I like how Batman is depicted with a naive and loser POV from his rich high tower, a rich trust fund baby called out by both sane (Catwoman) and insane (Riddler) people while he remains oblivious until the consequences are literally flooding the city. While he uses the idea of Batman as a mantle for him to process trauma, his obliviousness to his own celebrity status and image creates unintentional side effects from his parents' death hogging the spotlight away from the people that mattered to his own nebulous idea of "vengeance" being co-opted by the goons, a heel-turn realization that eventually changes the rack focus, ultimately leading to a wider perspective and a selfless act of cutting the cord and helping others. Hope is more important than his idea of justice, in the end, empathy being the missing piece throughout. Instead of being a voyeur like Riddler during his master plan (Riddler binoculars on the mayor, Batman binoculars on Catwoman), he switches to being on the ground to help, no longer from his high castle.
It's interesting how this arc plays out. At the beginning, it plays into this "badass" idea comic book fans love to gloat about Batman of striking fear into crime, but the way it's portrayed is frightening to everyone. It's a better criticism of Batman's fascism than BvS was going for, showcasing his fear to people who don't even deserve it, such as kids doing vandalism who probably believe the system is failing them, but to him at the beginning crime all looks the same.
Honestly this film goes harder than Phantasm on the tragedy that is Bruce Wayne. They're inseparable by choice, to the point that Bruce basically is Batman even when not in the costume, a social recluse who can barely function in real life, listening to emo music and having rings around his eyes, a night owl to the extreme. The struggle is there even as Batman, literally smashing his face on a truck.
There are some contradictions throughout thematically, however. It's weird how it goes between "it's the WHOLE system, all cops are pigs" to "it's just bad apples" simultaneously, displaying a somewhat cringe centrism. Catwoman by the end basically points it more to systemic (and Batman and Thomas Wayne's criticism of thinking they know better and actually makings things worse isn't undercut, which by itself is also institutional criticism), although it still feels like they could've done more. Maybe out of their hands by the studio or this as far as they could get away with vs. the producers (it almost felt like a struggle for Catwoman to outline her "eat the rich" mentality). Gotham itself is a mess of contradictions and it's OK to let the viewer lie between it all I guess.
Also the relationship between Catwoman and Batman is kinda slimy and male-centric. Catwoman, while great as a character, functionally falls to Batman's controlling force with a forced romance in the second act. Sure they're both suffering from trauma but Batman was literally using her despite it all, it at least understands the power gap more in the third act.
The end of the second act also spins its wheels a bit too much, the mystery pace kinda suffers a bit from focus and scenes get too drawn out (Riddler just disappears for a while). The movie could've been 20 minutes shorter. Doesn't stop it from having a terrific third act since most blockbusters have kinda sucked on that note Although speaking of Riddler, master class. Probably my favorite villain in a Batman film.
The aesthetic was gorgeous. I love its color grading and architecture, still thinking of the Wayne tower and its metal grates, goth hallways, and insane attention to detail that gets blurred out intentionally in the frame for most of the movie by Bruce's obliviousness to the world. It also keeps a balance of evoking the black/white movies while still being colorful, more of flooded black and oranges. I think of that sequence with Penguin not mainly for the fight itself (which to me was a bit messy) but moreso the flooded orange of the fire being the only color creating a sorta gradient on the black car, and how the flare at the end matches that aesthetic, that one color illuminating Batman leading everybody else to exit the frame, like a light in the darkness. Lovely
The music.... Giacchino just beat out his Incredibles score for me, masterful work with motifs, percussion, and rhythm. His mastery of percussion and horns during the lights out Batman hallway fight and how the horns blast, how well edited the percussion beat subtly goes through the Penguin chase and other fight sequences, Batman doesn't quite have a dance like Hong Kong films but the music makes it come close. The timpani and strings are so well used!!! Great use of Ave Maria both as soundtrack and score. Catwoman's motif? Amazing.
The performances are great all around. Finally a film with Turturro that I don't hate him. He's well restrained and perfectly cast, his dickish attitude now a strong point making him very memorable with very little screen time, much like Farrell in the same film. Kravitz made me the closest to tearing up with how she visually handles conflicting emotions, I still think about that scene with the voicemail where her eyes are all over the place and has trouble keeping it all together. Dano as Riddler is terrific.
Yep, this is my fav Batman film now.