Thoughts on 'The Batman'

 Thoughts on the latest Superhero movie, 'The Batman'.  Non spoiler thoughts first, then a warning for the comments that will spoil the movie:

* I didn't hate the movie (if you want to see me rant about a movie that I hated, ask me about 'The Rise of Skywalker').  It was very well crafted and the acting was fine- it created a universe.  It was also three hours of misery.  There was no joy in the movie at all, no happiness, and while they mentioned needing hope, they never provided it.

Some people like that in movies.  I don't- I want to see struggles, but I also want to see a happy ending.  I didn't think one was generated or justified.

* The casting was great, across the board.  Pattinson was fine as Batman.  Kravitz played a gritty Selena Kyle.  Dano was brilliant as the Riddler.  Wright, Serkis, Tuturro... I loved the casting.

* I know they were going for a noir feel- but the movie was shot so dark that I had a hard time seeing what was going on.

* Three hours was the wrong length for the movie- way too long for a movie with as few action scenes as this one had, and still not enough time to give the backstory needed.  They should have made this a six (or ten) episode series on a streaming service.   

* Side comment- has any fictional character ever been played in as many different styles as Batman?

He's been over the top silly (The 1996 show).  The obsessive-compulsive crimefighter (The Batman cartoon).  He's been a leader of the Justice League- and a loner, away from everyone.  You could play him as a true hero, an anti-hero, and as a broken person.

There are other fictional characters that have been played by a half dozen or more actors (Superman/Tarzan/Sherlock Holmes, to name three).  But all of those are generally played one or two ways.  With Batman, just about any behavior can be justified.

OK- spoiler comments below:

SPOILERS:

* I've heard 'The Batman' as a Detective movie.  But really- it's The Riddler who is the Detective.  He's the one who identifies the corruption, brings it to the light, and eliminates the criminals.  Apparently, half the police force are in on the take- and the Batman never realized it before having it pointed out to him?

* Hell, the movie had to add on the Riddler trying to kill Bruce Wayne (and nearly killing Alfred) and then terrorize the city- otherwise, I suspect a lot of people would have portrayed the Riddler as the real hero of the movie. And neither move really explained the Riddler's earlier actions- if he was always going to try and destroy the city, why would he care about taking out Falcone first?

* I honestly expected the last bit of the movie would be for the Riddler to expose Bruce Wayne as the Batman- which would have been a fascinating direction to take the next story (what if everyone in Gotham knew that Wayne was Batman?)

* Riddler's friend at Arkham wasn't really needed.