The Batman

DIRECTED BY-:
Matt Reeves
STARRING-:
Robert Pattinson

Zoë Kravitz

Paul Dano

YEAR OF RELEASE-:

2022

PREMISE-:

When a sadistic serial killer begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city's hidden corruption and question his family's involvement.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE NEGATIVES-:

• BATMAN SHOULD'VE COVERED HIS ENTIRE FACE-:

• It really makes no sense for Batman to not cover his entire face with a bulletproof mask, especially considering almost everyone he fights in the film carries a gun. 

• Covering his entire face would also help Batman in COMPLETELY hiding his true identity, instead of exposing his very vulnerable AND identifiable jawline. 

• I would unfortunately have to criticize this as a massive plot armor issue too, as anytime anyone in this film shoots at Batman, they CONVENIENTLY fail to hit Batman’s very exposed jaw. 

• When Batman is fighting Riddler’s followers during the climax of the film, there is a point in the fight where he is surrounded (front and back) by two thugs who are about to shoot at him. In order to prevent getting shot, Batman moves out of the way at just the right moment, causing the thugs to unintentionally shoot at each other. I found this moment to be a slight assassination of Batman’s character, since as a believer of the “no kill” rule, he COULD have just stood there and taken the shots to his body (his suit is bulletproof) like he does many times in the movie, without risking the possibility of the two thugs accidentally killing each other. Now granted, one could argue that Batman moved away to protect his own exposed jaw, which further frustrates me as this weird character moment wouldn’t have been present if he had just decided to cover his entire face.

• BATMAN IN CRIME SCENES-:

• During the mayoral debate in the beginning of the movie, Bella Reál clearly objects to Batman’s existence and highlights it as a negative aspect of Gotham, a sentiment apparently shared by a LOT of Gotham’s citizens as we are told that she’s tied with Mitchell in the election polls. We’re also shown that the Commissioner himself is very much AGAINST Batman. Despite this, it felt really odd to me that Gordon decided to let Batman inside the first crime scene (Mitchell’s house) and Riddler’s home, especially considering that not a lot of police officers are on-board with Batman helping and many consider him a freak. So, one of these non-approving officers COULD easily testify about Batman’s presence at these scenes, which would further enable Riddler’s lawyers to argue a case of breakage of chain of evidence and evidence tampering. And even though the film (through Gordon) tries to explain that that shall NOT be the case by arguing that Batman was wearing gloves the entire time, the film seems to forget that the concept of chain of evidence is much more nuanced than simply having or not having fingerprints on a piece of evidence. While it is true that Batman’s fingerprints would NOT be found, Riddler’s lawyers could still argue that Batman, who is a VIGILANTE (and hence a criminal) and NOT an officer of the law, planted all of the evidence and the flagrant breakage in chain of evidence would render most of the evidence inadmissible. It’s frustrating that neither Gordon nor Batman seem to recognize / acknowledge this fact.

• A possible defense: Gordon brought Batman to Mitchell's house because there was a letter addressed to the Batman.

• My counterargument: Batman could've been first arrested or detained and THEN interrogated about Riddler's letters and clues. OR, Gordon could've privately met with Batman and then asked him about Riddler's messages. Clearly, there were a lot of smarter options than simply compromising the validity of the crime scene by bringing Batman inside.

• THE BAT SIGNAL-:

• Why was the bat signal unprotected? I found it really hard to believe that NO ONE in the entire city, none of the criminals or the people who don’t approve of vigilante justice, ever tried to destroy the bat signal either by tracing the signal to its building OR by simply following Gordon from the police station or his home.

• The bat signal being unprotected also poses a serious threat to Batman himself, because someone could easily use it to lure Batman to the building and then try to kill him in an ambush.

• Why did Gordon and Batman, people who are supposed to be intelligent, thought it was a wise idea to plug a KILLER’S thumb-drive into Gordon’s PERSONAL computer? By doing this, the drive not only becomes inadmissible in court (as lawyers could argue that Gordon himself PUT incriminating evidence on the drive), but it also poses a serious security risk to the computer (something that we do see getting compromised). The drive should’ve been ideally sent to a forensic lab where it would’ve been copied and then looked through.

• Why didn’t neither Batman nor Falcone (and Penguin) or the police bother to check the angle (and place) from which Mitchell’s “compromising” photos were taken? 

• BATMAN GOES TO THE ICEBERG LOUNGE-:

• Since the twins who are protecting the front door of the iceberg lounge are shown to be aware of who Batman is (and probably have an idea of what he is capable of), why didn’t they first immediately inform the Penguin (who seems to have no problem in peaceful talking) of Batman’s arrival (and tell him that he wishes to talk), instead of DIRECTLY trying to defeat him in a fist-fight? Even if the twins were stupid enough to try to intimidate Batman away at the front door, why didn’t they at least threaten him with guns?

• I also found it very unwise of Batman to fight his way through goons in the Iceberg Lounge and putting many innocent people at risk of getting shot in the crossfire.

• SELINA KYLE ENTERS THE STORY-:

• Selina COINCIDENTALLY enters Penguin’s office at the SAME TIME Batman is questioning him about Mitchell’s photographs.

• Selina COINCIDENTALLY happened to be in Mitchell’s compromising photographs and also CONVENIENTLY happened to be wearing the exact same shoes in front of Batman as she was in the photographs.

• As soon as Selina got to know about Annika’s photographs with Mitchell, why didn’t she immediately relocate Annika to a safe location, especially if their plan was to get out of the city on the same night? She had all the reasons for doing so-:

• Annika felt extremely paranoid and threatened for her life (something that was clearly visible AND something that Selina herself tells Batman when they first meet).

• Even if Selina didn’t know about Falcone being after Annika, the GCPD knocking at her door and taking her in for interrogation was still an inevitability that would’ve interfered with their plan to leave Gotham.

• The cop that comes inside Mitchell’s house to check on the noise (caused by Batman’s and Selina’s fight), LUCKILY doesn’t notice the wide open safe on the wall and Selina’s burglary tools lying on the floor.

• Falcone’s men CONVENIENTLY attack and abduct Annika JUST A FEW minutes after Selina leaves the house to retrieve Annika’s passport.

• Riddler COINCIDENTALLY broadcasts his murder of Commissioner Pete Savage on the SAME NIGHT that Annika gets abducted (and Selina and Batman meet each other).

• SELINA GOES TO THE ’44 BELOW’-:

• Colson (the DA) is CONVENIENTLY present at ’44 below’ on the SAME NIGHT Selina is sent there by Batman.

• Batman’s eye-tech is CONVENIENTLY not able to identify Gil Colson in the first go, causing Selina to look at him again and spark up a conversation (a conversation which provides significant information to Batman).

• When Selina is questioning Carla about Annika, Penguin and Falcone CONVENIENTLY happen to be in close proximity.

• The Riddler CONVENIENTLY attacks Colson JUST AFTER Selina is done talking to him. 

• For all of his supposed extensive research, and the fact that his house is right in front of Falcone's club, how did Riddler not know that Falcone would be making an appearance at Mitchell’s funeral? If he DID know, then why didn’t he kill Falcone that day?

• Even though Batman was standing right in front of Colson when the bomb blew up, he LUCKILY suffered ZERO injuries from the blast.

• BATMAN ESCAPES GCPD CUSTODY-:

• Once batman gets knocked unconscious after the bomb blast, why did the GCPD take him to the police station instead of a hospital? If Gordon TRULY cared about Batman, he should’ve IMMEDIATELY unmasked him to check for concussions and head injuries and should’ve admitted him to a hospital, where he could’ve been handcuffed and THEN interrogated. I mean, I understand that Gordon wants to protect Batman’s identity, but surely his LIFE would be more important to him, right?

• In the police station, Batman conveniently regains consciousness JUST BEFORE his mask is about to be taken off. 

• Just before making his escape, Batman ACCIDENTALLY spots Kenzie in the GCPD building.

• Batman’s “crash” after gliding from the top of GCPD building LUCKILY leaves him with NO significant injuries. The speed with which he first hit the bridge, then the bus, and then the car, should’ve left him DEAD.

• Why was Gordon allowed to leave the GCPD building immediately after Batman escaped? Shouldn’t there have been some consequences for Gordon considering HE was the one who was constantly advocating for Batman and if it wasn’t for HIS leniency, Batman would still be in GCPD custody? Gordon should’ve AT LEAST been demoted, if not suspended.

• Even though Gordon tells Batman that the chief has put out an APB on him, throughout the rest of the film, an actual sense of threat from the GCPD towards Batman is never really present or felt.

• BATMAN GOES AFTER PENGUIN-:

• The night on which Batman decided to follow Kenzie (to get to penguin) COINCIDENTALLY happened to be the SAME night when Penguin decided to visit one of his drops operations. 

• Considering that it has been at least two days since Annika’s death, why wasn’t her body disposed already? Why was her corpse still being carried around in the trunk of Kenzie’s car? 

• Annika’s dead body and the bags of money were CONVENIENTLY present in the trunk of the SAME car.

• Penguin’s men conveniently start to shoot at Batman and Selina JUST SECONDS AFTER Selina discovers Annika’s dead body.

• Why does Penguin and his men shooting from a far distance (WAY more distance than what Batman would later encounter), cause Batman to be incapacitated on the ground for a while?

• Why did Batman waste time revving up and showing off his car when he could’ve easily incapacitated Penguin and his men with it? By revving up his engine and, by the looks of it, CHALLENGING Penguin to a car chase, Batman STUPIDLY put a lot of people on the highway in danger and is directly responsible for the death of innocent civilians. In fact, considering that it was ONLY Penguin who was able to escape in his car, and Kenzie and the Twins were still on the ground shooting at Gordon and Selina, Batman’s priority SHOULD’ve been to first incapacitate ALL of the bad guys to protect Gordon and Selina. He could’ve gone after Penguin later, since he knows he can always find him in the Iceberg Lounge. Even if we assume that Penguin would go into hiding and WON’T be available at Iceberg Lounge after this, it would've been an opportunity to show Batman applying his detective skills to track him.

• After the truck explodes during the car chase, when seemingly all hope is lost, a very CONVENIENT ramp gets created from the one of the crashing trucks, LUCKILY allowing Batman’s car to fly through the fire and explosion. 

• Considering that Batman needed Penguin alive (because of his “no kill” rule AND because of the fact that he needed to interrogate him), why did Batman crash into Penguin’s car in such a way that could potentially KILL him?

• The Penguin LUCKILY sustains NO injuries after his car flips over multiple times.

• It was highly frustrating that neither the film, Gordon, or Batman acknowledge the potential death of many innocent people as a consequence of Batman’s stupid decision to voluntarily initiate an unnecessary car chase with the Penguin. Batman in particular should’ve been SEVERELY affected by this and should’ve been riddled with guilt, since he’s constantly shown to be a firm believer in the “no kill” rule. It would've also been thematically relevant, since it would tie in the idea that acting out of pure rage and vengeance can often have a very destructive effect.

• Another frustrating thing about this scene was that once Batman gets out of his car to approach the Penguin, the film is too busy in giving the audience a gorgeous inverted hero shot, instead of making Batman help the individuals who are suffering behind him from the crashes and explosions.  

• After the highway disaster, the ambiguous nature of Batman and GCPD’s relationship should’ve been completely FINISHED. He should’ve been treated as a fugitive on the run, and the citizens of Gotham should’ve started to HATE him for the destruction he caused. It was completely ridiculous that in the third act, Batman was shown working with the GCPD once again as if nothing ever happened.

• If Penguin pointing out the error in Riddler’s Spanish was what caused Batman to look for other hidden clues within the riddle (such as “U-R-L”), then why didn’t Batman do this in the beginning itself when Alfred himself pointed out that Riddler Spanish’s “wasn’t perfect”? Shouldn’t that have made Batman at least a bit suspicious from the get go? 

• A possible defense: Alfred didn’t specifically mention which part of Riddler’s cipher had the incorrect Spanish, whereas the Penguin did.

• My Response: It’s VERY convenient that Alfred only mentioned the fact that Riddler’s Spanish was incorrect, instead of going into specifics. If instead of saying, “I’m afraid his Spanish isn’t perfect”, Alfred had said, “It should be you are LA Rata Alada instead of you are EL Rata Alada”, then a lot of the plot would have been solved very quickly. It’s also convenient and kind of frustrating that Batman, a supposed detective who’s dealing with a serial killer (who, according to Batman himself, "Doesn't make mistakes"), doesn’t bother to inquire about the specifics of Riddler’s deliberately incorrect usage of Spanish.

• When Batman and Riddler are chatting through the “U-R-L”, Riddler says (while referring to Bruce) that “He’s the biggest piece of the puzzle yet”, which I found very odd since that was really NOT the case. It would’ve been more believable if Riddler had said this in reference to Falcone.

• Why didn’t Gordon, either himself or through GCPD, arrest Penguin after he was red-handedly caught running a drops operation AND was responsible for all the destruction caused on the highway?

• Alfred LUCKILY throws the bomb away in just enough time to sustain survivable injuries. 

• The “White privileged assholes” line from Selina Kyle felt EXTREMELY jarring and incongruous with Selina's character, as there was NO indication ANYWHERE in the film that her suffering was somehow racially motivated.

• RIDDLER PUBLICLY EXPOSES THE WAYNE FAMILY-:

• Why did Riddler decide to publicly criticize and expose the Wayne family BEFORE he had Bruce Wayne in his custody or was about to kill him? Because, with ALL of his other victims, he only publicly exposed them either AFTER killing them or JUST BEFORE killing them. So why did he change this very effective strategy when targeting Bruce Wayne?

• By publicly criticizing and exposing the Wayne family, Riddler STUPIDLY gave GCPD the chance to ramp up security around Bruce Wayne. This brings me to my next criticism - After Riddler released the video, why DIDN’T the GCPD increase their security around Bruce Wayne, especially considering that he had already to tried to kill him once (by sending a bomb in the mail)? 

• Instead of going to the police directly, why did Thomas Wayne feel the need to first TELL Falcone that he’s thinking of confessing?

• ANNIKA’S VOICEMAIL

• If Falcone’s men were smart enough to steal Selina’s phone while abducting Annika, then why didn’t they check Annika’s person for HER phone? If they would’ve searched Annika and taken away her phone, she wouldn’t have been able to call Selina and the third act of the film would’ve gone VERY differently.

• Why wasn’t Selina’s phone IMMEDIATELY destroyed after Annika’s death? Why did Kenzie still have it in his possession ESPECIALLY considering it had incriminating evidence (Annika’s voicemail) on it? 

• There was ample amount of time (enough time for Selina to deliver TWO lines of dialogues -“Don’t worry honey” and “I got nine of ‘em”) between Selina putting her leg on Kenzie’s chest (to push him) and actually pushing him off the building and yet, neither Batman nor Gordon try to pull Selina back in order prevent it from happening.

• FALCONE GETS ARRESTED-:

• Why didn’t any of Falcone’s guards bother to search Selina’s person (and her purse) for weapons, especially after she requested to talk to him privately?

• Once Selina was alone with Falcone, did she REALLY need to put on a fake sob story just so that she has an excuse of reaching insider her purse for a tissue? Couldn’t she have directly shot him instead?

• Falcone and Selina’s meeting is LUCKILY interrupted by Vinnie, one of Falcone’s men, JUST BEFORE Selina is about to shoot Falcone.

• Batman COINCIDENTALLY shuts down the power of Falcone’s club JUST BEFORE Selina is about to shoot Falcone, which causes her to CONVENIENTLY miss her shot.

• After Selina misses her shot, we see Vinnie trying to engage in hand-to-hand combat with her. Which begs the question, why didn’t he have a gun?

• Batman LUCKILY arrives to save Selina JUST BEFORE Falcone can kill her.

• Despite being red-handedly caught running a drops operation, causing the destruction of life and property on the highway, and pulling a gun on the cops (cops who are NOT in his pocket, by the way) to try to shoot Falcone, Penguin, for SOME REASON is STILL shown to be free near the end of the film.

• THE CONVERSATION IN ARKHAM ASYLUM-:

• STATEMENT 1: Riddler first states that he always thought that Batman was ON HIS TEAM and that he would be completely fine with the destruction of Gotham and would even celebrate it.

• STATEMENT 2: Riddler states that he is surprised and disappointed that Batman hasn’t figured out his final plan already, implying that when Batman came to Arkham, Riddler thought that Batman HAD already figured out his final plan but hadn’t disclosed it to the police to protect his “teammate”.

• Now, the following are few instances which clearly establish that Riddler KNOWS that Batman is working WITH the GCPD to solve the case of Riddler’s murders-:

• Riddler’s own extensive research on Batman would’ve been enough to prove that Batman is friends with Lieutenant Gordon.

• Riddler leaving clues intended for Batman in the hands of the police clearly implies that Riddler KNEW his clues would make their way to Batman with Gordon’s help.

• While sniping Falcone from the window of his apartment, Riddler would have seen Batman working WITH the GCPD to arrest Falcone. 

• The very conversation that Riddler gets to have with Batman in Arkham asylum relies on THE POLICE informing Batman that Riddler’s asked to see him.

• So, BECAUSE of the above mentioned instances, “STATEMENT 1” and “STATEMENT 2” make NO SENSE at all.

• STATEMENT 2 further makes no sense because Batman figuring out Riddler’s final plan would’ve required him to tear up the carpet in Riddler’s house, something that would’ve been visible to ALL of the police officers and the forensics present there. So, even if Batman WANTED to, there was no way Batman could’ve FIGURED OUT Riddler’s final plan AND hide it from the authorities.

• If the Riddler truly believed that he was working along with Batman AS A TEAM, and that he NEEDED Batman to “bring the rat into the light”, then why did he risk KILLING Batman by blowing up the bomb on Colson’s head when Batman was standing right in front of him?

• According to Riddler, he wanted to get caught and put in Arkham because “he would be safe there” when the flooding of Gotham begins, which makes NO SENSE, because it’s not like the entire city went underwater. There were still a lot of parts of the city where the extent of flooding wasn’t severe. Moreover, from the looks of it, Riddler would’ve been COMPLETELY safe in his own hideout (across the Iceberg Lounge) which was WAY above the ground.

• THE CARPET TUCKER-:

• If the Riddler truly wanted to blow up the seawall and assassinate Bella Real (which we know he did), why did he, through his final “confession” (in the bat cage in his house), provide the carpet tucker (the weapon he used to kill Mitchell) to the police WAY before his final plan was scheduled to begin? Was he just HOPING that the police, Batman, and the forensic team would be incompetent enough to not be able to figure out his final plan in time even after finding the carpet tucker? 

• When Batman is back at Riddler’s house after their conversation in Arkham asylum, the VERY FIRST piece of evidence that he picks up LUCKILY happens to be the one which is KEY to figuring out Riddler’s final plan.

• Out of all the officers, Officer Martinez, whose uncle is a carpet installer, was CONVENIENTLY the one in charge of guarding Riddler’s home. And, he also CONVENIENTLY happened to be chatty enough and friendly enough to not only share that fact about his uncle’s profession but also mention the functionality of the carpet tucker. 

• Also, it’s HIGHLY CONVENIENT that Officer Martinez, who seemed to be the ONLY officer who knew that the murder weapon was actually a carpet tucker, was not around when the police, the forensic team, and Batman first found the weapon while searching Riddler’s house.

• So essentially, Batman figuring out the climax of the movie not only relies on JUST THE RIGHT officer CONVENIENTLY guarding Riddler’s house at JUST THE RIGHT time, but also relies on the same officer CONVENIENTLY NOT being present at JUST THE RIGHT PLACE at JUST THE RIGHT TIME. Aside from being a huge contrivance, this was also very unsatisfying to watch, as I would have preferred if Batman, who’s supposed to be the “world’s greatest detective”, actually applied his detective skills and figured out Riddler’s final plan on his own instead of it just being served to him by a contrived character. 

• Batman conveniently figures out Riddler’s final plan at the EXACT time the execution of the plan begins.

• RIDDLER’S PLAN TO KILL FALCONE-:

• Based on the conversation Riddler has with Batman in Arkham asylum and based on what he says to his followers in his final video, Riddler PLANNED on getting caught and being sent to Arkham BEFORE the destruction of the city seawall on Election Day. But, Riddler only got caught as early as he did because of Selina Kyle’s subplot. If the plot line of Selina Kyle and her friend Annika didn’t exist, then it would’ve taken Batman much longer to bring Falcone to justice. Annika getting killed, Selina catching Kenzie and then going to kill Falcone alone was what caused Batman to apprehend Falcone and obtain definitive incriminating evidence towards him (Annika’s voicemail). So, how could’ve Riddler predicted that Selina’s subplot would conveniently intertwine with Batman’s plot AND get wrapped up JUST BEFORE Election Day? Forget about predicting, the film gives us no indication whatsoever that Riddler is even aware of Selina and Annika’s relationship. And as I’ve pointed out, it would’ve taken Batman much more time to apprehend Falcone himself, without the involvement of Selina’s storyline, which means that Riddler wouldn’t have been able to kill Falcone just before Election Day and which in turn means that Riddler’s plan of watching the city seawall explode from the "safety" of his Arkham cell would not have worked out. In short, Riddler’s final plan unfortunately has a plot hole AND a plot contrivance.

• The plot hole: There is no way Riddler could have planned to kill Falcone JUST BEFORE Election Day since there is no way he could’ve predicted the way in which Selina’s plot line and Batman’s plot line intertwined with each other.

• The plot contrivance: CONVENIENTLY for Riddler (and unbeknownst to him), Selina’s subplot DOES exist and gets wrapped up JUST BEFORE Election Day. 

• RIDDLER’S CHARACTER ASSASSINATION-:

• Based on what the majority of the film showed us, Riddler’s core motivation was to exact revenge on and expose the corrupt people in power who are working for Falcone and are benefiting from the Renewal program after Thomas Wayne’s death. This motivation was quite understandable and sympathetic, since Riddler himself is one of the orphans who was supposed to benefit from the renewal program and the lack of it caused him to have a horrible childhood. So, inspired by the Batman, he decides to enforce some vigilante justice himself, even if he has to use some brutal and barbaric means while doing so. And since he’s inspired by the Batman, he tries to work WITH him to bring down the corrupt by sending him riddles and clues. Now, as long as the film stuck to THIS characterization, it managed to stay pretty engaging and thought-provoking as it allowed the audience to draw several parallels between the Batman and the Riddler (something that I've elaborated in "The Positives" section of this review).

• However, my first gripe with Riddler’s characterization comes when he decides that he has to kill Bruce Wayne simply because he is the son of Thomas Wayne, who had connections with Falcone. It felt uncharacteristic and deviated significantly from his core motivation. The film does TRY to justify this development by portraying that Riddler believes in “The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son”, and that he hates Bruce because he had a much better orphan-life than the Riddler did, but it just makes Riddler look like a maniac instead of a calculative (and sympathetic) psychopath.

• My second and the BIGGEST complaint about his character comes from his final plan itself, where he decides that he (through his followers) has to assassinate the new mayor because she MUST be corrupt (even though she’s had NO chance to actually run the city AND there is no evidence that she is actually corrupt) and make THOUSANDS of INNOCENT civilians suffer by flooding the city because HE himself lived a life of suffering, so it’s only fair that they do too. Both of these actions and the reasonings provided for them thoroughly assassinate Riddler’s character and destroy everything that was established about him earlier in the film, making him look like a genocidal maniac once again who just wants people to suffer.

• So, even if they are inconsistent character-wise, we are to now believe that Riddler has TWO goals: Assassinate the mayor, and make thousands of people suffer by flooding the city. Even though assassinating the mayor first and THEN flooding the city would make the most sense strategically, Riddler for SOME reason decides to flood the city first, stupidly giving a chance to the new mayor to escape the venue and secure herself. OR, are we to believe that Riddler KNEW Bella Reál WOULDN’T leave the venue and would try to calm down the public? If so, then his motivations to kill her FURTHER don’t make sense and become very contradictory - He wants to kill Bella Reál because he thinks she MUST also be corrupt, but his plan to assassinate her RELIES on her exhibiting the qualities of a good, brave, and noble leader.

• THE CLIMAX-:

• How were 20-30 ARMED men with matching costumes, rifles, boxes full of ammunition and other equipment able to enter the Gotham Square Garden unnoticed? Didn’t the police officers do a security sweep of the entire place, especially considering that a high-value target (the mayor) is going to be present? Weren’t there officers present at all the entry points? 

• A possible defense: the police were distracted by the flooding of the city and hence they couldn’t maintain the same level of security that they normally would have. 

• My counterargument(s): 

• This defense would have been valid if it was ONE or TWO men who managed to sneak in, but the fact that it was DOZENS of men with matching costumes (which resemble THE RIDDLER’s), rifles, boxes full of ammunition and other equipment is what makes this ridiculous.

• When we do see Riddler’s followers sneak in Gotham Square Garden, there is absolutely NO indication of panic or tensions among the general public below. This means, that they were able to sneak in BEFORE the bombs went off, which unfortunately further adds a layer of illogicality.

• The police’s orders to everyone SHOULD'VE been to get to the top of tall buildings (which Gotham is shown to have plenty of), not just to get inside the Gotham Square Garden.

• The flooding of the city begins JUST BEFORE Selina can leave Gotham, causing her to stay in the Gotham Square Garden.

• Riddler’s followers LUCKILY fail to give Bella Reál a fatal injury and also LUCKILY fail to injure Gordon when he comes in to protect Bella.

• Why did Batman risk injuring innocent civilians by blowing up the glass of the dome-shaped ceiling of Gotham Square Garden instead of just entering the venue the same way Riddler’s followers did? 

• During Batman’s fight with Riddler’s followers, one of the chains holding the platform on which they are fighting ACCIDENTALLY gets shot.

• While hanging off of the platform, Batman is LUCKILY in the vicinity of a fire extinguisher.

• Selina LUCKILY arrives to save Batman JUST BEFORE one of the thugs can shoot him.

• Even though there was a gun lying around in the area, the random thug who attacks Selina decides to physically beat her up. 

• The water from the flooding CONVENIENTLY enters Gotham Square Garden JUST AFTER all of Riddler’s followers have been defeated.

• Even though I liked the buildup to Batman cutting the electrical cable and basically “sacrificing” himself by getting electrocuted and falling from a considerable height, it felt very undermined when he was shown to be perfectly fine just 5-10 seconds later. Aside from being a plot armor issue, I would’ve preferred if they rested on this moment a bit longer, and showed Bella Reál (who was earlier shown to be disproving of Batman), witnessing Batman’s sacrifice and realizing that he was a force for good.

• The Joker cameo near the end felt jarring and like blatant sequel-bait. Also, Riddler and Joker CONVENIENTLY happened to have cells right next to each other.

THE POSITIVES-:

• A FANTASTIC OPENING-:

• The first 10-15 minutes of the film were highly effective in not only drawing the audience in, but also in establishing Riddler’s brutality and creepiness, Gotham’s decrepit state, and Batman’s efficiency in fighting, intimidating and frightening the criminal elements of the city. It also sets up Batman’s character for an arc by establishing that he is a symbol of fear and dread, which has caused both the criminals AND the innocents to be afraid of him. All of this was achieved masterfully by using beautiful cinematography, highly memorable and impactful music, a realistically choreographed action scene, and a well utilized reflective narration by Bruce Wayne. My viewing experience was further enhanced by having the opening take place on halloween night. Overall, this was one of my all time favorite openings in a film and it’s inarguably the best scene of the movie.

• I also liked the detail that the “rookie” in the skeleton gang in the beginning of the film only has HALF of his face painted - symbolic of his conflicted nature.

• A TREAT FOR THE EYES AND THE EARS-:

• The film is excellently shot and contains a lot of gorgeous, visually satisfying cinematography along with interesting and believable set designs. 

• The film also has a great soundtrack and an effective sound design which are incorporated very skillfully in the screenplay to build the desired atmosphere and give the appropriate tones to scenes. 

• The costume and makeup departments also did a fantastic job. Colin Farrell was unrecognizable as the penguin and Batman’s suit looked really cool, tough, and intimidating, even if there were some definite scopes for improvement from a logical point of view (like a provision for the entire face to be covered).

• The introduction to the Bat-mobile was also done in a spectacular fashion with immaculate sound design and riveting imagery.

• Great performances from everyone in the cast and well written dialogues helped in making most of the characters feel convincing and believable. 

• PARALLELS AND SYMBOLISM-:

• Apart from the obvious parallels that could be drawn between Batman and Riddler (their similar ideologies, the fact that both of them are orphans, and the fact that both of their lives changed drastically after Thomas Wayne’s death), there were a few other subtle parallels present in the film which I really appreciated:

• Both Batman and Riddler maintain a diary, containing important information about their life’s mission.

• Through their binoculars, Riddler and Batman look at Mitchell and Selina respectively in an almost identical manner. 

• Both Riddler and Batman are introduced to the audience through the use of shadows. Riddler is illuminated by the light coming from Mitchell’s TV - the same TV on which the Renewal program is being discussed as part of the mayoral debate, symbolic of how the renewal program led to the “birth” of the Riddler both in Gotham and in the minds of the audience. Batman on the other hand is introduced as he emerges from the shadows to protect a civilian, which is symbolic of how he has channelled the darkness and vengeance inside him to try to have a positive effect on Gotham.

• (MOSTLY) GOOD CHARACTER WORK-:

• I really liked the scene where both Batman and Alfred seemed to recognize the pain and fear that Mitchell’s young son must be experiencing. It was like both of them were reminded of a young Bruce Wayne who went through similar trauma.

• In the beginning of the film, I liked that Bruce is shown to be so overwhelmed by sunlight that he has to wear shades even inside his house. It was a nice and subtle reference to how truly reclusive and nocturnal he has become.

• I really liked the conversation Alfred and Bruce have in the hospital. It provided a lot interesting insights into Alfred’s character - his background, the fact that he trained Bruce to fight, his history with Thomas Wayne (earlier hinted at with his cufflinks), his role in the Wayne family, and his regret of not being a good enough of a father figure to Bruce (something that is also reflected in the beginning of the film when Alfred dolefully admits that he’s “well aware” he is not Bruce’s father). The scene also highlights Bruce’s love for Alfred, as he admits that nearly losing Alfred made him realize that he still hasn’t gotten over the fear of losing someone he deeply cares about. It was really nice to see the establishment of a deep bond between these two characters, even if they’re shown to have disagreements with each other, whether it be about the legacy of the Wayne family or Bruce’s disregard for personal safety. 

• In the Arkham asylum scene, I really liked the detail that Batman is initially very restrained and subdued in front of Riddler, since he still isn’t sure if Riddler knows Batman’s secret identity. Batman tries to hide his face in the shadows and focuses on the CCTV camera, concerned about his secret being revealed. He also has a look of guilt and shame when Riddler explains how the poor orphans were neglected as the city’s care, sympathy, and attention was instead given to Bruce Wayne. Only when it is made clear that Riddler DOESN’T know Batman’s secret identity, does Batman start approaching Riddler and becomes more confrontational. Overall, this little section of the scene was pretty excellent from both the writing and the acting point of view.

• Bruce Wayne’s potential arc : As evident by the film, Bruce doesn’t feel that the “Bruce Wayne persona” is in any way useful in regard to having a positive effect on Gotham. He doesn’t have much care for his company or his family name and believes that fighting crime as Batman is his family’s true legacy. As Bella Real states, he also isn’t involved in any kind of philanthropic work. Coupled with the fact this is only his second year of fighting crime, he also hasn’t learned how to balance his two lives and hence rarely makes public appearances, the importance of which is constantly reminded to him by Alfred. All of this is really good set-up for a potential character arc where he learns that the “Bruce Wayne persona” can be used just as effectively as Batman to have a positive effect on the city. However, this character journey was unfortunately not explored in this film, and was perhaps saved for future installments. Nonetheless, all of this set-up indicates that Matt Reeves has a clear idea of the direction in which the character of Bruce Wayne is going to go and the growth he is going to experience, which makes me hopeful for the sequel.

• Batman’s arc : Batman’s arc on the other hand was pretty straightforward and satisfyingly written. In the beginning of the film it’s established that Batman is only trying to fight the criminal elements of the city by instilling an immense sense of fear, dread and intimidation among the residents of Gotham, which has caused almost everyone in the city to be either scared of him or freaked out by him. At this point in his life, Batman is primarily fueled by rage and vengeance against the very criminal elements of Gotham that took away his parents. As a result, his combat tactics often rely heavily on pure brute force and aggression, instead of precisely planned stealth. But, as the film acknowledges, this strategy doesn’t prove to be very effective, as the crime rates have only gone up. Batman thinks that the only way to tackle this is to keep pushing himself to his limits, which further harks back to his disregard for his personal well-being. However, this philosophy is challenged by the emergence of Riddler, who, inspired by the Batman, is also fueled by rage and vengeance against the corrupt individuals who took away his childhood and made his life miserable (Now granted, in the end of the film the Riddler does abandon this ethic and makes some highly uncharacteristic choices as I have previously mentioned and criticized. But, for the sake of this point, I would be referring to only the Riddler that was present during the first two-thirds of the movie). The only difference between these two characters is the way in which they go about exacting their revenge. While Batman passionately believes in the “no kill” rule, Riddler prefers to execute his targets in extremely gruesome and barbaric ways. So, when encountered by the fact that he has DIRECTLY inspired Riddler and his followers to adopt the motto of vengeance and fear, he is forced to re-evaluate his own philosophy and the way in which he has tried to have a positive effect on his city. He realizes that vengeance can be immensely destructive and is not going to change the past. Therefore, he has to become MORE than a symbol of fear and revenge. He has to inspire HOPE and an assurance of safety in the people of Gotham who are scarred, hurt and broken just like him. This shift in a new direction was portrayed beautifully by showing-:

• Batman leading people out of the flooded wreckage by lighting up a red flare, which is symbolic of hope and shows how the people of Gotham have started to TRUST Batman instead of being frightened by him.

• Batman helping the injured atop the Gotham Square Garden, where for the first time, we see a common civilian of Gotham be THANKFUL to Batman, instead of being afraid of him, a gesture which Batman clearly finds very touching and impactful.

• The fact that Batman helping people atop Gotham Square Garden towards the end is the ONLY time we see the sun rising in Gotham city.

RATING-: 5/10