THE BATMAN

I’m always up for an outing for the Caped Crusader even if the word on the street was that this reboot was relentlessly grim, overly long and altogether unnecessary.  To make matters worse it was directed by Matt Reeves who was responsible for two underwhelming 'Planet of the Apes' sequels.

Each reboot of a franchise has to find a new angle, if only for marketing purposes - in this case we were told it was to be a focus on the noir and detection aspects of the Masked Manhunter's persona.

So Batman is allowed by Jim Gordon to be present at several crime scenes so that he can deploy his famous detective skills, if only to solve the riddles left by you-know-who.  And naturally it's a darkly lit film, in which Gotham comes across yet again as a crime-infested dystopia where it is always raining and the sun never shines.  

I can't say that the basic story did much for me; it turns out that, apart from Gordon, everyone in positions of power in Gotham, from the mayor downwards, is corrupt. Gosh.

The most interesting aspect of the plot is the revelation that Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father, once employed Gotham's crime boss Carmine Falcone to silence a reporter who was on the verge of revealing some embarrassing facts about Bruce's mother, not realising that Falcone would murder said reporter.  Somewhat disappointingly though Thomas doesn't seem to be guilty of anything worse than this.

There's a lot of references to the Renewal Fund, a huge charity fund started by Thomas, which has become corrupted, ultimately leading to the Riddler's desire to wreak revenge.  But since presumably the corruption occurred after Thomas's death, we can't really blame him for that, although it did raise the question in my mind as to how good a job he had done in setting up the governance of the Fund.

All in all, this film really would be a downer but for the presence of Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman).  She injects some much needed energy and humour into proceedings, and it doesn't do any harm that she and Robert Pattinson have an undeniable sexual chemistry in their scenes together.

Overall I enjoyed the look of the film, and the slow pace, and the score.  I found it weirdly relaxing - there's not that much screaming and shouting, the opposite of something frenetic like 'Batman Forever'.  In keeping with the restrained mood, John Turturro as Falcone comes across as a well-mannered and softly spoken villain.

There's a car chase at night in driving rain that's not at all exciting, because there's nothing at stake and Reeves can't direct action, but it's beautiful to look at.

On the other hand there's a thankfully short sequence in which Batman 'flies' from the top of a building, where the CGI is quite dreadful.

The final act, in which Gotham is flooded, might have been thrilling were we in the hands of the right director, but we’re not, so it isn't.

Paul Dano has the unenviable task of playing a role that invites comparisons with Heath Ledger's Joker, and he makes the best of a bad job.   Neither Jeffery Wright (as Gordon) or Andy Serkis (as Alfred) are able to make much impact.

So not much to write home about but just good enough to make me keep my eyes open for any sequel.