Movie critic Bruce Miller says “Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers” is a great cruise down memory lane, particularly since the producers have been able to corral a ton of cartoon stars from all studios. Just trying to spot half of them is worth the fun.
There’s a second edition of “The Batman” coming. But if you’re planning to watch the first (it's out this week on DVD), you might be done in time to catch the second.
The reason? “The Batman” clocks in at nearly three hours. That’s a long sit but, thankfully, director Matt Reeves doesn’t waste our time.
His Gotham City resides in the same plain as “The Godfather.” His villains are like Mafia dons, sending fear throughout the city. Darkness shrouds the world and drug problems spread faster than water in the streets.
Batman wants to help, but doesn’t know where to begin. He calls on his friend Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) when a serial killer says he wants the Caped Crusader to help expose the “rats” who have brought down the city.
Unlike old “Batman” films, the Riddler and the Penguin aren’t costumed characters but very real threats to civility. The former broadcasts through a channel that’s untraceable; the latter rules with the good ol’ boys in politics.
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While Paul Dano’s Riddler seems more like Bane than we’d want, he’s very much an unhinged madman who isn’t wrong about Gotham’s ghouls. The story then becomes a puzzle in search of its own Sherlock Holmes.
Interestingly, Reeves doesn’t unpack Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) until we’ve had enough time to savor The Batman. Both are quiet and brooding. But this isn’t a billionaire reacting solely to his parents’ deaths. He’s a man who historically bears responsibility for Gotham’s predicament.
Pattinson, wisely, limits the bravado. Even when Bruce Wayne attends a funeral, he’s subdued and hardly ready for attention. When he’s Batman, there’s a flourish that suggests most folks couldn’t guess where he spends his days.
More impressive, of course, are the moves made by Kyle (who moonlights as Catwoman) and the Riddler. They’re damaged folks who know enough to be dangerous and aren’t about to pull back when so much of Gotham City already has.
Jeffrey Wright, as police lieutenant James Gordon, seems like the only person anyone can trust. Even then, he could be covering for someone who has long ruled city hall.
The surprise is Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, the gangster who’s dubbed “the Penguin” by detractors. He gets the “Godfather” concept (Jon Turturro does, too) and borrows bits from Rudy Giuliani, Jack Ruby and Joe Pesci to make this a character you haven’t seen in a comic-based film.
Much of “The Batman,” in fact, is an upgrade on standard superhero fare. It’s like Reeves has dropped these characters into the plot of another movie and observed where they gravitate.
(But word of caution: This film is dark -- as in actually dark. If you're watching at home, turn up the brightness so you don't miss anything.)
That’s where the dark, very frightening film finds its footing. Pattinson isn’t the definitive Batman, but he is very good at checking the boxes; Kravitz is even better. But Dano, Farrell and Turturro as mob boss Carmine Falcone (think: Jack Woltz) are the key to “The Batman’s” success.
They don’t play it as business as usual. They embrace another world and, as a result, lets "The Batman” soar.
