The Batman | The (extremely) black knight ★★★★

“You want it darker”, sang Leonard Cohen. “Darker” is what DC Films seems to have understood following the success of Joker.

Pascal LeBlanc
The Press

But not for every character in the DC family – Wonder Woman, Aquaman and The Flash will keep it wise. The studio understood, however, that audiences wanted to see a Batman who can compete with such deranged criminals as Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. In this revival of the adventures of the Dark Knight, it is The Riddler (the Sphinx, played brilliantly by Paul Dano) who torments Gotham.

We’re not saying here that the trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan was joyful as a rainbow and that Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), Joker (Heath Ledger) and Bane (Tom Hardy) were altar boys, but The Batman, by Matt Reeves, is composed only of shades of black. As much for the tone as for the color palette. Even in the hero, there are very few gray areas. In an interview, Robert Pattinson, who wears the bat costume for the first time, indicates that his Batman sees the world in a “very binary” way and that according to him there are only “bad people and victims”. . The treatment he reserves for dishonest people is therefore unequivocal: he defeats them with a violence never before seen on the big screen. The rule of not killing any enemy is always respected, however.

This is about the only similarity with its predecessors. This Batman works openly with the police forces, but it is only with James Gordon (excellent Jeffrey Wright) that the relationship of trust is mutual. Bruce Wayne lives in a mansion that hides a Batcave, but it’s not populated with futuristic gadgetry – there are quite a few bats, though. His equipment is more that of an obsessive detective. More than half of Matt Reeves and Peter Craig’s story is also devoted to the search for clues, the decoding of puzzles and interviews with very unwilling sources. It’s delicious! The reference will possibly escape those who do not play video games, but feel like they are in a game of the series Arkham is real. The brutal fights, the frenzied chases, the complex puzzles, the dark places, the constant rain, the silence of the alleys… We also think of the film Sevenby David Fincher.

Gotham’s Underworld

The Batman also takes us deep into Gotham for the first time. Where organized crime, politics and the legislature come together. In short, where everything is decided. In the same place, The Iceberg Lounge, we can see the boss of the mob Carmine Falcone (John Turturro, charismatic and intractable), his henchman Oswald Cobblepot (Collin Farrell unrecognizable in Penguin) and the prosecutor Gil Colson (convincing Peter Sarsgaard ).

Waitress in this establishment, Selina Kyle witnesses the shenanigans between the all-powerful of Gotham. She tries to go unnoticed, but an event forces her to dive headfirst into this environment. This is when his path and that of Batman cross. Zoë Kravitz’s acting is so precise that it makes the questioning of Bruce Wayne quite believable, who, upon meeting her, discovers that a person can be both outlaw and in distress.

Robert Pattinson naturally embodies the youngest Bruce Wayne seen so far in the cinema. The death of his parents still haunts him. And he is not the seducer who displays his fortune in order to hide his double life from other films. For two years, he has been living at night and quenching his thirst for revenge on all the evil that afflicts his city.

A (too) familiar reality

Corruption plagues Gotham to the point where individuals, like Batman, decide to take matters into their own hands. The Riddler is one of these. His methods are very theatrical – the inspiration remains that of a cartoon character created in 1948 – but the results are blood-curdling and so close to reality that they are disturbing. In the last act, we witness terrorist attacks, extremist uprisings on social networks, coordinated attacks… It’s a lot. Spectators will probably find it too much. Especially in this era.

Andy Serkis, who plays Alfred Pennyworth, told us in a virtual interview that “Gotham is a dystopian city”. We still feel like we know her well. This realism is the result of an extremely well-defined visual invoice, a superb soundtrack and a brilliant sound editing. Matt Reeves gathered the worst elements of our world and crammed them into one city. This oppressive familiarity is certainly captivating. She is also a disturbing (black) mirror which, after three hours, becomes exhausting. Superhero movies don’t have to be lighthearted, but we’re getting dangerously close to the point where we could tip over, like the villains who, in the end, lose all the time.

Indoors

super hero movie

The Batman
(VF The Batman)

Matt Reeves

Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano

2:55 a.m.

★★★★