I really hope that they use the court of owls in the next film, since they would be the perfect villains to use to expand the entire concept of Bruce’s parents being corrupt. In the third film I would love to see Mr. Freeze (played by Bryan Cranston) as the main villain. I really don’t want to see joker as a villain in this universe unless they’re doing a death in the family adaptation which I doubt they will since this is a trilogy.

 

waterproofed the Volume and used it for the Batmobile chase, goddamn ILM is advancing like mad

 

Pros

• I liked the acting
• I liked the suit
• I liked the setting. Gotham looked very noir but still very conventional.
• It had probably the most intimidating Riddler ever (too bad he looked more like Hush then the Riddler)
• I like that the Wayne's weren't perfect

Cons

• I didn't like the short cape and jawline of the cowl
• I didn't like the music that sounded like Star War's Imperial March song and was used constantly to the point of being annoying
• Catwoman's mask was silly
• I didn't like the slow pacing through the entire length of the film. No wonder it was 3 hours long

 

Joker I don't expect to be a main villain for a while. I'm expecting a Hanabel Lector type like he was in Silence Of The Lambs. I think though he will have a play in the Arkham show. As for the C.O.W I'd rather them come into play later on so we can introduce other known characters. But they are perfect for this universe. Freeze like many I hope and want him as the villain for the sequel. Especially since he's my favorite Batman villain also since Reeves said he wanted to use him at some point.

Was the cap that short? I can't find a image of him from the back from the movie so I'm using the HT's figure. Looking at it the cape seems right just not all the way to his feet.

I'm not a fan of it either but it gets a pass from me since it's not her final definitive look (she'll most likely have the proper mask when we see her again).

 

It was most noticeable to me when he's filmed in profile talking to Gordon on the roof top with the bat signal.

 

Wasn't a reference to the Imperial March. They share a common ancestor. Chopin's Funeral March. Imperial March has a swelling orchestral sound, Funeral March is more like The Batman's theme in that it's more quiet and introspective, the main piece being a piano.

And before you tell me The Batman's theme isn't introspective, it definitely is.

 

Finally had the chance to sit down and watch this movie.

I don't think I've ever departed from a film more conflicted than I was with this one. But I suspect that has a lot more to do with me than the flick itself.

Things I loved:

Spoiler

• Genuinely reminded me of reading Detective Comics back in the day, complete with the dated journal entries.
• He's already been Batman for years and that we didn't need a repetition of the well worn origin story.
• The methodical pace and noire-ish tone suit this style of Batman IMHO.
• Chemistry between the two leads was palpable for me. But... (See things I wasn't a huge fan of below...)
• I like this Alfred.
• I like this Gordon.
• I like this Selina.
• I (mostly) like this Bruce.
• I like this Riddler.
• I love this Penguin.
• Seems like it might be setting up a take on Long Halloween.
• I cannot say enough about the stirring, striking score in this movie. It's brooding, intense, at times deeply moving, and occasionally even startling (the Batmobile sequence comes to mind.) All while still somehow having a melodic sensibility. Loved, loved, loved the score.
• A slightly younger and more emotionally vulnerable Bruce works for me.
• The ambiance of Gotham is pitch perfect IMO. I also love how often and how much it's raining. Lots of long frames with golden, at times almost sepia, warmth to everything, contrasting with shadows. Very striking looking while also looking real and not super heightened or stylized.

Things I wasn't a huge fan of:

Spoiler

• I'm generally not a "plot hole" nitpicker, and I honestly feel that term is extremely overused. I also don't mind continuity or characterization conflicts, as long as I can come up with (or there is provided) a way to rationalize it away, and the film is still emotionally and tonally and thematically coherent and effective. I can overlook a lot. (My favorite example is T2, where we learn that the T-1000 "typically terminates" the subject it copies, but then Sarah Connor is copied, yet left alive to come back and shoot the T-1000 in the back for the climax. Nobody cares, because T2 is a masterpiece of sci-fi action with a heart and themes that work in many people's eyes, mine included. But I digress.) BUT... I just can't get past the idea that the world's greatest detective never had a "rat with wings" translate potentially as meaning a bat in his mind, whereas Penguin did the moment he was presented with the clue. Even if it was a misdirect, it doesn't land well in terms of character or plot pacing for me.
• Likewise, I have some trouble with the world's greatest detective and supposedly a good criminal profiler, taking Falcone at his word so much so that he doesn't question it and then confronts his oldest friend and surrogate father figure after a lifetime of having been trained and helped by him for supposedly lying to him.
• For the same reason, Gordon seeing Batman leave immediately after finding the "The sins of the father" warning, and then Alfred and Wayne Manor being attacked, with a package addressed to Bruce Wayne containing a note to Batman, and not a single cop - not even Gordon - ever wondering whether Wayne might be Batman, doesn't quite work for me either. I understand that a lot of this is just, "Lois can't tell Clark is Superman because glasses" comic book shenanigans, and that's fine. But the treatment here is more realism based and less heightened, so it feels a little off. Especially given how strong the misdirect was that Riddler knew Bruce was Batman. If we as the audience are being misdirected, that sort of misdirect only works because there are enough clues available that we can infer something which then ends up to not be the case. But those clues being present and no one - not Riddler, not Gordon, no one - figuring it out or even hinting that they suspect it, while consistent with source material and Batman movies in general, feels extra dissonant here because of it. Or, put another way, the misdirect feels forced to me as a result, rather than organic.
• I normally love long movies. LOTR, Lawrence of Arabia, you name it. I'm normally sad when a film is under two hours, and three hours is great if I'm enjoying the ride. But this film didn't feel paced well enough to me to justify its duration. I suspect I would've been happier, and that the movie would've been just fine, if they had shortened some of the beginning section, cut out some of the chase scene (lots of reaction shots, lingering angles on the cars, etc. that could have been edited more tightly IMO, without the chase suffering at all, and that's honestly true of a lot of the film I felt,) cut the entire bit about Falcone and Carmine's suspected involvement in Bruce's parents' deaths (but leave the bits about Selina's mother and childhood, as that's a big part of her motivation apart from her friend going missing,) shorten some of the Riddler sequences a tad (not to take anything away from the fantastic performance delivered by Paul Dano,) and shortened the scene with Alfred to be focused on Bruce's fear of losing him, and not him feeling lied to (since I don't think that whole bit about his parents needed to be covered again, given that the film omits the origin anyway, and it didn't really lead anywhere IMO.)
• Selina and Bruce's chemistry was sizzling IMO. But I felt the romantic dimension of it was poorly communicated, and both too sudden in how it finally happened, and then too insufficiently followed through on.
• Moulin Rouge can get away with sprinkling some Nirvana music into a movie in my book, because it was done ironically and bitingly with regard to show business and disillusionment if you read the scene's subtext. This movie doing it just... doesn't work for me and feels almost somehow sacrilegious. I know they said this version of Bruce was partly inspired by Kurt Cobain which, while I can see their take on him being inspiration for this Bruce Wayne, also just feels like a very odd choice to me personally. It did when they said it in interviews, and it still does to me after seeing the movie.

Ultimately, I definitely liked it more than I disliked it, and I love that it feels like a Detective Comics inspired direction to go with the character and world. But I didn't find myself enjoying it as fully or consistently as past takes on Batman.

The reason I said this may have more to do with me than the film itself, is I feel some of that is simply Batman fatigue at this point. Three portrayals within ten years on the big screen, and more if we count TV, is a lot for me. I also really, really don't want to see

Spoiler

another Joker this soon again, which they teased at the end.

So, yeah. Liked it. Loved parts of it. But very torn. I wish I liked it more, because I love this direction in principle and there's a lot here that I actually thought was fantastic.

 

Reeves did say he doesn’t want Joker as a villain in any future films. The Joker tease was apparently for something else entirely, likely for the Arkham Asylum show.

 

Didn’t know where to share this but I think it applies
DC Movies: James Gunn Pitches in Secret, Dwayne Johnson Eyes Superman – The Hollywood Reporter
“Meanwhile, in Gotham City, filmmaker Reeves is quietly making his own expansion plans. Reeves is developing a sequel to his The Batman, which grossed a respectable $770.8 million worldwide when it was released in March. Already, a series spinoff focusing on Colin Farrell’s Penguin is on its way to filming next year. But Reeves is plotting more. The filmmaker is meeting with writers and directors to build out movies — yes movies, not just series — focused on Batman rogue’s gallery, both established and more obscure, with characters ranging from the Scarecrow to Clayface to Professor Pyg. All those projects are in the very early stages of gestation.“

 

Good to finally hear some good news out of DC lmao

 

Ikr? It took how long but finally today there was some good news and not bad.

Some very cool picks for villains.

 

This is just Morbius and El Muerto with different characters.

 

Not really.

 

Spider-Man villain movie where Spider-Man doesn't appear. It's the same.

 

Morbius and El Muerto exist in universes seemingly devoid of Spider-Man, with no established relation to him. These will take place in a universe with an established Batman.

 

Spider-Man exists within the same universe as Morbius (and by extension Venom), it's just unknown which (if any) of the live action Spider-Man versions it is.

 

I think if Sony played their cards right they would be able to execute their solo films really well, on a level similar to that of their competitors. With the Batman Reevesverse, it helps that all these upcoming projects are under one unified vision, and a pretty good vision at that. I really do think this Gotham is rich enough to sustain stories that don’t necessarily involve Batman.

Sony on the other hand? Yikes. Sony doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing with their films. They impulsively make last-minute changes and decisions like with Vulture’s role in Morbius or Venom in No Way Home. They seemingly announce these disconnected projects at random. It’s just very disheveled and weird. But I guess at least we have the diamond in the rough that is Spider-Verse.

 

Hearing that not only are going getting the sequel but also potential movies focused on Batman's other villains in the same universe is a pretty exciting one because it can lead into a lot of interesting directions to go for. It also allows some more room to breath for Batman's main character journey too.

As for Sony I do think there's also potential it's just they some of their projects need either refining or focus on characters that can actually make for solid stand alone stories if done well. Like for example they can make a pretty effective horror movie about the Lizard since he did have his horror movie moments in the comics and in some shows.

 

Are you sure about all that?

For the record I’m literally asking the question because I kind of remember Venoms human half saying he never heard of a Spiderman

As to Morbius, I got the impression that there was a Spider-Man in his universe solely because of how willing he seem to be to join up with the vulture in the end credit extra

 

I'm pretty sure we've talked about this idea before in the threads. Give some villains their own movie that you couldn't build a single Batman film around.