Movie Review
Upon rewatch, I think my favourite moment of The Batman is Robert Pattinson ‘s slow-paced booming footsteps from the darkness. It reminds me of a desperado coming to a gunfight in a classic western. However, the car chase is still amongst the best on film in a long-time. It is, in my humble opinion, the best one in the Batman films. I’m going to talk about that a bit more in the audio section of the review.
Matt Reeves assembled a great cast, with Colin Farrell being the big standout. Pattinson is excellent as Batman, Zoe Krativz’s Catwoman is top-notch, and Jeffrey Wright absolutely crushes Gordon. And Paul Dano as the Riddler… such brilliance and malice; much better than what Joel Schumacher gave us in 1995 (no fault of Jim Carrey).
For a more in-depth look at the film read our theatrical review.
Video
The Dolby Vision presentation wasn’t exactly what I expected, but then I remembered seeing an interview with Matt Reeves where he talked about using lenses the camera thought was broken to change the texture of the movie looks. Essentially, the pores and facial hair are not as crispy as we’ve come to expect. However, that’s not a fault of the medium, it’s as designed.
With The Batman being an extremely dark and noir-based film, I was expecting some small issues with the presentation when it came to disc. Thankfully, those concerns were quickly waylaid once the movie started. The film’s contrast levels are even better than what I saw in theatres. I absolutely loved the way this movie looks in Dolby Vision.
With the red and aqua hues that accent the dark underbelly of Gotham, this movie looks stunning. With the movie being so dark when there are brighter moment explosions you might squint, but the bursts of light do not cause any blooms.
https://youtu.be/S2GkwC6neiU – Dolby interview with Matt Reeves. He talks about the lenses in the first 5-minutes.
Audio
This might be the most atmospheric film I’ve ever heard. It also might be the only time where I feel my system wasn’t fully up to the task and I was completely enveloped by the sounds coming from my speakers. When I turned off the movie the room felt empty and hollow.
The Dolby Atmos track is well used here. From the rain to the Riddler breathing above you in church, the use of the heights is dynamic. During the first fight in the Iceberg Lounge, the music pounds through the room like you yourself are in the club. The sound fx from the hitting can be heard but is muted as you’d expect in a club setting. Dialogue is never lost even with the quiet talking. The moving score from Michael Giacchino sounds fantastic at home.
The car chase sequence is your demo moment. You’re going to want to turn up the volume because it’s going to push the limits of your system. Your whole sound stage will come alive the moment the ignition is fired up. The LFE is absolutely bombastic and rumbled through my chest.
Extras
WB included all the bonus features on a third Blu-ray disc. You will find none on the same disc as the movie. Each of the featurettes gives plenty of additional info on the movie from the fighting style of Batman to how they made decisions on the story and characters. Most of them are less than 10-minutes, with Vengeance in the Making running for nearly 54-minutes. Watch, learn and enjoy.
I do feel as though Warner Bros. Home Entertainment let us physical media fans down by including the commentary with the Apple store on The Batman digital version only.
- Looking for Vengeance (HD 4:57)
- The Batman: Genesis (HD 6:09)
- Vengeance Meets Justice (HD 8:04)
- Becoming Catwoman (HD 8:36)
- The Batmobile (HD 10:51)
- Anatomy of a Car Chase (HD 6:08
- Anatomy of the Wing Suit Jump (HD 6:29)
- Vengeance in the Making (HD 53:41)
- Unpacking the Icons (HD 5:47)
- A Transformation: The Penguin (HD 7:59)
- Deleted Scenes (With Optional Commentary)
- Scene 52 Joker/Arkham (HD 5:53)
- Scene 56 Selina Gets 44 Below Keycard (HD 1:53)
Conclusions and Final Thoughts
Despite the nearly 3-hour run time, I’ll be watching this again and again. I will be using the car chase scene to show off my system or convince my wife that I need an upgrade… hehe. Don’t let the lens choice dissuade you from taking the plunge on the 4K disc. The Batman still looks stellar in 4K if even a little less crisp than we’ve come accustomed to. The Atmos track is easily the fullest track I’ve heard knocking DUNE off the top of my list. As you can see they included a LOT of extras, but I am upset we don’t get the commentary. However, this is a disc I’m thrilled to have in my collection.
** Review copy of The Batman provided by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
