Full spoilers follow for Batman.
It’s Batman season, and no one can dispute the fact that Warner Bros. and director Matt Reeves have a hit. Among the most frequently repeated compliments from the public and critics is the imitation of film noir, horror and detective stories, with many referring to Batman being more influenced by films like Se7en than other superhero films. However, while The Batman certainly contains elements of detective fiction in its tone and structure, it’s not as genre-bound as the film’s proponents make it out to be.
We have to discuss Batman’s “fourth act” and how he unleashes his lofty genre ambitions.
P.S
Batman’s narrative seems to come to a fitting enough conclusion when the Riddler is captured after completing his original plan and ends up in Arkham. At over two hours, The Batman is relatively understated for a big-budget superhero movie. It’s certainly not without action (there’s an incredible Batmobile chase, for one!), but Batman spends a lot more time talking to people and hiding at crime scenes than beating up thugs. If we accept the idea that Batman should be a “mystery film” at face value in the first place, then we must consider genre conventions, which means a story that is more revealing than bombastic, more intellectual than IMAX-ready. . .
This idea continues throughout much of the film. However, it all flies out the window when the Riddler is placed in Arkham and reveals that he had a second, secret plan to blow up Gotham’s waterfront and summon an army of his (Twitch? Patreon?) followers to declare open war against the city during flooding. It’s not entirely clear what the Riddler’s ending is, aside from mass-market chaos, and the only concrete part of that plot is an assassination attempt on the city’s new mayor, Bella Real. It’s a complete tonal and plot twist to the left that seems more indispensable to the expectations of big-budget studio filmmaking than what storytelling requires. Sure, it’s fun to see Batman ride into town mourning the Riddler’s minions in an apocalyptic backdrop, but it doesn’t feel like a natural escalation of a madman’s slow opening narration, Batman and Catwoman’s seductive back and forth movement, or Batman and Gordon throwing out ideas for answers to riddles as if they are trying to solve the daily wordle.
Batman: Real-time versions of Catwoman, The Riddler, Penguin and more
It’s an inelegant transition at best, one that’s more likely to stick with the implicit knowledge that we’re watching a Batman movie, but it doesn’t fit at all if we’re supposed to think of the movie as Batman. Detective film. But what makes the fourth act feel even more out of place is that not only does it become tonally fraudulent, it also confuses what we’re supposed to get out of it.
Batman is bad, but also good?
What’s particularly captivating about Batman’s initial story is how it ends up making Batman ineffective. While we start with Batman stopping an attack and the symbolic use of the Bat-Signal hinting that Batman’s newfound presence in Gotham is a deterrent to crime, this basic idea doesn’t really run through the rest of the narrative. Even though the character has the nickname “The World’s Greatest Detective” in popular culture, this particular Batman isn’t very good at this part of his job. Not only does Alfred do some of the hard work for him, Batman doesn’t really do much real detective work (finding leads, analyzing clues, matching stories, etc.) aside from solving various mysteries, he stumbles through a bizarrely drawn-out business. “el rata alada”, fails to save the DA’s life with a bomb collar, and even plays right into Riddler’s hands by delivering Carmine Falcone to the exact place where he wanted to kill him.
By the time the Riddler was caught, everything he (originally) set out to accomplish had been accomplished, except, of course, for killing Bruce Wayne. However, the Riddler has selective words about him, declaring Bruce “not quite an orphan” due to his wealth. More importantly, Riddler previously revealed Thomas Wayne’s potential involvement in the death of a journalist who wanted to publish embarrassing information about his wife Martha, which directly correlates with how the Thomas’ Renewal charity eventually became a fund to undermine gangsters and corrupt government officials. , rather than being used for the low-income population of Gotham, as originally intended. Because of this, a parallel is drawn between Batman’s inability to actually protect Gotham from the Riddler’s scheme and Bruce Wayne’s inherited guilt for his father’s sins. Batman fails as Gotham’s detective and protector, and Bruce fails as a public figure who must use his wealth to make up for the Wayne family’s wrongdoings. In a way, the movie takes the position that Bruce Wayne probably shouldn’t have been Batman at all.
Batman doesn’t have to reckon with bad luck, because the movie gives him an excuse to make up for it with an action-packed fourth act.
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However, this is only a nominal moment, because the film is cowardly about it and comes and goes. Not only does Alfred absolve Thomas of the blame for the journalist’s death, only the scene after Falcone implies that it was Thomas’s fault, Batman doesn’t have to reckon with bad luck because the movie gives him an excuse to make up for it with action. – heavy fourth act. It doesn’t matter that Bruce handed Falcone over to the Riddler, or that up to this point he’d ignored the public eye and Gotham’s structural inequity other than being a vigilante. The Riddler states that Gotham Dies Tonight and Batman easily manages to show everyone that he is the superhero they have always needed. Yes, in a vacuum, the scene where Batman ignites the flare and leads the people trapped in the flooded arena to safety is powerful, but it doesn’t build on previous action because Batman was much more interested up to this point. in deconstructing Batman, not in building a foundation for him.
“Foundation” is the key word here because the main problem is that even if the movie, as the first two hours promise, ends naturally with the arrest of the Riddler and maybe even Batman revisiting his crusade, you can’t do that. when you already have sequels. Mind you, HBO Max spin-offs and a Joker appearance to tease are planned. The Batman can’t be true film noir or a detective story because of the externalities inherent in making franchise films on such a budget, and while the attempt is certainly respectable (and clearly lucrative), that dichotomy can’t fail to work. weaken Batman’s ability to be what the filmmakers intended. Let’s hope that when Batman 2 inevitably comes out, the movie strikes a better balance between the ending it needs and the ending it wants.
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Carlos Morales writes Mass Effect novels, articles, and essays. You can follow his commits at Twitter.