"Batman" is similar to the films of David Fincher. You've never seen superheroes like this

Directed by Matt Reeves, Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, is reimagining the story of the legendary superhero on April 18 on the streaming service HBO Max.

In the world box office, the picture started back in early March - the author of this text managed to watch the film on the day of the premiere abroad. And today it is known that "Batman" is being successfully promoted in many countries: it has already earnedThe Batman/Box Office Mojo more than 700 million dollars.

This, of course, is far from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight taking billions, but here it is partly due to the pandemic and the general decline in rentals. But to box officeEvery Live‑Action Batman Movie, Ranked By Box Office Earnings (According To Box Office Mojo) / ScreenRant "Batman v Superman" picture is already approaching.

At the same time, Reeves' film received excellent ratings from both critics and viewers. On the aggregator site

Rotten TomatoesThe Batman/Rotten Tomatoes The Batman holds over 85% positive reviews, and IMDbThe Batman / IMDb - 8.3 points. Only the same works by Nolan have higher ratings.

But these are just dry numbers. The main thing is that the picture really deserves both ratings, and audience interest, and all expectations. After all, the new "Batman" is strikingly different from all previous adaptations. comics. And not only about this character, but about superheroes in general.

The director took classic noir detectives and thrillers as a basis, creating the most realistic environment on the screen. Alas, this led to several problems, but I want to talk about them only briefly. After all, "Batman" instantly addictive.

The film catches the atmosphere of a realistic thriller

The city of Gotham is flooded with crime, and mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) has effectively seized all power. But it's not just the police that keep order. Millionaire Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) - the heir to one of the richest families - takes to the streets at night in a bat costume, for which he receives the name Batman. He catches robbers, but more importantly, he inspires fear in lawbreakers.

However, Wayne has to face a new adversary. A maniac nicknamed the Riddler (Paul Dano) kills members of the elite, leaving messages on the victims addressed specifically Batman. Together with police commissioner James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), the hero must figure out the villain.

However, Wayne is distracted by a thief, Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), who is trying to find her missing friend. This investigation leads the heroes to a club owned by the mafia.

Ever since the late 1980s, when the gothic “Batman” came out Tim Burton, each new restart of the story is announced as the most realistic rethinking of the character. In the noughties Christopher Nolan placed Bruce Wayne in a more believable atmosphere of a modern metropolis. And Zack Snyder in Batman v Superman showed the famous hero aged and tired.

It seemed that it was almost impossible to come up with something else about this character. However, Matt Reeves did update the Batman story. The thing is that his picture is more like not an adaptation of a comic book, but an unusual fantasy on the theme of thrillers. David Finchersuch as the Zodiac.

This is noticeable literally from the first appearance of the Riddler. Those who remember this character in a vivid way Jim Carrey from Batman Forever will be amazed by the change in image. Now this is a very believable villain in a hastily made costume who tortures and kills his victims, broadcasting everything that happens on the Internet.

Yes, and Batman, although he retained a recognizable image from the comics, looks a little different. His costume is heavy armor that protects the hero, but at the same time frightens criminals. He does not use fantastic devices, and he often deals with villains hand-to-hand.

The hero's car is a growling muscle car. And in investigations, he even more often turns to intelligence, and not to physical strength - in previous films, for some reason, they forgot that Wayne was also a great detective.

If you think about it, in "Batman" the fantastic and superhero component. There is not a single scene or storyline in the film that could not happen in the ordinary world. So, Reeves achieved his goal - he made the most realistic film about Batman.

But the main character is knocked out of the general atmosphere

Despite trying to make Batman more believable, he still stands out too much from all the other characters in the film. Even Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, looks like a simple thief in this picture and wears a funny hat that covers her face.

And it turns out that among quite realistic detectives and criminals there is a man in a strange suit. It’s as if a superhero suddenly appeared in the Zodiac instead of a policeman or a journalist.

In addition, comic book fans may complain that the new film adaptation has lost the contrast between Batman and Bruce Wayne. In his ordinary life, the hero always looked like the complete opposite of the night image: an active billionaire and playboy who manages a business. Here Wayne is a broken and unsociable person suffering from the traumas of the past.

But we have to admit: in isolation from the comics and previous incarnations, the image is very good. Moreover, the whole plot of the film from some point is tied to Bruce's family problems and even makes you look at his suffering differently.

But Wayne's personality is really revealed in the shared scenes with the butler Alfred. Andy Serkis added to the character both irony and almost paternal care, recalling that this hero raised Bruce for many years. Still, in previous films, he was too similar to an ordinary assistant.

The action game was replaced by a noir detective

Immediately it is worth warning that the new "Batman" is not the most dynamic and peppy film. It lasts almost three hours, during which time only a few action scenes are shown. And although they are witty, they still do not amaze the imagination.

Most memorable is the hero's fight with a group of criminals. It was filmed using practical effects - that is, the action actually took place in the dark under flashes of gunshots.

But for the most part, the picture focuses on the classic noir detectives about finding criminals and confronting the mafia. This approach allows you to better open this line. And almost for the first time on the screen, Commissioner Gordon becomes a person who really participates in investigations - even in The Dark Knight, he still looked like only Batman's henchman.

But best of all, the noir atmosphere works in the story of Selina Kyle and showdown with the mafia. Here, the authors take even too standard plot moves, but interestingly weave them into the general outline. A few more questions are added to the Riddler's quest, and the denouement of this part can be surprising.

And even the visuals of "Batman" are more likely to refer to detectives and thrillers than to superheroes. militants. DC has been pushing dark stories for a long time, but Reeves doesn’t just make the screen dark, artificially catching fear - Gotham appears as the epitome of dullness and dirt, a city that drives you into depression.

Filming shows the streets very close and makes the viewer seem to spy on the characters - Todd Phillips used similar techniques in "Joker».

Batman watches from above the gloomy city and keeps diaries, forcing him to remember whether "Taxi Driver" Martina Scorseseor Snyder's Watchmen. He himself is afraid of what is happening in Gotham, but at the same time he inspires fear in others. The superhero most of the time is trying to understand who he himself is in this society and why the maniac turns to him.

And Pattinson once again reminds me that he loves dramatic roles in the style of "The Lighthouse" more than mindless action "Arguments». If you can judge by such categories, his Bruce Wayne is the most traumatized character of all the versions shown on the big screens.

But the plot sometimes falls apart

As mentioned above, the picture lasts almost three hours. Alas, it cannot be said that “Batman” maintains an even pace throughout the entire runtime. The most strange thing is the switching between storylines: from the very beginning they set the main theme - the search for the Riddler. But after the first third, it becomes background for almost an hour, giving way to another story.

The love line between Bruce and Selina seems to be just a stretch of time. There is great chemistry between the actors, but their dialogues, and especially the final scene, seem to come from mediocre melodramas.

And in a strange way, with such a cumbersome timing, completely unrevealed heroes remain in the plot. First of all, we are talking about the same Alfred. But even more offensive for the Penguin, played by Colin Farrell.

He was promoted on all the posters of the film, and the authors repeatedly boasted of the actor's magnificent makeup. But in the end it seems that he was needed only for an advertising campaign. In the plot, the Penguin is just a comedic and not too necessary character helping Falcone.

Matt Reeves' Batman may not be the perfect example of a superhero or even film noir: it has problems with pacing and characters, and Bruce Wayne sometimes looks out of place in his own story.

But still the director chose the most correct tactics. He does not try to compete with previous adaptations, but comes up with a new movie - gloomy, but without deliberate bloodiness.

The film catches and even frightens with its depressing atmosphere, the realism of the villains and just human cruelty. And even Batman here is not a tough crime fighter, but a man dealing with his injuries. The hero the modern world deserves.