I saw The Batman in cinemas, last Thursday, 17th March, 2022, at Melbourne Central Hoyts, with some mates. It had been hyped up quite a bit by a lot of people I had talked to - most had said it was a good film, that it was quite a dark film and that it was quite long. I know pretty much nothing about DC (or Marvel, for that matter, even though I’ve been on the Marvel Superhero bandwagon for the past couple of years due to its, or at least from my perspective as someone who’s never been into this genre of film, meteoric rise within popular culture).

From the very beginning, I could feel that the film would be slow. The opening scene consists of Gotham, which I was told by my friend was a city of disorder and crime. I was also told that the situation had improved in the past few years, which was the revealed murders had been a shock to the city. I was told that Batman is a good guy who even the good guys fear - giving me some Sherlock police establishment vs rogue private investigator vibes. But he’s clearly against the bad guys when he beat up the gang which beat up the Asian guy on the train (perhaps a pointer to the recent Asian hate stories that have been making the rounds in the media? - but no this was surely filmed before it blew up. Still perhaps a nod to minority discrimination).

I was told also that the opening was very dark. And after I left the theatre I was told that the whole film was very dark. The film was only an M rating, PG13 in the USA, which is fair enough. I’ve never watched an MA15+ film before and that didn’t seem like it would exceed the threshold for a mature audiences film. I certainly saw how the film was visually dark - it was indeed difficult to make out certain scenes and I wished there was like a brightness adjuster. In terms of its themes, I didn’t see how it was any more mature or scary than something like Sherlock, however - a series of murders, a crazy killer leaving clues for the detective - in fact it was basically a detective film in a way.

Throughout the film, Batman walks quite slowly in an attempt to make the scene more intense - but perhaps he has a gait problem or sciatica. I liked the music which accompanied the film, as well. Something In the Way by Nirvana was an apt accompaniment to the dark themes. Bruce Wayne riding a motorcycle at night accompanied by this song didn’t give me chills, but it did give the top commenter on this video chills. I could feel, also, the fear in that gangsta guy in the overturned car’s face as Batman walked towards him slowly though. The effect worked.

The emotional, nostalgic and love affair aspects of the film were kinda lost on me. Because I didn’t get them. Are Catwoman and Batman lovers? Who is Bruce Wayne’s father? Apparently he was a non-corrupt politician who did good for the world. Who was the caretaker of the church guy, who apparently was Batman’s guardian? Oh wait Bruce Wayne was an orphan. I saw a comparison actually of the orphan status of Bruce and the baddie, and that while Bruce lived in wealth, others were not so fortunate. Still confused tho.

I still don’t know why the film is called ‘The Batman’, not just ‘Batman’. Surely the definite article helps viewers distinguish it from the OG films, so that they won’t think it’s just a parallel of already-made films? A re-introduction of a character surely needs something different - and I think the title works well in this way.

The ending, I felt, was a little bit rushed. The whole film was thrilling, intense, dark - and then you suddenly have the crazy guys trying to murder the mayor, and then failing, and then flooding, then Batman walking hand-in-hand with ordinary citizens, a symbol of hope, and then promising to rebuild Gotham, a task Catwoman deems futile. Batman turned from the cool, good guy to the guy who tries to save the establishment - because a new mayor making promises will definitely stop corruption and change the system. I don’t think the corruption that is apparently entrenched in the city was emphasised enough for me to want the mayor to be saved. The backstory with Bruce’s father was helpful as well, but again didn’t indicate how charitable or corrupt he was either.

It’s weird not knowing any context to Batman at all, apart from the fact that he’s name is Bruce Wayne and that he drives around in a Batmobile, and the fact that the original Batman films were animated. Now that Batman’s the good guy, I’m confused at why Batman versed Superman in another DC film, because I thought Superman was a good guy as well? Anyway, that’s for another viewing. I also still don’t get the Bat-signal which was seen at the end of the film. Apparently it’s for summoning Batman to help with incidents which occur in the city. Overall, this film shone a little bit of light into what Batman is and hopefully helped me understand superhero pop culture a little bit more.