With nary a bulb with a wattage above 5 to light its way, How it Should Have Ended somberly traces the trail of story illogic and eventually bludgeons The Batman with with fists full of snark.
The Batman is the 2022 feature film adapting DC Comics' flagship character of the same name.
Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, War for the Planet of the Apes) directs the latest iteration of Batman, this time starring Robert Pattinson (Good Time, The Lighthouse) as the Dark Knight.
Warner Bros. provides this synopsis: Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies—Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright)—amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens. When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál.
The movie has endured a tumultuous development effort. It was originally announced as a vehicle for writer/director/star Ben Affleck (who played the character in Batman v Superman and Justice League). A short time later Matt Reeves replaced Affleck as director. Reeves' plan was to focus the film around the Dark Knight's early years, contrasting with Affleck's portrayal as a senior superhero in the DCEU. Reeve's take was also described as "noir," and leveraging Batman's detective skills. Eventually Affleck dropped out and Pattinson was cast.
According to a press release, Reeves and Dylan Clark are producing the film, with Simon Emanuel, Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada and Chantal Nong Vo serving as executive producers. Reeves' behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser, his Planet of the Apes production designer, James Chinlund, editors William Hoy and Tyler Nelson, Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Dan Lemmon, Oscar-nominated SFX supervisor Dominic Tuohy, Oscar-nominated sound mixer Stuart Wilson, Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran and costume designers Glyn Dillon and David Crossman, hair designer Zoe Tahir and Oscar-nominated makeup designer Naomi Donne.
