From vampire to vigilante: Robert Pattinson’s DC debut

[Liam Piper watching The Batman on HBO Max. Photo by Ally Olis]

The newest phenomenon to overtake the superhero universe is Matt Reeve’s iteration of “The Batman,” starring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson. 

The film grossed over six hundred million at the worldwide box-office since its release on March 4, 2022. 

With an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Batman is considerably better than anything DC has produced in a long time.

The movie explores various facets of DC comic book lore, including the essential aspects of Bruce Wayne’s story from previous Batman movies such as Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon, and Alfred, to crime bosses like Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. 

Overall, the film does a superb job of creating a new interpretation of the Batman that audiences know so well from the Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Trilogy. 

Batman in this universe exists as this brooding, overly-driven and damaged individual seeking to rectify the impurities of the corrupt city that is Gotham. 

Bruce Wayne is no different, gravitating towards loneliness, being excessively covered in black eyeliner for most of the film, and seeking to continue his father’s efforts at improving the quality of life of the city. 

“I like that it understands that Batman needs to be more than just fear to the people of Gotham. He needs to uplift the city in order to make a change,” said Aidan Guerra, a freshman computer science major.

In previous instances, Bruce Wayne is a flamboyant billionaire and seeks socialization and grandeur as his means of distinguishing himself from the characteristics that someone would have if they were a vigilante. The absence of this character choice is arguably the most compelling thing about Pattinson’s portrayal, as you can no longer tell where Batman begins and Bruce ends. 

“I like that in this movie Batman doesn’t know who he is or why he does what he does. He’s figuring it out as he goes along,” said Liam Piper, a freshman international policy major.

His character is said to be modeled after Kurt Cobain, and for the first and last sequences of the movie Something In the Way plays on Bruce Wayne’s stereo, feeding into this new grunge aesthetic. His hair is in his eyes for 60% of his out of suit shots, which is something that can be attributed to the emo boy community of 2014. 

“Although it was too long and there were too many elements of the cinematography focused on overdramatization, I thought the way they presented the character of Batman was much more suiting since this time Batman is really just a tortured soul and I think that’s more genuine to the character,” said Aidan Phillips, a freshman political science major at the University of Denver.

Zoe Kravitz is the best Catwoman we have seen so far and offers a scene stealing performance every time she appears on screen. From her movement to her sultry voice, she was the perfect embodiment of the iconic character, previously portrayed by Anne Hathaway and Michelle Pfiffer. 

There was also a larger exploration of Gotham as its own location in this film, with long, aesthetically pleasing shots of the skyline, buildings and citizens. A vague usage of New York scenery has historically characterized Gotham and in straying away from this, the movie is visually stunning and adds to the new reality it has created. 

One element that did not serve as an advantage to the film was its length. With a running time of 2h and 56min the Batman also seems as though it would never end. 

There are multiple points in the story that could have ended the film and as an audience member you just couldn’t tell exactly when they would come. It was almost as though they had taken everyone’s ideas from the writers room and attempted to incorporate them all into one movie. 

I saw numerous people use the bathroom at least twice in the middle of the film, and they missed nothing in doing so. The running time could easily have been cut in half if there weren’t so many sequences of Pattinson walking slow motion towards the camera while his theme song played in the background. 

The pacing was incredibly slow and it was hard to keep track of the main focus with all of the subplots the movie attempts to maintain. The dramatic scene where Catwoman is revealed to be the daughter of Salvatore Maroni, really shouldn’t have existed at all; it served no purpose. 

I can, however, honestly say that the car chase featuring the Batmobile was the most visually stunning and impressive aspect of the film in my opinion. Showing off cool gadgets, and a sleek form it is genuinely a car someone could fall in love with.

There were some inherent flaws in costuming given that Zoe Kravitz’s mask looked like an old beanie that had the eyes cut out while the rest of her outfit was seemingly high budget. I also don’t feel like it is necessary to see Bruce Wayne in his post usage of the suit covered in eye liner as many times as we did.

The thing I liked most about his film is that it is a Batman movie whose primary focus was to set itself apart and create a new experience for audiences that previous franchises have never done. 

The Riddler was featured as its main antagonist and I thought this was the perfect choice given that the Joker has been overdone in the past twenty years of the franchise.

This was a seemingly Joker free movie, until the end when they couldn’t leave well enough alone. While I admire the cameo and reference to the iconic villain, the film would have done such a good job at setting a new tone without the Joker had they chosen not to incorporate it in the film. 

All in all, it was a fun and captivating film to watch and I would definitely watch again with some friends. However, I am in no means in love with it. Batman could easily be rated at an 8/10. 

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