The Batman - A Friday Feature By Dave Christy

How about a "Friday Feature"?  Dave is here to talk about "The Batman"

As always we would LOVE to hear what you think! Be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments below!

Dave - Dave Christy loves horror, music, documentaries and more.  He is also the co-runner of several fan based groups including Morningstars (THE Lucifer fan group also run by Melanie), and now is a member of the VIPers Spotlight Lounge team for Melanie's Muses.  Other than "In The Spotlight" Features -check out his "31 Days Of Halloween Movies"

If 2022 is the Year of the Bat, it doesn't leave much room for anything else. I went to see "The Batman" and frankly I'm still waiting for the movie to start because what I saw did not resemble anything like a Batman movie I have seen before. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I should have known it would be disappointing when the concession stand didn't have Mountain Dew, Twizzlers, or hot dogs, and the pretzel bites were going to take another 10 minutes. ​

I had my doubts when Robert Pattinson was announced as the new Batman. I thought it was a joke but no. He actually is. He didn't even know Batman was a detective. It was called "Detective Comics"! Do your research, man. I can't really blame the movie on him though. Part of the problem is it seems like they tried everyone as Batman. Even Gordon is coming out with a deeper, gruntier voice. Is he doing a Batman impression? Riddler, whose entire head is covered, is live streaming and is doing his version of a Batman impression also. Catwoman is not doing a Batman impression but is not exactly a cat burglar either. There is one reference to it but we don't see it. We see her taking back things that belong to her or to a friend but not breaking into places and stealing like we normally do. Do you know what this movie reminds me of? "Man of Steel" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming". If you know nothing about the comics and characters, everything makes perfect sense and you don't question it. They would stand good on their own but with decades of comic book history behind them, they leave people scratching their heads. One backstory made me do a deep dive. I don't know everything about the comics but I know a bit. 

One bit I had never heard. It was a rarely used version of Thomas and Martha Wayne. In the Earth One continuity, Martha's maiden name was Arkham (as in Arkham Asylum) before meeting Thomas. That has a dark past as well. When she and Thomas were murdered, he was running for Mayor. I guess the writers thought this version was better than repeating the same version everyone has heard and seen a billion times on screen. Kudos for that one. Some may know it. I didn't. So it left me confused until I did the research. Also they used the Riddler's lesser known birth name of Edward Nashton, instead of the more commonly used Nygma. And he knows Bruce is Batman. Not even sure how those dots were connected though. Can I get an answer on that one? Another thing I didn't like was it was too grounded in the real world. No real criminal mastermind with a lab accident type history or spandex costume. Its all mob families, corruption, dirty cops and politicians. Everything and everyone is pointing back to that. We don't even see Bruce out of the Batsuit very much at all. So, in a way, he's kind of out of place being the only one dressed up. In addition to things we have seen before like the Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, etc, we have also have Batman ask Catwoman to stay and help instead of leaving town like he did in "The Dark Knight Rises".

The final stake in the coffin is the credits. Or lack of a credit scene. It's not just a Marvel thing. DC has done it too. Not here though. A question mark appears on a computer screen and types out Good Bye. That's it. They are filming a "Batgirl" movie now. It would have been perfect to drop a hint of that. If they are using the Barbara Gordon as Batgirl storyline (which they really should), they could have shown a woman making the Batgirl suit, watching Gordon and this news on TV and have her saying something like "I guess daddy will need more help cleaning up the streets of Gotham" or something like that. Some little hint or clue of what is coming but they didn't even do that. A golden opportunity/promotion missed.

***As a note - since this article was written the Batgirl movie has been axed. Despite being almost complete the decision has been made to "shelve" the movie permanently and write off the money that they had spent on it as part of the new WB / DC future plan initiative ***

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