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Reviews
The Batman (2022)
Batman the animated series in live action.
First of all, if your version of Batman is grimmdark and psychopathic and fits into the Snyderverse you'll hate this movie and iteration of Batman. Just move along. On the other hand, if you grew up with Batman the animated series and understand that Bruce isn't a broken sociopath and is instead someone who worked through a massive trauma in their life to turn it into something good, you'll probably really enjoy this iteration. I did.
The movie has the general tone of Batman the animated series set in live action. It's mature and dark but without being cynical. It understands that Batman is a superhero and doesn't abandon that. This was the glaring flaw with the Nolan movies too -- they were so concerned with grounding the universe in a hyper realism that they ripped the joy of the superhero genre out of the source material; everyone in a costume was essentially some form of mental illness or another by default. And he was hyper violent. This corrects that and brings some joy and mystery back into the genre for this character. Batman doesn't kill here and he doesn't mutilate as a close 2nd option either. He's cerebral and calculated the way all of the most iconic iterations of the character portray him.
The story slightly updates the mythos of the character to modernize it and make it more plausible. Afterall, in this era if you actually think there's such a thing as a benevolent billionaire who "earned" their billions, you were probably dropped on your head repeatedly as a child.
The performances were also very good all the way around. It could have been so easy for any of these characters to overplay their roles but everyone was on the same page.
The movie wasn't perfect and there's a few things I didn't think worked but they were relatively minor criticisms. I didn't think the antagonistic relationship with Alfred made any sense -- they would have worked through any conflict like that years ago and not in this moment. The Riddler design changes also didn't really work -- he's supposed to be a more sophisticated character and making him a Zodiac killer rip off ruins the character. It would have made more sense to make antagonist Calendar Man or a deeper cut villain instead. Which would have been fine since the story borrows heavily from the Batman Long Halloween storyline from the comics. I also would have preferred Bruce to be a little less broken but I understood they are leading us out into a healthier frame of mind for the sequels. These are relatively minor criticisms though.
It's a solid movie. Worth your time. And since most of us are use to binging Netflix 3hrs will come and go.
Easy 8.5/10.
The Djinn (2021)
Fun and Suspenseful
Really enjoyed this movie. It was legitimately suspenseful but maybe not scary per se if you're looking for a scary movie. And it's not a "horror" either if you were hoping for gore.
It jumps right in. There's very little build up. You get what you need about the characters right away and then we're off stuck in a bad situation with the protagonist.
The kid's performance was good -- especially for a child actor. I believed it. VFX were used strategically well too.
I really liked the 80s vintage grittiness-processing. The score/soundtrack was modern but still authentically 80s and really effective.
If I had a complaint, it's that the protagonist didn't feel scared enough by the situation and was able to move into crisis control mode too easily for someone so young. Turning into a little McGyver was cute but came too easily for him.
It was also interesting to see a male protagonist contrasted against so many (majority) female protagonists after so many years of the genre. The writers chose to write the little boy as a more capable victim (in the 80s) than female victims are typically portrayed in similar situations and movies these days. Since there's no comparison with female victims to reference in their filmology I found myself wondering if their female victims would be as capable.
Despite that I really enjoyed the film. Wished it was a little longer and got a little deeper into some lore. Easy 7 or 7.5.
Justice Society: World War II (2021)
Not perfect but really good.
Right off the top, this movie doubles down on putting the New52 continuity movies to rest. If you liked the New52 stuff from the last few years (Flashpoint Paradox onward until last year) you'll probably hate this. This movie gets away from the New52 continuity most fans rejected in the comics and returns to an iconic continuity that has a more hopeful and developed tone rather than the New52 movies.
For anyone who hated the New52 movies, get comfortable. No more juvenile science experiment Justice League from the Darkseid War movie, this is light hearted but still mature in tone. I've seen a few complaints about weird silence in dialogues; this movie actually shows those moments of awkward silence that happen in real life but the person complaining about it didn't get it.
I love the art style based on Otto Schmidt's art. It's another departure from the Phil Bourassa art style the New52 movies used. It's a much more open and inviting art style while the Bourassa style is associated with more of the grim/dark wannabe edgy style from the New52 movies and originally from the Young Justice show before that.
Performances were really nice. My heart will always prefer the JLU cast that came with Andrea Romano and Bruce Timm but these were a good fresh take. People will probably always have their favourites though. I think the only performance I really didn't like was Brainiac but his part was small anyhow so.
** spoilers below **
The story had a few problems but overall it was good. Who doesn't enjoy beating up and hating on Nazis? There's a couple plot points that go unanswered like Dr Fate's connection to Barry's trip. But these will inevitably be answered in upcoming movies in this new rebooted continuity. As a Wonder Woman fan I really enjoyed her taking center stage but if I'm a Justice Society fan I might have prefered a story that distributed the screen time across the team more evenly -- I can see that frustrating some fans.