Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers for The Batman. If you don't want to be spoiled, please feel free to leave the page. This post will still be here after you've seen the film, waiting with bells on.
At this point I have been to see The Batman seven times (hyperfixating on a film still on its theatre run is not cheap, y'all). I wrote my Review (of sorts) for it, but I still have some thoughts that didn't really fit into a review post. They will not, however, shut up in my head, so I'm going to put them here in a joyful ADHD Supplemental post! (Sometimes ADHD is like having squirrels in your brain that are just perpetually losing their nuts, sometime it's like a sloth and you are just spacing out constantly... and sometimes it's like having little yappy dogs that get louder and whinier the longer you try to ignore them.)
First off, can I just gush over Batman's suit a bit? The costume designer for this version is a genius. I love it. I mentioned in my review that I like how Batman uses the heavy sound of his boots to intimidate people (though I still haven't figured out where the spur sound comes from), but that isn't the only thing that I think is great about this costume. It's an odd little thing, but I really appreciate the fact that the cowl is open over his whole jawline, not just some weird little area around his mouth. I also love how practical it is. The Bat symbol on his chest is his blade, the cape turns into a flight suit, and I really like the handy thigh pouch complimenting his utility belt. (Bruce's knapsack must be a type of Bag of Holding, though, as I can't imagine that bulky suit fitting in it any other way.)
I also very much appreciate the fact that it is a worn in suit. You can see pretty well in the splash image I chose: there're places where the paint is scraped off, and there are scratches on the cowl. There's also a couple of little tears in the leather around one of the eye holes, and I don't know why, but I just adore it like that. The Gotham of this Batman is a lot gritter than some of the other iterations, and this grungier sort of Batman costume really hits just right for it. Definitely my favourite Batsuit to date.
The devil's in the details, after all, and there are a lot of tiny details in The Batman that just ice that cake to perfection. (I'm bad with analogies, okay?) I do like me some details.
In the Bat's opening voiceover, one of the things he notes is that 'two years of night have turned [him] into a nocturnal animal'. Once home, Alfred tells him to get a shower, as people from the Wayne Enterprises financial department are coming for breakfast. After making a bit of an ass of himself (which I'll touch on in a sec, because I've come to love the relationship dynamic between Bruce and Alfred in this film), he complies. Next scene, he's going downstairs, and you see weak early morning light filtering in through the windows of the room.
Bruce squints at it and puts on a pair of sunglasses. It's just a little continuity detail, but I heart it so much.
Okay, so... Bruce and Alfred. The first time I watched the movie, I didn't much care for their relationship. Part of this, I will admit, comes from my own reservations about Andy Serkis playing Alfred in the first place (not that I have anything against him as an actor at all, but I didn't picture him as a butler), but... In the first conversation we see them have, Alfred is worrying over Batman's recklessness, and Bruce says, 'Alfred. Stop. You're not my father.' It came across as unnatural and forced, but the next time I watched the scene, I realised that it feels that way because it's supposed to.
I mentioned in my review that Bruce is purposely keeping Alfred at arm's length (but he does it badly, which I actually find endearing). When Bruce pulls the 'you're not my father' line, Alfred's response is 'I'm well aware', and he says it in a rather disheartened manner. You can see in Bruce's face that he realised he pushed too far, which is why, I believe, he pretty much immediately, obediently goes off to get his shower.
A very similar thing happens with Bruce's dig at Alfred for having Wayne monogramed cufflinks. 'Are you a Wayne, too?' he asks with a sort of mocking half-laugh, and Alfred informs him that they were a gift from Bruce's father. Immediately the façade is gone, and he gets this childlike, wistful look on his face while looking at the cufflink he's holding. The barrier he's put up just sort of dissipates.
That childlike mentality, buried beneath the Angsty Teenage Phase™ and the Beat the Fuck Out of Criminals Thing™ is one of my favourite aspects about this Bruce. It comes out again when Riddler releases the accusations against Thomas Wayne, saying he had a reporter murdered for political gain. It gets under Bruce's skin, and he goes to see Falcone, who basically says he did in fact kill the dude for Thomas without actually saying he killed the dude for Thomas ('Your father wanted me to handle it, so I did. I handled it'). Bruce, like a kid, takes this at face value.
Thankfully Alfred was able to set Bruce straight. I really appreciate their conversation in the hospital. It culminates in Bruce finally letting his wall crumble completely (and with the awfullest utterance of the word 'God' my ears have ever had to hear), admitting that the one fear he hasn't been able to overcome is losing someone he cares about.
Rewinding a bit in the movie, I gotta say, one of the things I thought silly was Batman just blatantly admitting to Selina that he'd been stalking her apartment ('[Annika] did seem upset... back at your place'). I've come to the conclusion, though, that what he was doing was being a calculating little fuck. The only reason I can think of as to why he would tell her that he was spying on her and Annika is that he was assessing her mettle. Selina didn't so much as flinch upon finding out he'd been watching her. Whether he was already planning on using her in his investigation, I don't know, but I do feel like it was a test of sorts.
Or I could be reading too much into it, and he really is just that socially awkward (another trait of this Bruce that endears me to him).
I feel mildly compelled to point out that I while I consider myself fairly observant, I can apparently also be very, very obtuse. I mentioned in my review that there are shots showing car parts for Batman's car. This is true. There are shots of all sorts of bits and bobs that I have no idea what they are because I don't do cars... And I apparently don't do cars so much that I completely missed, seriously, missed the fact that they show what looks to be the fucking engine sat out, like two or three times before he takes the thing out for a spin. So, yeah, there's definitely evidence that he's still working on it.
At least I'm willing to admit my shortcomings? Hmm...
Let's see. I wanted to comment a bit on Gil Coulson, the Gotham City DA. When we meet him, he's high as fuck on Drops. He comes across as having about as much of a backbone as overcooked spaghetti. I can't help but feel bad for him because he's just that pathetic... I also couldn't help but wonder how the hell this guy ended up being the fucking DA, right? But he does give us a glimpse at the kind of man he could be on a normal basis. The first is during his trial by riddles (well, they both are): Riddler has asked how much he was bought for, and when Gil tells how much he gets paid to not prosecute certain cases, Batman asks which ones. Gil suddenly gets some balls and shoots back, 'He didn't ask me that!'
The second (and only other, really) instance is the fact that he'd rather die by himself rather than put his family in danger. Though, thinking about it, this one is a bit more ambiguous on the whole having a spine thing, because one could construe his willingness to get his head blown off rather than admit who the rat was as cowardice. But I think I'll give him a little benefit of the doubt and say that it was balls.
On a different note, one of my favourite pieces of the score is Riddles, Riddles Everywhere:
It's a short bit, used during the scene where Bruce is ruining the floor with spray-paint to map out his thoughts. I sort of want to be mad at the fact that he's doing it, because it seems so over the top that he's brainstorming like that, but I have to remember a fundamental truth about Bruce Wayne: he's fucking extra as all hell. (As a side, I also find it hilarious every time it cuts from the scene where he fucks up and catches his parachute on the bridge, as it yanked his cape/flight suit off, but when it switches to the next scene where he's meeting Gordon by the Batsignal, he's got another fucking cape on.)
I can imagine the scene, though: Alfred is released from the hospital and comes home to find fucking paint all over the hardwood, and he's going to wearily question Bruce about it. And Bruce is all like, 'Yeah, sorry... I was going to clean it up, but I got shot in the abdomen point blank with a shotgun and it hurts to bend over' and lifts his shirt to show Alfred the grossest looking bruise on the planet, and then poor Alfred ends up right back in the hospital from having a worry induced heart attack...
Fun times.
Speaking of the Bat getting shot... I ran across this article that speculates that what Batman injected himself with to save Selina was Venom, the enhancement serum Bane uses. Whether it was or not, it definitely had very similar results. I get the impression, though, that that wasn't the first time Gordon has seen the Bat use it. When he gets Batman off the Riddler crony, the look on his face isn't fear or anger... It looked more like knowing disappointment (because of course a good guy like Jim Gordon would disapprove of a drug like that). Makes me wonder if Bats had to use it while apprehending the Joker (which I kinda really want to see how that played out, but I doubt we'll get to unless they do a comic of it or sommat...).
And I think I may have figured out where the deleted scene goes? To my knowledge Matt Reeves hasn't said, but towards the end of the scene in the morgue, Gordon questions what sort of demented person would do something like kill a person with rats (I guess he's never watched Game of Thrones), and Batman gets this look on his face. I'm thinking he's thinking maybe it would be a fair idea to go ask a demented person what sort of demented person would do something like kill a person with rats. (That is an awful sentence, but I do not apologise for it.)
Oh! Fuck, I felt like I was forgetting something I wanted to touch on, and I was... We're going to go back to that fucking chase scene.
Don't get me wrong, I love the scene. It is absolutely fucking insane. But there are things my brain is like ,'now, just wait a gosh darned minute here!' on... Firstly, we're going to go back to the lorry that Penguin hard braked in front of. My current day job is the admin assistant of a trucking company. I have learned things. One thing I noticed is that that tractor was following way too fucking close in the first place. Our drivers are supposed to maintain a distance of 6-8 seconds away from the vehicle in front of them (depending on weather conditions) because of how long it can take them to stop. It's done in seconds instead of distance, because the distance required to stop will change based on the speed the tractor is going. Granted, I know there are aggressive lorry drivers out there, and some of them will ride your arse like a dickwaffle, so it isn't actually too far outside of the realm of possibility that Oz was being followed that close, but still.
I do sort of low-key love how the fucking multi-vehicle pile up and subsequent explosion on the motorway are just never referenced or mentioned again.
One thing that actually does bug me about the chase scene, though, is the fact that Oz never put on his seatbelt. This does not bother me because he somehow miraculously survived three crashes and then his car roll-bouncing a few hundred feet... It bothers me because what the fuck is holding him in the seat while the car is upside down? Plot glue, that's what.
And I still feel like I'm forgetting something... Oh, well.
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