Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Its dark and moody, dug the visual and performances. Really seemed like a mashup of The Long Halloween, Hush, Se7en and Zodiac. I have a few issues with it but overall I really enjoyed this younger take on the character, really shows off his unhinged side in spots.... B+
I think I gotta see this. Spoilered clip from a church -- love the tone, lighting and pacing of this. Spoiler
Just finished it. This is probably my second favorite iteration of Batman, closely behind The Dark Knight, and a tier above every other Batman movie ever made. The focus on THE BATMAN, the detective, and fear-inspiring vigilante (still felt vulnerable in every act though) is unparalleled to the Nolan movies. Although some may be slightly turned off by this take of Bruce Wayne, I won’t spoil anything. Really interested to hear of others’ thoughts on the final Riddler convo at the end with that other character. Where The Dark Knight IMO was an A+, this is an A.
Felt like watching a horror detective movie. It immediately sucked you into Gotham and treated you as a knowledgeable fan (no need to give any backstory on characters/villans) Dark, contemporary and artistically shot.
Gonna go later today with the wife. Says it’s basically 3 hours long. Woah. For those that have seen it, does it drag? Or is the 3 hours done well?
Pros: - Bringing back the detective side of him like others have mentioned. - Not being invincible, but still being imposing. - Catwoman voyeur shots - Dark tone, dark visuals. Cons - Action scenes were good, but the trailers sort of showed the best already. - Needs more editing. It felt disjointed, long and dragged at times. Maybe my ADD is worse nowadays, but I've watched other long movies that didn't drag at all. Not all the twists and turns and reveals were necessary. Overall, I'd have it behind all the Nolan films, and not because it isn't my cup of tea. It brought back nice dark detective thriller vibes of 90's movies. You know how Logan was a Western that happens to have Wolverine? That was done excellently. The Batman is a 90's detective dark thriller that happens to have Batman and is good, just not excellent.
I'm a big bats fan so I really enjoyed it but it does start to feel it's length in the final act, I think it has to do with the overall pace which is best described as methodical......
I would say some of the shots are overindulgent, but overall the pace is pretty good. There isn't a single long part that drags, but there are scenes that are 15 or 20 seconds too long where the director is basically just playing with himself (for anyone who has seen it, I would use the motorcycles scene right at the end as an example of what I mean).
And yes there is a lot of watchmen vibe in a good way… Matt reeves also put a stamp on this movie there was a lot of “let me in” carryover