talked abt many things as a wrapping up of all the FESTA celebrations. The dinner ended with the announcement that BTS was taking a hiatus from group activities. Back then, folks outside the fandom were ringing the alarm with 'OMG, BTS IS BREAKING UP" announcements. THIS WASN'T THE CASE AT. ALL.
[The hiatus had to happen because it was time for their mandatory enlistment process in the Korean military. What ARMYs didn't know then (that we know now), is that FESTA 2022 was the ending of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. The latter had each of the member's solo works and content dropping for the duration of the enlistment (which would be almost 3 yrs). ARMYs had no idea of how busy we were going to be (and best trust and believe that BTS hasn't given us a SECOND to rest! It's been greatness cuz it's made thie enlistment era go by faster than expected.)
My point is that the 2022 FESTA dinner was so traumatic that I haven't been able to watch it more than once. I do plan to rewatch it this year, though, since this year's FESTA will be the COMPLETE OPPOSITE given that 6 out of the 7 will be back to civilian life (Yoongi's military discharge is on June 21st). BTS' Anniversary is June 13th.
A lot of the late May-entire month of June 2022 period is a bit of blur cuz I was so psychologically and emotionally shaken up post 2022 FESTA family dinner.]
MOVING THE FUCK ON (SORRY, NOT SORRY. ALL ROADS LEAD TO BTS IN MY HEAD. 😅)
Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisten, I'll be the first one to say that have been too many Batman movies made. When I heard abt this movie and watched some pics of Robert Pattison as Batman, my reaction was "This is not my jam." BUT THEN, I saw some stills of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and I was vibing with her.
IIRC, I skipped watching the trailer. For me, the movie kinda came and went? I didn't hear a lot of ~discourse abt it before it faded into the general fandom and pop culture background. When I watched it, my initial reaction was "you know what? That was a pretty good film"...and then I got distracted by 2022 FESTA and Chapter 2, etc. SO I HAVE WHAT I FEEL IS A SOLID DEFENSE FOR (TEMPORARILY) MOVING ON. XD
After watching it a 2nd (and 3rd) time last month, the first thing I thought was "OMG, why have ppl slept on this?!?!1111"
The movie takes place 2 yrs into Batman's vigilante career in the forever rainy, always corrupt city of Gotham. He's got a colleague, sorta friend, in Lt. Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). They team up to suss out the identity of a serial killer who is getting rid of prominent Gotham ppl. While investigating, he meets Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) and is intrigued by her and her connection to the case he's working on...
I'm shocked abt how much I like this movie.
Pattinson is an actor who has a fascinating career. For this movie, he brought a lot of the sensitivity and acting style he uses in the indie movies he's worked on (such as Good Times and The Lighthouse). There's a lot of internal work that he does as Bruce Wayne and lets free in a way that left me OJOing. Pattinson's Bruce is an emo loner and an insomniac who gives into becoming ultra-violent (toward criminals only). Despite everything he's doing in combating crime in Gotham, he's so disconnected from everyone that he's not even aware of the consequences from him being a vigilante. The film pushes Bruce to face himself, dragging him to a mirror kicking and screaming, in a way that I really pinged to, NGL.
In any case, Pattison's great when he's all suited up, he's equally great when he's Bruce Wayne. Thumbs up all the way.
Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle is interesting. Like Bruce, she's her own kind of freak and has a really good backstory. I really, really liked her.
Kravitz and Pattison have GALACTIC LEVELS of chemistry. There's an ongoing tension between them that's exquisite (even if the story's not abt their relationship.)
The rest of the cast is chef's kiss. Everyone showed up to do what they had to do and all of them excelled at it. Hat tip to Colin Farrell as Oz/the Penguin. Honestly, I kept forgetting it was him under that makeup and with that voice. I'm deffo gonna check out the series.
NOW LET ME TALK ABT THE CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SEC.
Greig Fraser's talent as a cinematographer has already been shown in movies such as Snow White and the Huntsman, Daniel Villeneuve's Dune movies, and Rogue One.
This movie has a ton of beautiful shots, filters, color grading, etc. Everything looks gritty and real and beautiful. There are a lot of reds, blues, blacks, and muted greens. I also dug how characters would be in focus and everything else would be blurry but not in a distracting way. One day, I'll watch the movie without sound cuz it's THAT visually soothing and exciting to watch.
Some of the themes (politicians being corrupt, a young grassroots Black woman fighting against several local government systems that are rotten, the general masses being super unhappy abt their living situations, etc.) cut a bit too close to home in 2022 and 2025, NGL. BUT, at the same time, I do like the idea of folks teaming up to protect each other.
Do I have any criticisms?
I didn't care for Paul Dano as the Riddler. To me, he was generic incel dude. Though I'd admit that, just like Black Panther's Kilmonger, he did bring up some good points to the table.
Also, I think they could've taken 10 seconds here and 5 seconds there to trim a bit of the movie. You WILL feel them 3 hrs for sure, LOLsob. Oh, and argument could be made that this movie borrowed a substantial amount of look and vibes from David Fincher's SE7EN. I don't mind it, tho.
Throwing in a Content Warning for a scene in the last third of the movie where armed white incels take a crowd hostage. The movie shows they've got tons of ammo; their intent to have a massacre is v. clear. One of them does shoot a Black woman (who was just elected as Gotham's new mayor.) She's injured but doesn't die.
The movie ends in a way that sets things up for the sequel (the next movie's due to drop in 2027), but it's a bit cheesy? IJS
Do I recommend it?
I do! It's a great Batman movie. Especially for ppl like me who are sick and fucking tired of yet one more Batman movie. I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5.
FTR, my fave Batman is Michael Keaton in Batman Returns (which is also my fave Batman movie). Pattison's interpretation of the role is my second fave (same for The Batman.) I don't really have third since I feel the same way abt Keaton in the first Batman movie (1989), Adam West in the TV show and his own movie, Will Arnett in The Lego Movie, and Val Kilmer in Batman Returns.
My 2 least fave Batmans are Christian Bale and George Clooney. Confession time: I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate the first and third Nolan movies. And I really struggle to enjoy Joel Schumacher's campiness in Batman and Robin. Oh, and I'm meh abt Ben Affleck too, hahah.
Queerness level
Low-medium.
Nothing queer happens onscreen. However, Kravitz has gone on record that she played Selina as a bisexual character since that's canon in the comics. In the film, she's got a connection with a female friend of hers that gives v. WLW vibes.
Final thoughts
One thing that surprised me abt watching both movies again was that, even though The Matrix: Resurrections had a v. clean/smooth look AND it tried to point at the idea that ppl are too hooked to their tech devices, there was no actual emotional anchor. The movie and the filmmaker tried to push viewers into feeling something. Which explains the reasoning for the glut of callbacks to the previous movies. The end result is an ouroboros cuz the bulk of the heavy lifting (emotions wise) comes from the nostalgia that ideally ppl would connect to.
I know it might sound wild to anyone who was born in 1999 (or after), but the first Matrix movie impacted EVERYTHING when it dropped. This movie tried to recapture this, but it was an empty, repetitive, and frustrating movie.
Whereas with The Batman, the look is borderline chaotic yet beautiful and never overwhelming. The story does bring up some points that ppl will most deffo have opinions abt in 2025 because everyone's living thru those themes at a global level right now. And I like that it doesn't offer an easy solution.
Watching The Matrix: Resurrections and how it didn't even reach my expectations kinda made me think like it's the equivalent of ordering a pair of socks from a really cool company. They're handmade socks that are in your fave color and this is a company you've ordered from before so you KNOW the socks will be comfortable and long-lasting. It's been a while since you last ordered something, so you're (v. unhappily) surprised when you open the package and now there's confetti all over the floor. You gotta clean all of that stuff up which leads you to reconsider ordering anything from that company ever again.
Following that example, my approach to The Batman was muted at best. Like many, I've felt tired of the (seemingly) endless remakes and reboots of that character in film only to find something that got me to sit up and PAY ATTENTION.
With The Batman, it was like needing to get regular socks, walking into a random store and finding a pair that you really like for cheap!
It was interesting that my initial "it was a good movie" feeling for The Batman went UP while The Matrix: Resurrections' initial meh went DOWN, go figure!
My one gripe abt liking The Batman was that, upon rewatching, I was REALLY FEELING the Batman/Catwoman dynamic and headed over to AO3 for some good stuff to get lost in. UNFORTCH FOR ME, the majority of the stuff published for this specific movie is Batman/The Riddler, Batman/Reader, and The Riddler/Reader. WHY must the fandom gods forsake me?!
HARDCORE MUPPET FACE AT ALL OF THAT. (Feel free to give me recs for Batman/Catwoman that are specifically set in The Batman 'verse. 😥)
Although i won't write abt their respective endings, I will be spoiling some plot points here and there. SO, EXPECT MEDIUM-LEVEL SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.
The Matrix: Resurrections.
I might be misremembering, but a lot of folks (myself included) were v. hyped abt this return of Neo, Trinity, and co. When a photo of Trinity driving a bike with Neo behind her was released, ppl went WILD. Everyone was THIRSTING AND READY.
Then the first trailer dropped and the buzz was moderate-to-positive. Once the movie came out, though, the overall reaction was 😒.
My Matrix credentials: have watched the first movie a ton (even bought it on DVD), bought the soundtrack, bought (and played) the Enter the Matrix game, generally loved the 'verse. Wasn't interested in fic or the fandom (so IHNI what any of that was like.) The second movie was okay. I liked where it was taking the main storyline. Sadly, I didn't vibe with the 3rd movie at all. It felt like the team had run out of ideas and so they patched up whatever was at hand, YMMV.
The movie premiered late 2021. I watched it for the first time sometime during the first two weeks in 2022. My overall feeling when I finished it was "well, that was a movie, I guess." Keep in mind that this film came out 22 yrs after the first movie premiered.
The Matrix: Resurrections finds Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) as a famous (if lonely) game developer. He's dissatisfied with his life; it seems he went thru some kind of episode that resulted in a mental breakdown. Now he's on meds, getting therapy, etc. One day, his boss tells him that the company is going to reboot The Matrix, i.e. the game that Anderson created. While in the midst of trying to figure out what to do abt that, Anderson begins to realize that everything he'd thought as delusions were actually real.
That coincides with some folks coming in to confirm AND remind him of who he really is...
As I said, the hype was thru the roof. It made sense since the first movie had resonated so much with its audience given its themes of alienation, technology becoming more insidious (lorde, we had NO idea what was to come), etc. It would ping with movies that also premiered in 1999 and touched on those same themes (American Beauty, Fight Club, and Office Space. The fact all 3 of those movies centered white cis dudes is not lost on me. BUT I DIGRESS.) So much time had gone since the last movie in the franchise and ppl were eager to see how the most recent entry would reflect the current (2020s) sentiment.
It WAS awesome to see Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves. Their chemistry remains top notch. You WANT to see them TOGETHER all the time. They remain v. charismatic.
I also liked the intro to the next generation of characters. Particularly Jessica Henwick as Bugs (she's the character with the bright blue hair). She was badass and likable. Seeing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus was neat! Especially since, in the movie's timeline, Morpheus would've been either really old or dead. The movie reworked a loophole of sorts to bring him back into the story that I ultimately found clever.
Adding to that was finding out how the humans in the real world had evolved as well. Their lives had changed so much in the 20-odd years since Neo's sacrifice. The same goes for the exploration of how would the Matrix evolve in order to create a better cage to keep humanity shackled. The action scenes were fine; nothing that made me * _______ * , but I didn't mind them.
Do I have any criticisms?
🙃🙃🙃
I'll start by saying that movie was too long.
The main problem is that this film had two v. strong and different storylines vying for A-Plot status (one being Neo realizing Thomas Anderson is a false persona & reintegrating himself as a human being; the other one is abt how Neo and co. were gonna defeat the Matrix. Again. ) Not to mention all the side storylines.
And, since the movie tried to focus on all of that, none of stories got the level of attention they should've gotten.
I also felt the movie wasted the opportunity to have Trinity and Neo together a lot more BEFORE they team up for realsies after realizing who they are. I wanted additional insight into what Trinity's Matrix life was like aside from the two glimpses (at the cafe) of her husband and their kids. Yes, there's a scene of her at her workplace (a garage cuz she's a female mechanic. HOT!!!), but it's only to put her in danger.
In the movie, Neo looked at Trinity while at a cafe. It's clear this wasn't the first time he'd seen her. However, he didn't know her (or, better said, didn't remember her.) Then he met her again thanks to a cowoker only to find out that she's not only married but also had three kids. O___o?! .
The third time happened they met for a coffee date in the "friendship only" sense. For ~reasons, the movie never showed them talking on the phone or texting or whatever, so it was v. abrupt. Then more plot occurred until they finally recognize who they were and what they meant to each other. I really wish we'd seen MORE of the two of them getting closer since they are the heart of the movie. It felt like the movie took shortcuts to get them back together without showing much abt her life in the Matrix or, again, Neo and Trinity starting to become friends.
Perhaps the movie would've worked better if either the movie had been abt Neo reconciling with himself AND reconnecting with Trinity OR it'd been split into two movies so that there would've been enough space for each main storyline to develop properly.
They should've also turned the callbacks and Easter Eggs to earlier movies wayyyy down. Like to 10%.
The big bads were ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Neil Patrick Harris (as the Analyst) was totally miscast. Between him and Jonathan Groff (Smith), Groff was a way better villain. He did menacing and playful really well. Patrick Harris was a facsimile that didn't work. Perhaps the fact that they're both white, cis, and gay dudes who both chose to be v. nasty in how they reacted to each other AND to Neo (once Neo remembered who he was) , it almost felt like watching the SAME character, IDK.
ANOTHER THING was the styling. The first three movies had a latex, leather, and vinyl look that was a nice treat for the eyes. But this movie paired everything down and it was the SADDEST OF ALL SAD TROMBONES. They kept the sunglasses thing and that was abt it.
OH, and I haaaaaaaaaaaaated what they did to the Merovingian. He was a cheesy villain the 2nd and 3rd movies, but this 4th movie brought him back for nothing. >:(
Finally, I have to give a Content Warning for one particular sequence in the last third of the movie.
Trinity and Neo are driving to a safe place to leave the Matrix from. Hordes of people are chasing them. Suddenly, the Matrix takes over people's minds in surrounding high rises and prompts them to jump out their windows. It's an EXTREMELY DISTURBING moment due to the sounds and images of bodies hitting the ground as Trinity does her best to dodge them. I genuinely HATED that moment, would've cut it completely from the film, NGL.
Do I recommend it?
I actually don't, LOL. Felt unnecessary, had a bloated plot, and was unsatisfying. I'm giving it a 2 out of 5. And that's only cuz of the older!Trinity and Neo being awesome together and certain moments.
Queerness level
It's there? I think Bugs reads queer to me the same way other background characters do like Eréndira Ibarra as Lexy. IMO, Lexy's admiration of Trinity is more like a raging crush, YMMV.
The Batman (2022)
This movie dropped Spring 2022 and I'm pretty sure I watched it sometime in late May. BUT THEN, FESTA 2022 (BTS' yearly anniversary celebration that goes on for 2 weeks in June) happened. BTS had a family dinner where they talked abt many things as a wrapping up of all the FESTA celebrations. The dinner ended with the announcement that BTS was taking a hiatus from group activities. Back then, folks outside the fandom were ringing the alarm with 'OMG, BTS IS BREAKING UP" announcements. THIS WASN'T THE CASE AT. ALL.
[The hiatus had to happen because it was time for their mandatory enlistment process in the Korean military. What ARMYs didn't know then (that we know now), is that FESTA 2022 was the ending of Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. The latter had each of the member's solo works and content dropping for the duration of the enlistment (which would be almost 3 yrs). ARMYs had no idea of how busy we were going to be (and best trust and believe that BTS hasn't given us a SECOND to rest! It's been greatness cuz it's made thie enlistment era go by faster than expected.)
My point is that the 2022 FESTA dinner was so traumatic that I haven't been able to watch it more than once. I do plan to rewatch it this year, though, since this year's FESTA will be the COMPLETE OPPOSITE given that 6 out of the 7 will be back to civilian life (Yoongi's military discharge is on June 21st). BTS' Anniversary is June 13th.
A lot of the late May-entire month of June 2022 period is a bit of blur cuz I was so psychologically and emotionally shaken up post 2022 FESTA family dinner.]
MOVING THE FUCK ON (SORRY, NOT SORRY. ALL ROADS LEAD TO BTS IN MY HEAD. 😅)
Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisten, I'll be the first one to say that have been too many Batman movies made. When I heard abt this movie and watched some pics of Robert Pattison as Batman, my reaction was "This is not my jam." BUT THEN, I saw some stills of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman and I was vibing with her.
IIRC, I skipped watching the trailer. For me, the movie kinda came and went? I didn't hear a lot of ~discourse abt it before it faded into the general fandom and pop culture background. When I watched it, my initial reaction was "you know what? That was a pretty good film"...and then I got distracted by 2022 FESTA and Chapter 2, etc. SO I HAVE WHAT I FEEL IS A SOLID DEFENSE FOR (TEMPORARILY) MOVING ON. XD
After watching it a 2nd (and 3rd) time last month, the first thing I thought was "OMG, why have ppl slept on this?!?!1111"
The movie takes place 2 yrs into Batman's vigilante career in the forever rainy, always corrupt city of Gotham. He's got a colleague, sorta friend, in Lt. Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). They team up to suss out the identity of a serial killer who is getting rid of prominent Gotham ppl. While investigating, he meets Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) and is intrigued by her and her connection to the case he's working on...
I'm shocked abt how much I like this movie.
Pattinson is an actor who has a fascinating career. For this movie, he brought a lot of the sensitivity and acting style he uses in the indie movies he's worked on (such as Good Times and The Lighthouse). There's a lot of internal work that he does as Bruce Wayne and lets free in a way that left me OJOing. Pattinson's Bruce is an emo loner and an insomniac who gives into becoming ultra-violent (toward criminals only). Despite everything he's doing in combating crime in Gotham, he's so disconnected from everyone that he's not even aware of the consequences from him being a vigilante. The film pushes Bruce to face himself, dragging him to a mirror kicking and screaming, in a way that I really pinged to, NGL.
In any case, Pattison's great when he's all suited up, he's equally great when he's Bruce Wayne. Thumbs up all the way.
Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle is interesting. Like Bruce, she's her own kind of freak and has a really good backstory. I really, really liked her.
Kravitz and Pattison have GALACTIC LEVELS of chemistry. There's an ongoing tension between them that's exquisite (even if the story's not abt their relationship.)
The rest of the cast is chef's kiss. Everyone showed up to do what they had to do and all of them excelled at it. Hat tip to Colin Farrell as Oz/the Penguin. Honestly, I kept forgetting it was him under that makeup and with that voice. I'm deffo gonna check out the series.
NOW LET ME TALK ABT THE CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SEC.
Greig Fraser's talent as a cinematographer has already been shown in movies such as Snow White and the Huntsman, Daniel Villeneuve's Dune movies, and Rogue One.
This movie has a ton of beautiful shots, filters, color grading, etc. Everything looks gritty and real and beautiful. There are a lot of reds, blues, blacks, and muted greens. I also dug how characters would be in focus and everything else would be blurry but not in a distracting way. One day, I'll watch the movie without sound cuz it's THAT visually soothing and exciting to watch.
Some of the themes (politicians being corrupt, a young grassroots Black woman fighting against several local government systems that are rotten, the general masses being super unhappy abt their living situations, etc.) cut a bit too close to home in 2022 and 2025, NGL. BUT, at the same time, I do like the idea of folks teaming up to protect each other.
Do I have any criticisms?
I didn't care for Paul Dano as the Riddler. To me, he was generic incel dude. Though I'd admit that, just like Black Panther's Kilmonger, he did bring up some good points to the table.
Also, I think they could've taken 10 seconds here and 5 seconds there to trim a bit of the movie. You WILL feel them 3 hrs for sure, LOLsob. Oh, and argument could be made that this movie borrowed a substantial amount of look and vibes from David Fincher's SE7EN. I don't mind it, tho.
Throwing in a Content Warning for a scene in the last third of the movie where armed white incels take a crowd hostage. The movie shows they've got tons of ammo; their intent to have a massacre is v. clear. One of them does shoot a Black woman (who was just elected as Gotham's new mayor.) She's injured but doesn't die.
The movie ends in a way that sets things up for the sequel (the next movie's due to drop in 2027), but it's a bit cheesy? IJS
Do I recommend it?
I do! It's a great Batman movie. Especially for ppl like me who are sick and fucking tired of yet one more Batman movie. I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5.
FTR, my fave Batman is Michael Keaton in Batman Returns (which is also my fave Batman movie). Pattison's interpretation of the role is my second fave (same for The Batman.) I don't really have third since I feel the same way abt Keaton in the first Batman movie (1989), Adam West in the TV show and his own movie, Will Arnett in The Lego Movie, and Val Kilmer in Batman Returns.
My 2 least fave Batmans are Christian Bale and George Clooney. Confession time: I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate the first and third Nolan movies. And I really struggle to enjoy Joel Schumacher's campiness in Batman and Robin. Oh, and I'm meh abt Ben Affleck too, hahah.
Queerness level
Low-medium.
Nothing queer happens onscreen. However, Kravitz has gone on record that she played Selina as a bisexual character since that's canon in the comics. In the film, she's got a connection with a female friend of hers that gives v. WLW vibes.
Final thoughts
One thing that surprised me abt watching both movies again was that, even though The Matrix: Resurrections had a v. clean/smooth look AND it tried to point at the idea that ppl are too hooked to their tech devices, there was no actual emotional anchor. The movie and the filmmaker tried to push viewers into feeling something. Which explains the reasoning for the glut of callbacks to the previous movies. The end result is an ouroboros cuz the bulk of the heavy lifting (emotions wise) comes from the nostalgia that ideally ppl would connect to.
I know it might sound wild to anyone who was born in 1999 (or after), but the first Matrix movie impacted EVERYTHING when it dropped. This movie tried to recapture this, but it was an empty, repetitive, and frustrating movie.
Whereas with The Batman, the look is borderline chaotic yet beautiful and never overwhelming. The story does bring up some points that ppl will most deffo have opinions abt in 2025 because everyone's living thru those themes at a global level right now. And I like that it doesn't offer an easy solution.
Watching The Matrix: Resurrections and how it didn't even reach my expectations kinda made me think like it's the equivalent of ordering a pair of socks from a really cool company. They're handmade socks that are in your fave color and this is a company you've ordered from before so you KNOW the socks will be comfortable and long-lasting. It's been a while since you last ordered something, so you're (v. unhappily) surprised when you open the package and now there's confetti all over the floor. You gotta clean all of that stuff up which leads you to reconsider ordering anything from that company ever again.
Following that example, my approach to The Batman was muted at best. Like many, I've felt tired of the (seemingly) endless remakes and reboots of that character in film only to find something that got me to sit up and PAY ATTENTION.
With The Batman, it was like needing to get regular socks, walking into a random store and finding a pair that you really like for cheap!
It was interesting that my initial "it was a good movie" feeling for The Batman went UP while The Matrix: Resurrections' initial meh went DOWN, go figure!
My one gripe abt liking The Batman was that, upon rewatching, I was REALLY FEELING the Batman/Catwoman dynamic and headed over to AO3 for some good stuff to get lost in. UNFORTCH FOR ME, the majority of the stuff published for this specific movie is Batman/The Riddler, Batman/Reader, and The Riddler/Reader. WHY must the fandom gods forsake me?!
HARDCORE MUPPET FACE AT ALL OF THAT. (Feel free to give me recs for Batman/Catwoman that are specifically set in The Batman 'verse. 😥)
