After three years, I can finally see a superhero movie on the big screen again. In addition to emotion, it is more of a surprise.
With the development of superhero movies for so many years, what new ideas can be made?
DC rebooted with its ace IP and told us the answer – “The Batman”
The North American box office hit $134 million in its opening weekend, second only to “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.
Currently, the film’s global box office is about to break the $600 million mark.
The surprise mainly comes from the fact that it subverts your previous perception of Batman.
01 Detective Batman
For the audience of the new age, Batman’s greatest ability is: money ability.
By day, he’s Gotham’s richest man, a playboy who’s flocking to beauties.
At night, he is the shadow of Gotham in a high-tech uniform that frightens criminals.
This time, “The Batman” no longer continues to use such a character, but returns to DC’s most original setting.
Batman’s earliest setting is a detective.
The inspiration for the movie comes from the three comics “Batman: Ego”, “Batman: Year One” and “Batman: The long halloween”.
The story of “The Batman” takes place in Bruce Wayne’s second year as Batman.
At this time, Batman (Robert Pattinson) was still a fledgling Nova fighting crime.
At this time, the police officer Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) has not yet become the chief.
A series of murders has led Batman and Gordon to team up as a detective partner to walk through the gloomy, depressing, and dark Gotham City.
Batman has always been controlled by The Riddler, and in the process of investigation, he must delve into the dark side of Gotham City while facing the collapse of values caused by accepting the truth of his parents’ deaths.
As the only superhero without superpowers, in previous Batman movies, it was a reserved part to present dazzling black technology equipment to the audience.
The Batmobile, which used to be a big selling point, is just a slightly modified muscle car.
The only place where it shows high tech is when Batman’s cape turns into a glider.
However, as handsome as they fly, they fall as miserably.
His “Rich” is useless in the face of investigation.
Without high-tech monitoring methods, they can only rely on their legs to run the scene diligently.
Looked down by the bar security, caught in the police station and had to rely on Gordon’s cooperation to escape, and was almost killed by the gun thugs pointing the barrel to the head…
It is no exaggeration to say that he is the weakest Batman in history.
It’s actually quite risky for DC to do this.
Because of this, for the audience, it is not enough entertainment, not enough stimulation.
Coupled with the nearly three-hour film length, it can dissuade some viewers who just want to watch lively superhero movies.
But I’m also glad that DC has such courage, so that we can see the human side of Batman under the mask.
02 Love to the left, faith to the right
In “The Batman,” Bruce Wayne has yet to adjust to being Gotham’s richest man and Batman.
When he was fighting crime, he never said he was “Batman”, only called himself “Avengers”.
At this time, Bruce Wayne has not been able to get out of the shadow of the death of his parents.
He is not driven by a sense of justice to revenge, but his anger at Gotham.
The criminals of Gotham City became the target of his anger, and the fear of criminals became his antidote against fear.
In this city, he has yet to find his place.
The appearance of The Riddler is the first severe test faced by the vigilante Batman, forcing him to go deep into the network of corrupt politicians and celebrities.
Only then did he realize that Gotham City was even more depraved than he thought.
No one in power is clean.
At the bottom, instead of reducing crime due to the appearance of Batman, it has become more lawless.
Batman began to be confused and began to struggle.
In a city that is rotten to the core, can you bring stability to Gotham City by using violence to control violence?
Such reflections have not been seen in a superhero movie for a long time.
Since it is a human being, it is indispensable to have seven emotions and six desires.
The appearance of Catwoman amazed the audience and panicked Batman’s years.
His interaction with Catwoman is one of the things I like about this movie.
Unlike “The Dark Knight Rises”, the relationship with Catwoman comes out of the blue, and it’s better for no reason.
This time, Catwoman, in addition to her graceful figure, also has a tragic life experience.
Let Batman have a feeling of “the same is the end of the world”.
Batman’s fascination with Catwoman is quite logical.
The final fork in the movie is a tough choice for Batman.
To the left, you can probably live the life of an immortal couple.
To the right, just like a lonely hero, continue to carry the weight.
In the end, Batman made his choice.
As Bruce Wayne, it’s possible to have love.
As Batman, you can only embrace faith.
The unbearable past of his parents made Batman’s beliefs collapse.
He has always believed in his father, and after his father’s death, he chose to inherit his father’s will.
The truth told by The Riddler made Batman’s persistence a joke.
He began to reflect: What am I fighting for?
By the end of the movie, Batman has an answer.
The Riddler’s plan succeeds, detonating bombs and flooding Gotham City.
Batman hangs in the air, watching the people trapped by the flood.
He cut the cable and fell into the water.
Holding the red light, he led everyone to find a way out.
Personally, I think this is the most emotional scene in the whole film.
The surroundings were dark, like hell.
Batman held the red light high and stepped forward.
Light, symbolizes hope.
Although that hope now looks dim.
But this light, once lit, will not go out.
At this moment, Batman ushered in his second growth.
Revenge can’t save Gotham, it’s got Gotham to believe in hope.
At this moment, the Avengers finally grew into heroes admired by thousands of people.
The long night has finally come to dawn.
But this dawn was as dark as dusk.
Gotham City is about to usher in a new order, and the new order will lead to new chaos.
Conversation in Arkham Asylum, implying that instead of getting better, things got worse.
If Gotham has no future, why save it?
Batman has been asked this question more than once.
Catwoman asked why he didn’t leave with her.
Batman didn’t answer.
At this point Batman didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t give up trying.
Some things are not done until there is hope, but only when they are done.
In order to make Gotham City become brighter, Batman does not hesitate to incarnate in the shadows and hide in the dark night.
This contradiction and fate trapped in tragedy is what makes Batman most fascinating.
03 A new way out for superheroes
After “Joker” won $1 billion worldwide, “The Batman” this time also ushered in a double bombing of box office reputation.
Both films are separated from the original DC universe, no longer affected by the DC universe, and become independent chapters.
Warner Bros. president Toby Emmerich said that future DC movies will be directed by directors like “The Batman”: “The quality of the movie is the most important factor, and the biggest factor that affects the quality of the movie is the filmmaker you hire.”
It seems that DC has seen the situation clearly and will no longer blindly copy Marvel’s homework. It will continue to cultivate multiple independent series of comic movies and return the initiative to the director.
It is a good thing for the audience to let directors of different styles use their imaginations.
On the other hand, on the Marvel side, all projects are controlled by producer Kevin Feige, and the general direction has been determined. Each movie is like a screw, which exists to serve the entire movie universe.
Many people say that watching too many Marvel movies is a taste, and that’s why.
You’d be hard-pressed to see more of the writer’s expression from the director in a movie.
At first, this trick really worked, allowing Marvel to come back to life in just ten years and reach its peak.
With the growing number of Marvel fans, the distance between Marvel movies and ordinary audiences is getting farther and farther.
The creation of the script gave way to the fan’s complex, and looking for easter eggs became a treasure hunt for fans, but passers-by and audiences did not understand why.
The more Marvel movies are released, the higher the threshold for watching movies. The behavior of a certain character in this movie may have paved the way for a previous movie. If you haven’t seen it, you won’t be able to understand it.
There are also individual movies in the Marvel universe, which exist entirely to draw out the end credits, and the quality itself is not good.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a global box office hit, more like a fig leaf for Marvel movies, covering up weak scripts with emotional packaging.
I don’t know when we started discussing Marvel movies, no longer discussing a certain point in the plot, but discussing who and who’s movies, and there will be a few superhero cameos.
In future Marvel movies, multi-heroes in the same frame have become its new wealth code.
Therefore, Martin Scorsese will say that Marvel movies are not like movies, but theme parks.
In such a contrast, “The Batman” chose to focus on serving fans and return to the classic route, but instead became pure.
Although DC has gone through a lot of detours, at least it is not willing to fall into the clichés, and it is still trying and failing repeatedly.
Good superhero movies should not be the same, this time, DC deserves the applause of the audience.
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