THE BATMAN - Movie Review 

Better late than never... This was one movie I needed to see multiple times at the theater and at home to solidify my thoughts on it, I wanted to get it right!

That opening scene hooked me into submission for the rest of the movie. The look and feel of Gotham as well as the mystique of Batman was perfect.

16:55 Carmine Falcone talking about Bruce’s dad patching him up from a gunshot wound was just a nice callback to a scene that did happen in the storyline Long Halloween

I like the fact that this movie didn't portray Bruce Wayne's parents as being perfect. It showed that they were flawed human beings.

But John in the Batman: long Halloween, which the movie was partially inspired by, Falcone did get saved by Thomas after getting shot. So that connection between Bruce and falcone is from the comics

Something of note: Bruce and Alfred's relationship was EXTREMELY reminiscent of their portrayal in the game Arkham Origins, and both are sort of "year two" stories, so it makes sense. As far as Alfred not being super hurt by the bomb, he DOES recognize it's a bomb at the last second, toss it across the room while ducking and covering his eyes. It's somewhat believable that he'd be mostly ok. Especially if you're gonna buy everything else the movie throws at you, it doesn't seem out of place.

I loved Catwoman's line..."whoever you are, you obviously grew up rich" she's not wrong lol

I think my favorite scene was actually the funeral one. The cartoonish explosion and lack of damage on his face aside, as soon as Pattinson said: "Justice. The answer's Justice," I knew this was my favorite Batman movie of all time. Not the best, but definitely my favorite.

That contact lens idea was introduced in the court of owls issue. Maybe Reeves has an idea to put court of owls on the upcoming sequels

I felt like this Batman was actually living in Gotham City. I’ve never felt that from a Batman performance before.

The opening sequence is my favourite part of the movie. Overall really good movie. But Batman Begins & The Dark Knight are still way ahead in my opinion. I think Nolan created the perfect balance between realism and fantasy.

The melancholic voiceover from the protagonist, at beginning/end of the film, is a standard film noir convention.

I liked this movie so much more after the second watching. Anyone else notice Penguin waddling after he is interrogated by Batman/Gordan? Also, at the start of the movie when Batman is talking over the scenes showing Gotham. Theres a close up of a crowd walking and one person has the crazy weird silver spikey mask on? Reckon thats a reference to the 1989 Batman film. In particular the scene in Wayne manor where they are looking at Bruce's collection of warrior armour sets; the one that has that very same spiky head??? I dunno, I may be reaching.

The Falcon back story with him getting shot and going to Thomas Wayne for help is directly from Long Halloween comic. If you don’t like that story then you don’t like The Long Halloween.

If you pay close attention, batman's footsteps at the beginning actually sound like the theme song, go back and listen, you'll see

The one thing I didn't like about this movie was the Riddler, by the time he interrogates him, I was legit facepalming while watching. He started acting like a bad joker. When he breaks out into singing I cringed. Take a second rethink his performance and try to be objective... that was not a good take on the Riddler. It was good when there was mystery to him,, but quickly fell apart the more you saw and heard of this riddler.

I really wanted to like this movie...the intro had promise but it just didn't hit it for me.

In the "I am Vengeance" scene, The fact that it was Pattinson's idea to add those last two punches makes me laugh everytime I see it! Also We have to settle this... Did Batman stall the Batmobile or was he playing a game of chicken with Penguin??

Falcone went to Thomas Wayne when he was shot in The Long Holloween comic.

Thursday. April 21st. The Flick Pick finally uploads his Batman review...

The Batman: a detective story plays as its extended title.

Did anyone else’s theatre have a 15 min intermission after the Penguin chase? I’m glad we did so I could use that opportunity to use the bathroom.

This movie is basically a 3 hour masterclass in filmmaking. I expect it to sweep awards season the way Logan deserved to a few years ago. 10/10.

Talking about the white eyes like in the comic books, I just had a thought. He's clearly gonna have upgrades next time we see him i.e. more streamline suit, more gadgets, upgrades to the batmobile/cycle (and perhaps more vehicles), etc. So what if one of the upgrades to the suit is lenses over the eye holes? Like the contacts are smart, but the lighting/picture quality could be slightly better and would be handy if the feed wasn't all in red (seeing things in colour could help better identify certain details). Also as you said about his blood shot eyes, not just from being up all hours, but anyone who's worn contacts for extended periods of time could tell you they really irritate your eyes. So I'm thinking what if one of the suit's upgrades are these high tech lenses over the eye holes, with built in cameras, night vision, thermal vision, etc. Maybe even forensic scanning capabilities like in the Arkham games (or maybe leave the really advanced stuff like that for the final installment when Bats has been around for several years). So maybe the lenses could glow white when certain functions are active.

John, you killed it with Riddler impression at the end of review lmao, "thank you for that"

I say the only thing i wish i got more of is the brutality in his combat, i thought we'd get more bone-breaking like the opening scene but i give it a pass cuz his detective skills was finally on display. In the next installment i hope they display his experience through Batman's hand to hand combat choreography being front & center, showing how quick & precise he is as well as strategic stealth take downs, since he got ass kicked a lot by walking into fights. He says he is the Shadows so it would be necessary to show how he uses the shadows to mess with thugs to stoke fear in them, snatch them one by one and show it all from their perspective

Falcone receiving medical care from Thomas Wayne actually happened in the Long Halloween storyline, one of the Batman graphic novels Matt Reeves drew inspiration from when he was developing the story of the movie.

shoulda let us watch the full 2 hour unedited review

I thought the movie was good, my favorite Batman movie...no, that will always be BATMAN BEGINS, I love how every actor who has portrayed the Bat has brought something different to the table, I LOVED THE WAY GOTHAM IS PORTRAYED in this movie always dark, always raining...this place was fu**ing dark and murky 24/7, I don't even think the sun shines on this Gotham...I loved it. RP was good as Batman, I thought (just a little) to dark when he was Bruce Wayne, thought he needed to lighten up a bit, be the playboy he's supposed to be. Jeffrey Wright was perfect as Commissioner Gordon...I mean perfect, maybe the best on screen Gordon yet. I like Zoe Kravitz, she's cute...but she's 90lbs and I just didn't see her fight scenes very believable. We do have a lot of scenes where he does walk away with not even a scratch...I loved how in the DAREDEVIL Netflix show, after every major fight scene Matt always looked like he got hit by a truck and he had to keep explaining how he got his new bruises. I thought the RIDDLER was fine, but he dimmed a little for me when he was arrested and Colin Farrell, I had to tell my wife that was him...she didn't believe me, she looked it up, but I thought he was great as the penguin. *I will admit, I thought RIDDLER figured out he was Batman*

Rorschach journal, October 12th 1985. THIS CITY IS AFRAID OF ME

The fight scenes were so so so much better than Nolan's trilogy . Nolan can't seem to direct fight scenes decently even to this day

I had many of the same issues you had with this movie (Alfred barely getting a scratch from a bomb blowing him up and waking up from a coma looking and talking like he had just taken a power nap, ...) The first two-thirds of the movie I thought this could be my favorite Batman movie ever, but the last third really deflated me and I thought fell apart. But I really liked the world they create, Pattinson was a great Batman, the suit looks great. I enjoyed it enough that I look forward to future movies, but this first film could have been much better. I give it a B+.

Drinking game, take a shot everytime John hits you with a Batman movie quote lol

I really really wanted to like this movie but after he gets blown up, taken to the police station and didn’t get unmask, I started checking out. Then after the wing suit into the steel bridge i was fully checked out.. I mean the dude walked a hallway into automatic rifle fire but one shotgun blast made him go for the green juice… yes green juice. The pacing didn’t help either.

John the GOAT! We need an update on your life! Lovers, hobbies, all that good stuff 😁

Yup, this is favorite Batman movie now. Robert Pattinson is my favorite Batman. I preordered the Walmart edition of The Batman on 4K. Thanks for the cool review John!

Pattinson felt like the most realistic interpretation ever, he felt like a rich kid who has the balls and the tools to fight crime rather than a jacked up martial arts expert like the comics or Batfleck. I like how they did make him seem vulnerable in this movie except for the wolverine like healing powers.

It seems like with all the Elliot and Hush Easter egg we might be heading into that direction and with the Joker deleted scene we might be looking a silence of the lambs kinda dynamic for Batman to get Hush but honestly in this hyper realistic take on Batman I would love to see a murdering spree by Killer Croc, like this guy with such deformities kinda like Reptile in the Mortal Kombat RU-vid series we got some years ago and Batman having to stop him but I would want to see the croc being a secondary villain or a plot device or being a cheap henchmen for another one, maybe they can hide Killer croc in his trench coat and hat like in the animated series

My body is ready for this!! You the man flick pick!!! Let’s gooooo!

Enjoy the movie even more with each watch. Wish the movie went to credits after Bruce's voice over at the end when he's helping the woman get air lifted out.

The review that you and Chris did of Batman and Robin that's where I first saw you and why I'm subscribing right now!! When you said "oh you're not Batman oh you're not Bruce Wayne you're just George Clooney with rubber nipples" I left my freaking ass off and said to myself this dude is freaking hilarious

My God he’s finally done it. I never thought this review would ever see the light of day. Bravo flick pick 👍🏼

Where did you get your Riddler winter combat jacket?

he's my most favorite batman now

It's a decent crime, suspense action thriller but it fails as a Batman movie due to his lack of common sense that alot of people tried to defend by saying he's a young Batman but it doesn't fly because regardless of him being inexperienced he's still supposed to have a 192 IQ, a literal genius. Yet, he does a numerous of things that is so stupid that the Penguin and Riddler who he loses to by the way call him an idiot. Not sure what true Batman fans are comfortable with a Batman so incompetent that he gets helped and mocked from and by the Penguin but also gets manipulated so well by the Riddler that he literally assists him in his own plan, smh. Like y'all was really that desperate for a Batman movie that you accepted a version of him that willingly takes bombs to the face, doesn't throw a single batarang and goes through the front door of a dangerous night club instead of infiltrating it from idk the roof. This movie is Cosplay: the Batman.

That comment at 11:30 was like a throwback to Batman and Robin when Batman said "Commisioner, you have 11 minutes to thaw these people". LMAO

Carmine being saved by Bruce's father is something they took from The Long Halloween 🎃

Great video. Your reviews are getting better and better

The Falcone shot in the chest thing is from The Long Halloween, so they were calling back to that. I'm not saying it makes it make anymore sense, but that is why they included it. Also, it ties in nicely with Falcone's death.

I just watched let me in on Netflix and I noticed Matt reviews used similar techniques in terms of suspense and his general style of directing

Thanks been waiting for this I've been following you since you started saying final flicking thought

Love the intro!

I liked the way you could always see his eyes and see where he was looking. Reminded me of Arnie in The Terminator. Loved the heavy footsteps before he emerged from the shadows, definitely not playing the stealth card.

Great job! Worth the wait. I say take as long as you need to make any video you feel like making. 🍿

I dig the new intro Jonn

That storyline with Falcone going to Thomas Wayne to save him, I think, happened in The Long Halloween. It was either that or Hush. I can't fully remember lol. I liked that they threw that in, though.

Check out the behind the scenes LED tech featurette. Its pretty nuts how realistic they managed to make everything look

My dream sequel would have some elements of Mask of the Phantasm added to it. I want them to be doing trials for the minions of Riddler and they introduce new DA Harvey Dent. As the film goes, Bruce starts to fall in love with someone else (maybe we get some elements of it's not quite perfect because she's not Catwoman, but still, he's happy) and he starts being Batman less and less. We see that Dent is doing a good job, Bruce is backing him and using his influence as Bruce Wayne to help him out and he really thinks he can marry this woman and be happy. We could even do a bit of a time jump, with some dialogue that the Batsignal hasn't been needed in a long time. Then Harvey's incident happens, he frees a bunch of prisoners and maybe the people of Arkham, and that's the first time in a while they turn the signal on. And we get to see Bruce have to struggle with whether or not he puts the suit back on or if he walks away and is happy. And then we get a shot of his girlfriend alone at a restaurant with classical music playing, and suddenly the music is drowned out by the roar of the Batmobile speeding past the restaurant.

I think the point of the Carmine Falcon being the real mayor reveal is the same concept as the Renewal one. If Bruce had done what he was suggested by Alfred and if he would’ve made a lot of things more simple. He would’ve figured out a while ago that the rat was Falcone. But he let his obsession with solving The Riddler over take his mind

the time has come! and what a killer intro!

Speaking of the "eye camera stuff," seems like it'd be easier to just build the lenses into the cowl to both get that "classic comic look" and also to not damage his eyeballs.

Where'd you get the batman jacket?

Falone going to Thomas Wayne was because Thomas was the best surgeon in the city without any connections to the hospital. It's also in a comic book.

A full dedicated review that's rare from john

Hey flick pick.. They put the part in there where Falcone talks to Bruce Wayne about getting shot in the chest & his father operating on him in the dining room table because that's exactly what happened in The Long Halloween. That part is pulled in straight from the comics. I would have thought you knew that.

Ok, I’m actually really mad that RU-vid didn’t notify me of this! Just seeing this now! Thought you were still holding out 😉

I love that you brought up Rorschach and that was exactly my thought when i watched the second time very recently, didn't knew the first time though. This movie gets better with second time and that is absolutely VERY true.

Great review John. I WAS WAITING FOR THIS.

As a Batman fan, I love this take on the character. He's broken, damaged and still trying to figure things out. And this movie was everything I wanted. Se7en, a dash of Saw with a neo noir story set in the Batman universe. Loved it.

Great review man hopefully we get more soon 🙏

It's been 47 years But vengeance is back! I remember your old video you used to dress up as batman and scream JUSTICE!

I still can't get my head wrapped around that dumb Batmobile reveal. What was the whole point of that? He pops up in the alley and just revs his engine like a little kid trying to get the other guys to get in their cars so he can chase them?

I enjoyed the new Batman movie but I was not blown away by it just because it had detective work in it. If you personally ask me dialogue also can be rememberable.. which The Batman film didn’t have anything rememberable when it comes to lines from the riddler or anyone else.. I understand this is probably the best Batman movie for everyone.. But for me it’s just not as exciting or as fun as the DARK KNIGHT. I understand people didn’t like Christian Bales Batman voice, I feel like Nolan failed to work something differently on that.. But his voice is not enough for me to say I didn’t love his Batman because I did! 🦇 also I never knew people didn’t like Nolan‘s movies because they were too realistic. I didn’t even realize that was an issue until recently lol. Not to mention I’m very obsessed with driving scenes!! Which I do believe Christopher Nolan had the best camera work when it came to the Batmobile and the batbike sequences. 🦇🦇🦇

The internal monologue just like Rorschach in Watchmen superb

I was underwhelmed by the reveal of falcon and the reveal of Thomas Wayne’s corruption

I was entertained when I watched The Batman, but I gotta be honest, it didn't really leave an impact or strike a cord with me. A good movie, for me, sticks in my head and makes me constantly replay scenes in my head and rethink about specific words, visuals, or sequences. There really wasn't any of that from me in this film. My favorite scene was probably the one where Gordon helps Batman escape from the cops. And the only thing that I really remembered loving was the sound design for his footsteps, which you also pointed out. I think that car chase was suppose to be the big money action sequence of the film, but it was so choppy with cuts and close up shots, that it almost felt like a chase scene from a TV show. I can't say it was a bad film. The acting was solid for the most part, it looked nice, the story was fine, the score and sound design was probably the only thing that wowed me. I'm not shaking with anticipation for upcoming installments from this new Batman universe, but I am interested to see what else these filmmakers have to offer us.

one scene I had a problem with was the scene with the guy who had a bomb strapped to himself and when it went off, I thought to myself “how is batman not deaf?” i would’ve thougt we would be deaf at least for a vfew seconds, but then i thought “movie majic”

Yay! Glad you made this review, I really value your opinion, im excited to see where this goes! Love The Batman and its definetly the most rewatchable 3 hour movie

"The only thing separating your city and the harbor is a brick wall?" eh, I mean, New Orleans did it pretty well I suppose, so it's feasible

I thought the riddler was kinda lame

Great review John! I loved this film so much. It’s definitely my favorite Batman depiction we’ve seen in live action so far, mainly because it’s closer to the comics and just a straight up detective story. I felt like I was completely immersed in the true Gotham for the first time and Robert Pattinson is definitely my Batman as well. I also hope we do get another Bane with iteration, I would love to Mr. Freeze as the villain for the next film. I can’t wait to see how the future films and spin-off shows unfold.

Great review, John!

I haven't been recommended a vid of yours in forever. Damn RU-vid what a banger to recommend lol.

About time; I was worried this day would never come. Now I can die a happy man.

Well I mean Alfred did throw it and jump behind a table for cover. I like Alfred as the ex military badass

Agreed on all points. I too thought it maybe would work better as a 5 part HBO series, or needed more editting down for film.

They really tried hard to make this “realistic “ however, the director of continuity fucked up. You have a vigilante who has an apb for their arrest but Batman is always hanging with police, even after the Gotham pd scene. Also Batman is a ninja and should be in the shadows, why is he knocking at doors to enter club etc. he should be sneaking in. They try to portray him as this monster in the shadows and when he most likely could pull that off to get into the club it doesn’t happen. Decent movie lots of misses.

Hey where did you get your Riddler jacket

Cool review and all but that jacket is tooooo sick my guy! Well done sir.

Great to see you back. Haven't seen you in a looooong time! Did you de-bulk? You look much slimmer.

Where did you get that jacket??

I only wish this was an hbo max series. It lends itself to be something like true detective or mind hunter. Pattinson is probably my favorite live action batman now so I hope he stays. Best batmobile too 👍

That Falconi going to Dr Wayne’s house backstory was in the comics.

John, what were your thoughts on Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon and the chemistry between him and the Bat?

Carmine Falcone's story of him being saved by Thomas Wayne on his dining table was straight from the Long Halloween comic book which this movie was heavily inspired by. So it's not really a contrived subplot.

Cool jacket.

I personally am not looking forward to this version of Joker. I didn’t like his voice, his laugh, or twisted look..just didn’t work imo

Yo in your fury road trailer review you predicted the Batman. so trippy, I feel like this movie is what you always talked about in your older videos for what you wanted to see in a Batman film

NEW INTRO!

That’s actually comic book accurate about the gunshot wound. It showed that carmine falcone had a relationship with his dad