A couple of thoughts that I'm sure have been covered already.
(1) I was pretty skeptical about Pattinson, but I realize now that I had no cause to be. I haven't seen any of the Twilight movies, so I think I was judging him based on my impression of Twilight fans. I think the only thing I had actually seen him in was Tenet, and I liked Tenet and his character. So lesson to me not to judge something I have no real reference for, because I thought he was awesome in the role.
(2) About halfway through, I started thinking that I was in the process of watching what might end up being my favorite Batman movie ever. And that thought kind of blew me away because I'm a massive Nolan fan and I think TDK is a damned masterpiece. The score, the art, the plot, I was way, way into all of it at the 50% mark.
(3) It's hard to get a refreshing take on a character like batman. They managed to pull it off. Bale was "The Dark Knight" and Keeton was the "Caped Crusader." Pattinson and Reeves finally gave us the "World's Greatest Detective." It feels like in all the other movies we've seen Batman solve problems with awesome technology, wonderful toys, and superior physical skills. This felt like the first time someone made a thoughtful, Holmesian Batman, and I love it. Solving riddles, investigating crime scenes, putting pieces together.
(4) Speaking of the "World's Greatest Detective," I don't enough about film study to call this officially a "detective noir" film, but man it sure felt like it. The narration, the exposition, it way it was shot. You might call it a moody batman, but this was a hard-boiled detective movie featuring a hard-boiled detective batman. It reminded me so much of Se7en It's The Maltese Falcon or Touch of Evil with batman as the central character, which is kind of wild to think about. Closest modern comparison I could come up with is True Detective Season 1 and Se7en, there's also a little bit of Touch of Evil and Maltese Falcon there.
On June 13, 2019, I wrote this:
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Step 1: Decide from the outset that it needs to be a near-R rated film.
Step 2: Model Riddler off the Zodiac Killer. No camp, but riddles to the media nobody can solve but Batman.
Step 3: If you must use the penguin, make it be a nickname used behind his back or something based on his height as opposed to DeVito's very literal version. And ditch the umbrella gadgets. You can give him one umbrella gun or something, but that's.
Step 4: Under no circumstance should Firefly wear a costume or actually fly. Just make him a pyro for hire type crime bosses use to cover crimes.
Step 5: Follow Nolan's lead with Cat Woman.
Anyway, give me a detective-centric movie about Batman trying to locate the Zodiac Riddler, and I'm watching that all damn day.
Well damnit if Reeves didn't hit for the cycle going 4 for 5 with a grand slam.
(5) Casting was perfect. Pattinson was great, but so was Kravitz, Dano, Farrell, Turturro, Wright, and Serkis. I loved how little camp there was for the Riddler, and how psychotic he was. I love how they gave us a little easter egg with the Penguin when he was tied up and trying to walk, and that it was about the only "penguin" thing they did to tip the cap to the nickname. Same thing with Catwoman. And genuinely loved how they took Alfred and turned him into more than just the help. It never sat right with me how little Bruce Wayne seemed to care for the man who raised him in previous iterations. I'm glad they put this version in the hospital with Alfred and gave him that moment to recognize the surrogate father role he played.
(6) The story was awesome, but so was the messaging. We've heard so much about Bruce Wayne growing up as an orphan. It was very cool to see him confront another orphan. I thought that bit of twist concerning the Riddler was pretty great. It made Wayne confront how lucky he was to have the money and Alfred in his life, and put a little perspective on him. I like the messaging there, too. In Meditations 7.27, Marcus Aurelius wrote:
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Think not so much of what you have not, as of what you have. Think of the things that you have selected the best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought if you had them not.
At the same time, however, take care that you do not, through being so pleased with them, accustom yourself to overvalue them, so as to be disturbed if ever you should not have them.
I mean, that's the whole movie right there. Bruce Wayne was so preoccupied with losing his parents that he only thought about growing up without them instead on the things he did have, so he was consumed with vengeance. The Riddler made him confront the those things he did have but had taken for granted, both after meeting Riddler and after nearly losing Alfred in the bombing.