Hear our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”
Flash the bat signal immediately — a new Batman movie hits theaters this weekend!
D.C. movie critic Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics claims it’s the best one yet.
“I was totally blown away,” Hopson told WTOP. “Time is going to tell. It takes time and distance. … I hate to be the guy like, ‘Best movie ever,’ right as you’re walking out of the movie theater, so I don’t want to be that guy, but I know that while watching it I was more excited watching this than for any other Batman movie I’ve seen — and I’ve seen them all.”
That’s high praise for a storied franchise that gave us blockbusters like Tim Burton’s “Batman” (1989) and masterpieces like Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (2008).
“It’s just such a different take on Batman than other versions that we’ve seen,” Hopson said. “I hesitate to even call it a superhero movie. I don’t even want to call it that. It’s a crime movie, it’s a serial killer movie, it has echoes of a David Fincher movie, ‘Se7en,’ ‘Zodiac.’ … It feels like a crime procedural. It puts forward the detective aspect of Batman.”
Rather than watching TV monitors in the Bat Cave, this Batman pounds the pavement.
“Every filmmaker swears up and down that they’re going to bring the detective part of Batman out and none of them ever do it,” Hopson said. “Christopher Nolan didn’t do it, Tim Burton didn’t do it, this one actually does it. While there’s still plenty of great action, including one of the best car chases I’ve seen, it really puts forward his analytical skill.”
The Caped Crusader is played by Robert Pattinson, who was introduced as a teen vampire in “Twilight” (2008) before appearing in epic adventures like “The Lost City of Z” (2016), arthouse horror like “The Lighthouse” (2019), and time-bending sci-fi like “Tenet” (2020). He has big shoes to fill after Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck.
“I was as skeptical of him being cast as Bruce Wayne as anybody, but in terms of being perfect for this version of Batman, he’s right for it,” Hopson said. “He is consumed by his parents’ death, their legacy, by this crime-fighting obsession. … He’s not the brilliant mastermind that we know he will eventually become; he’s still learning the ropes.”
At age 35, Pattinson splits the difference of previous Batman actors that we’ve seen, slightly older than Bale was (31) and slightly younger than Keaton (38) or Affleck (44).
“In most versions of Bruce Wayne, his money, his power, his privilege is a benefit,” Hopson said. “It’s not so much here. It’s more of a hindrance. Gotham City has this real eat-the-rich mentality. … The tone is definitely similar [to ‘Joker’]. Robert Pattinson really plays into this privilege that he doesn’t know he has. … He’s very good at playing into that.”
Instead of The Joker, this time he battles The Riddler, played by one of the best character actors of our time in Paul Dano, who consistently shines in “Little Miss Sunshine” (2005), “There Will Be Blood” (2007), “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “Prisoners” (2013) and “Love & Mercy” (2014). Dano’s Riddler is nothing like Jim Carrey in “Batman Forever” (1995).
“It’s not the lime-green suit, orange hair, goofy Jim Carrey,” Hopson said. “This Riddler is terrifying. … He emerges out of the shadows and beats somebody to death. … His riddles are not for kids, they’re puzzles to be figured out, they’re cyphers. … He’s super creepy. I don’t know if he could get this role if he hadn’t done his performance in ‘Prisoners.'”
Along the way, Batman also encounters Catwoman, played by Zoë Kravitz.
“I really dig her version of Catwoman,” Hopson said. “She’s fearless, she’s resourceful. What I like about her is that she’s this perfect foil for Batman, because he’s so closed off. Robert Pattinson doesn’t have a ton of dialogue, which is perfect. She is such an open book and will talk about anything, she has an ideology, she has opinions and can fight.”
You’ll also see Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, who later becomes The Penguin.
“Someone sitting next to me didn’t realize that was Colin Farrell,” Hopson said. “He looks so different with all of the prosthetics. … He doesn’t have a lot of time in the movie, but he makes the most of it. … Great cast all around. I love Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon.”
Still, the biggest character is Gotham City itself, visually painted by director Matt Reeves, who dominated the “Planet of the Apes” prequels (Caesar vs. Koba is brilliant storytelling). How does his directing stack up against Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan or Zack Snyder?
“He’s just an incredible filmmaker,” Hopson said. “You think Gotham City and you think dark, gloomy and foreboding … but you also get the seedy underbelly. … The lighting and mood and use of shadow is really good … adding the real outward ire toward the rich that was captured pretty well in ‘Joker.’ … There are scenes that look like ‘Blade Runner.'”
Beneath it all is a chilling score by Michael Giacchino, who won an Oscar for Pixar’s “Up” in a string of Pixar gems in “Ratatouille,” “Inside Out” and “Coco,” as well as “Star Trek,” “Jurassic World,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” If anyone can match Danny Elfman’s “Batman” or Hans Zimmer’s “The Dark Knight,” it’s him.
“I love the score,” Hopson said. “It’s very atmospheric and puts you right in the middle of it, but it feels like the score for a horror movie. It feels like a score for something that is meant to scare the pants off of you — and that’s often what it’s doing. It’s meant to draw up an image of this place that is dangerous … and deadly around every corner.”
When you add up all of these elements, where does “The Batman” rank among the franchise? Old-school fans dig the original TV series “Batman” (1966-1968), comic-book fans love “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-1995) and movie buffs will forever debate the merits of “Batman” (1989) vs. “The Dark Knight” (2008) vs. “Justice League” (2017).
“It’s right up there near the top or at the top, man,” Hopson said. “I love all three of ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy,’ I look at them as just one movie to be honest. … This one is right up there with them or just a little past them. I love ‘Mask of the Phantasm’ … the cartoon from like 20 or 30 years ago … but I felt something I haven’t felt for a live-action Batman movie.”
“The Batman” now has an 85% critics score and 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“I’m thinking it’s probably going to appeal to hardcore Batman fans more than most other Batman movies ever have because it pulls on those [comic-book] sources so deeply,” Hopson said. “As for your more casual Batman viewer … I’m curious to see their full reaction, if they’re going to like this extremely gritty, grounded version of Batman.”
Hear our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”
