Connor Bynum // Film Critic
THE BATMAN
It’s certainly no secret that Warner Bros. has gone through quite a few stumbles with its recent DC films. Numerous films on their roster have been delayed for years, stars are getting arrested or sued left and right, and fans on Twitter refuse to stop bullying them to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse.
However, it seems as though the dawn is finally coming. Recent successes like JOKER and ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE have shown audiences that WB is entirely capable of producing outstanding comic book films if they simply get out of their own way and let good directors make good movies. Fortunately, it seems as though they have continued this practice with THE BATMAN, which is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray.
Movie Grade: B+
From our theatrical review:
“The world Matt Reeves builds in THE BATMAN isn’t too far off from our own. Every real-world touchstone is shown a tad askew, like an evolving life running parallel to our own where vigilantes and villains exist in a surrealist dream. This deliberate, distinctive direction – or rather misdirection – forces us to ruminate on the precarious, often blurred, lines that delineate fantasy from reality, heroes from heavies, and love from hate. These complex obscurities drive the archetypal figures who populate this picture not just to clash but intertwine in the gray, morally muddied areas. And it delivers a spectacularly striking, remarkable vision.
Gotham is in trouble as it heads into its mayoral election. Murder and violence are running rampant, and not even moonlighting caped-crime-stopper Batman/ Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) can combat it all. By day, he’s a wealthy recluse grappling with a burdensome family legacy. Even the simple act of wearing his father’s gold monogrammed cufflinks symbolizes a link to a painful past. However, his world dramatically shifts when he’s called in by Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to help assist on a case. Mysterious madman The Riddler (Paul Dano) has murdered the mayor and left behind difficult-to-decipher clues hidden in riddles. Naturally, these lead to more questions than answers. As the sadistic serial killer’s victims begin to stack up, striking fear in the city authorities being targeted, it becomes apparent they’re all connected to a larger picture – one that involves badass broad Selena Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) and fat cat criminal bosses Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).
Reeves conducts this cinematic symphony with stylized grace and beauty, proving a fascinating juxtaposition to the cruelty and dread-fueled horror within the co-written narrative with Peter Craig. It echoes the gritty, grimy aesthetic and thematic overtones of the ’70s – an era marked by political and personal corruption. Films like CHINATOWN (with its elements of localized corruption and a mystery woman) and SE7EN (with the first victim’s murder and the demented, calculating killer) are indeed heavy influences on the narrative and set pieces. It even seems like the pair are having a dark laugh at our expense with the Riddler’s contraptions erring more towards the side of Jigsaw in the SAW franchise. Yet all this homage applied by the filmmakers is done with a resolute, assured purpose to achieve a unique, resounding commentary.
While the pacing is never an issue (though the run time is long, it feels positively brisk), it does suffer from not being able to settle on a proper ending. It also contends with a few other bumps along its relatively smoothly-paved road, like having its characters summarize for the audience what they should already know during bulky exposition dumps. Though it sounds cool, given the detective milieu, for characters to say, “You mean to tell me x, y, and z,” it reads wrong. Plus, there are a few third-act developments that require some light acrobatics to be believable.
Nevertheless, the sparkle and brilliance outweigh any flaws. With passionate ingenuity and inspiration, Reeves and company have turned in a dark, brooding rumination on the nature and consequences of heroics. It rings as an echo of previous Batman-centered features and reverberates long after the end credits finish their scroll.”
Video/Audio Grade: A
Captured in a 6K negative and mastered into a native 4K Digital Intermediate, THE BATMAN is a stunning 4K viewing experience. Visual details are crystal clear. Textures on costumes, set design, skin tones, and hair details are all top-notch. Little elements such as individual raindrops on car windshields during the film’s gripping car chase or bits of dirt and corrosion on Batman’s suit by the end of the film stand out quite a bit more clearly than on the 1080p Blu-ray.
In addition to being filmed brilliantly by Oscar-winning cinematographer Gregg Fraiser (Last year’s DUNE), the film is presented on a triple layer 100GB UHD disc, which allows as little compression as possible. As a result, very little unwanted noise or clouding is present on screen, which is quite an achievement for a film taking place almost entirely at night. The film features a very dark color palette with lots of blacks and greys, which thankfully never feels dull thanks to the starkly contrasting use of deep red and orange elements most noticeable in action scenes such as an early fight in the Iceberg Lounge and the aforementioned car chase. These excellent choices of color are made even more brilliant thanks to the inclusion of Dolby Vision and HDR10.
The disc also comes packed with an outstanding Dolby Atmos audio track as well as superb Dolby 7.1 and 5.1 options for those who haven’t forked over the Bruce Wayne bucks for an Atmos setup. There were several instances where I legitimately felt the need to rewind the film just to experience cool audio moments again with this disc. One great example is when the audio of Batman’s grapple gun whizzes past the viewer starting in the front left channel and impacts in the rear right channel, making it feel like the bolt when right past my head. Another great moment is when a bat rattles inside a birdcage, causing all of the side and overhead channels to shake and clang as if the audience is in the cage with it.
Extras Grade: B
While there are no special features included on the 4K disc or the included 1080p Blu-ray, a second 1080p Blu-ray comes bundled in the three-disc set with over two hours of bonus material.
Most of the features range between 5-10 minutes but hidden in the mix is a nearly one-hour-long documentary, which is well worth a look. When bonus features are often overlooked for home releases or ignored entirely, it’s refreshing to see so much content to give fans a peek behind the curtain.
- Looking for Vengeance (4:57)
- The Batman: Genesis (6:09)
- Vengeance Meets Justice (8:04)
- Becoming Catwoman (8:36)
- The Batmobile (10:51)
- Anatomy of The Car Chase (6:08)
- Anatomy of The Wing Suit Jump (6:29)
- Vengeance In The Making (53:41)
- Unpacking the Icons (5:47)
- A Transformation: The Penguin (7:59)
- Deleted Scenes
- “Joker / Arkham” (5:53)
- “Selina Gets a 44 Below Keycard” (1:53)
Final Grade: A-
THE BATMAN on 4K UHD is nothing short of a masterpiece on a visual and audio level and belongs right next to 2021’s DUNE as one of Warner Bros’ best 4K releases in recent memory.
