The Batman (Matt Reeves, Greig Fraser, Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Jeffrey Wright)

[Manu Delpech]

Here's the glorious teaser for Matt Reeves' The Batman that dropped on Dc FanDome. Matt himself uploaded a 4K version on his Vimeo account:

They only shot 25% of the film so far, so pretty astounding they have that much footage, and so coherently edited, to show yet. Production resuming in September at Leavesden (they cancelled the other planned shooting on location in the UK, so some have wondered whether there'd be a noticeable change visually from shooting on location to on set, or studio lots, I doubt it with Fraser and Reeves).

Fraser is shooting this on the Alexa LF paired with Ultra Vista and H Series anamorphic glass. The first Batman film shot digitally, which I was worried about but this, being Fraser and Reeves, looks so low key and ravishing, there's such a sense of mood and atmosphere, I really dig the texture too, I suspect they shot a lot of this on 1280 or 1600 ISO.

Matt Reeves said in his DC FanDome panel that his inspirations for this go from Chinatown to Batman Ego (in terms of comics) to Taxi Driver, those really gritty, in the streets 70s films. 

So spectacular. 

 

[Manu Delpech]

Fraser is also using the tech he uses on The Mandalorian on this film in some capacity. 

[Robin R Probyn]

so Digital can look ok then.. ? .. and according to Tyler, the focus puller had an easy job too.. whats not to love ..did you hear Fraser,s  pod cast with Team Deakins .. quite interesting ..

[Phil Rhodes]

Of course, 1200 and up on Alexa LF will tend to look quiet, even at quite high resolutions, and even given Arri's increasingly geriatric sensor tech. Such is the joy of oversampling.

[Tyler Purcell]

It really sucks that people assume we need to tell the same old batman story all over again, over and over and over again. At least Christopher Nolan did something interesting and brought some really good filmmaking to the franchise. 

With that said, I have to say this trailer looks pretty cool. Well shot and honestly Matt Reeves' is pretty good at this genre. So yea, I'm actually looking forward to this (of course on home video if there isn't a 70mm print made). Looks like it probably won't be a waste of time like nearly everything else in the genre. 

[Manu Delpech]

By the way, this is its own separate thing, in its own universe. DC is going hard with the multiverse angle, so everything is canon so to speak. Zack Snyder's Justice League will be its own thing and possibly lead to more. A Gotham PD show written by Terence Winter (Wolf Of Wall Street, The Sopranos) is also coming on HBO Max, taking place in Reeves' Batman universe, year one (this is year two). 

[Dom Jaeger]

9 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

 Looks like it probably won't be a waste of time like nearly everything else in the genre. 

I've enjoyed various superhero movies and series over the years, as escapist fantasy or visual eye-candy.

On another level though I find the genre pretty distasteful in its somewhat fascist worldview. For all the noble declarations of defending the innocent or embracing diversity, the basic message is that heroism directly relies on having massive power, either physically or monetarily. As mere mortals, the rest of us are merely cowering victims waiting to be saved by those with super powers or unlimited amounts of cash. All that saves us from enslavement to these superior beings is their moral compasses, which means we are more or less at the mercy of a small group of elite rulers, whom we are encouraged to view with awe and wonder. Ayne Rand would approve.  I know these ideas have been explored within the genre itself, but it doesn't make it any more palatable, particularly when a show takes itself very seriously, as if it's exploring deep themes, while simultaneously pushing the same stupid barrow. 

For my money, the best and most honest interpretation of Batman is still this one:

I really enjoyed "The Boys" take on what superheroes would really be like if they actually existed, with the focus on ordinary mortals trying to resist them.

[Robin R Probyn]

Holy Wisdom Dom..  agreed.. Bruce Wayne, definitely a Tory party donor ... 

[Heikki Repo]

My main gripe with most Avengers and other such movies is the lack of real stakes. It's pointless action scene after another. Don't get me wrong - I like good action. It's just when the stakes disappear and I don't feel anything for the heroes - no thrill! - it becomes pointless.

Nolan's Batman trilogy on the other hand is excellent. Philosophical. Stakes are there and as audience I can feel it.

[Satsuki Murashige]

6 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

On another level though I find the genre pretty distasteful in its somewhat fascist worldview. For all the noble declarations of defending the innocent or embracing diversity, the basic message is that heroism directly relies on having massive power, either physically or monetarily. As mere mortals, the rest of us are merely cowering victims waiting to be saved by those with super powers or unlimited amounts of cash. All that saves us from enslavement to these superior beings is their moral compasses, which means we are more or less at the mercy of a small group of elite rulers, whom we are encouraged to view with awe and wonder. Ayne Rand would approve.

Perhaps you’ve hit on the reason for the mass appeal in the last few decades. People feel the need for messiahs when the pillars of civilization seem to be crumbling around us with ever increasing rapidity. ‘An opiate for the masses,’ indeed. We should be able to do better.

[Freya Black]

9 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

For all the noble declarations of defending the innocent or embracing diversity, the basic message is that heroism directly relies on having massive power, either physically or monetarily. As mere mortals, the rest of us are merely cowering victims waiting to be saved by those with super powers or unlimited amounts of cash. All that saves us from enslavement to these superior beings is their moral compasses, which means we are more or less at the mercy of a small group of elite rulers, whom we are encouraged to view with awe and wonder. 

I think its the mere mortals who have to find a way to keep their moral compasses in defence against the "super heroes".

Freya

[Satsuki Murashige]

8 minutes ago, Freya Black said:

I think its the mere mortals who have to find a way to keep their moral compasses in defence against the "super heroes".

Freya

Nice to have you back again, Freya!

[Heikki Repo]

12 minutes ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

Nice to have you back again, Freya!

Agreed! ?

[Shawn Martin]

The lenses on this are not Panavision, but new 2x anamorphics from Arri, called ALFA - developed especially for Fraser for this movie.

[Manu Delpech]

Good point, I see Arri posted about it on their FB page. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Manu Delpech

[Alissa Alexina]

Just watched The Batman yesterday on a big projector screen. The story is weaker than Nolan's, logic-wise, but the actors are just as great, so I enjoyed it a lot. The cinematography is stunning, the strong composition makes every frame a painting. The focus-puller must be a magician dealing with a razor-thin DoF. I have never seen a film with such a shallow DoF, and even completely defocused shots - the style certainly not suitably for every film. But here it just works perfectly. Amazing bokeh and flares create beautiful backdrops and make the characters stand out. I really like the analogue film grain process, the same Greig Fraser used on Dune - the texture is subtle and pleasant. While I strongly disapprove desaturated colours in Dune, here the (real analogue) bleach bypass serves the grim story and looks fantastic. What I like best is the dark, rainy mood and foggy atmosphere - so strong I felt like it was raining right in the room.

[Phil Rhodes]

I enjoyed the film, but it does lean somewhat toward the darker-is-better approach that I don't always adore.

[Abdul Rahman Jamous]

Well, I thought the cinematography is very brave, but I have a question: If this style of lighting was done for other movie, do you think the audience will tolerate it? 

I feel that if this style of lighting was done for other film, the audience will complain about how dark it is, very similar to what happened to that game of thrones episode "The Long Night "

[Abdul Rahman Jamous]

all in all I enjoyed watching the movie. The only complaint I have is that they didn't depict Gotham very well, it looked like New York.