Please note that this review contains spoilers. 

An eerie mood prevailed over the crowded Vue cinema in which my partner and I recently saw Matt Reeves’ The Batman. In the day leading leading up to the 7:30pm viewing, barring my worry over my partners horse-riding accident, I have questioned whether it is either appropriate or ‘morally justifiable’ to spend approximately three hours escaping to Gotham as Europe experiences its first major war since 1945 and the world appears to edge closer and closer to midnight. At the time of writing, the Doomsday Clock reads just 100 seconds to midnight. However, how can we charecterise that to which we are escaping? Matt Reeves’ Gotham appears as a nightmarish hellscape in which the ‘truth’ is deferred and cannot be identified with a single institution, individual or structure. In The Batman, Robert Pattinson’s Batman is as much of a crusader for an arborsencent and structured truth as he is a crusader for justice – a ‘reverse nomad’. Throughout this short review, I will initially explore the rhizomatic nature of truth in Gotham, followed by a brief appraisal of both the cinematography and the actors’ performances. 

‘Truth’ in The Batman cannot be identified with any arborescent structure or individual. In contrast, the ‘truth’, in Reeves’ Gotham, is rhizomatic. As Deleuze and Guattari contend in Capitalism and Schizophrenia: A Thousand Plateaus one of the six defining characteristics of the rhizome is the principle of multiplicity: “Multiplicities are rhizomatic, and expose arborsencent pseudo-multiplicities for what they are. There is no unity to serve as a pivot in the object, or to divide in the subject” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988: p7). Reeves’ Gotham is defined by multiplicities – multiple versions of ‘truth’ are referenced by various parties and the concept of ‘truth’ is  employed to various ends. Firstly, the film’s antagonist, The Riddler (Paul Dano), grounds his quest to ‘unmask the truth’ in the rhizome. The Riddler’s cryptic puzzles and riddles ironically disperse the truth along the nodes of their own crypticism by failing to refer to any structured and consistent cipher – an arborsencent system with “centers of significance and subjectification, control automata like organised memories” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988: p16) –  through which The Batman can interpret Riddler’s quest for the ‘truth’. The Riddler’s failed cryptography reveals nothing more than his own psychopathology, and his equally and constraingly  function as both an agent of the rhizome and an agent of the truth.

Secondly, Gotham’s collective of organised crime and corrupt political, judicial and financial officials form a collective ‘war-machine’ that is “irreducible to the state apparatus” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988: p352). This anarchic collective disperse the arboscent hierarchy of truth for their own ends. For example, Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) weaponises the truth to both undermine the criminal enterprises of Salvatore Moroni, whose capture looms throughout The Batman, and to undermine Bruce Wayne’s perception of his father legacy by depicting him as a functionary of the ‘war-machine’ – irrespective of the ‘truth’ of the Thomas Wayne’s (Luke Roberts) request to Falcone to silence a journalist that threatened to expose the ‘truth’ of his wifes legacy. As we have seen, the ‘war-machine’ employes multiple historical perceptions of the ‘truth’ that serve their own interests, and are used as points of reference in their ‘becoming-villain. The criminal ‘war-machine’, like The Riddler, are agents of the rhizome. To summarise this brief section, the function of ‘truth’ in Gotham is not formalised or structured, it is dispersed amongst various ‘nodes’ who either cloud it in their quest to unmask the truth or employ it as a point of reference and make it subservient to their ‘becoming-villain’. 

However, Robert Pattinson’s Batman can be viewed as an agent of the arborescent – a ‘reverse-nomad’. Batman is purely exterior to Gotham’s political, judicial and financial system, he has no legitimate role to play other than dispensing ‘controlled violence’ against those agents of the rhizome. As Bruns notes, Deleuze and Guattari perceive the nomad as a “deterritorialization in which a subject no longer occupies a realm of stability and identity but is instead folded impercitivlity into a movement… whose mode of existence is nomadic” (Bruns, 2007: p703). As Bruce Wayne admits at the outset of the film, The Batman is a nocturnal nomad who roams Gotham seeking to serve justice. However, symbolically, The Batman functions as a ‘reverse-nomad’ who dismantles and destroys the agents of the rhizome. The Batman roams the night, subjectfying ‘multiplicities’ and the ‘war-machine’ into an arborescent structure that places classic notions of ‘justice and truth’ as forebears. 

Greig Fraser’s praiseworthy cinematography illuminates a Gotham that resembles a relatable hellscape. Most notably, the complex and ever-changing use of lighting mirrors one of the film’s overarching motifs – the rhizomatic function of ‘truth’. Light, and dark, are used to both dissolve the truth and illuminate it. For example, the presence of various powerful political figures in the Iceberg Lounge is shrouded in an ecstasy of light that both renders the truth and disperses it amongst ever-changing lights. If the Panopticon, as a strategy of truth, probes the body, Fraser’s use of light in the Iceberg Lounge reverses and disperses the truth by simultaneously making the bodies of Gotham’s political elite visible and invisible. In addition, Fraser’s use of metaphor in the sweeping away of Gotham’s corruption recalls Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the city without roots:

“Amsterdam, a city entirely without roots, a rhizome city with its stem canals, where utility connects with the greatest folly in relation to a commercial war-machine” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1988: p16)

Alongside the obvious metaphor, the flood at the conclusion of the film signifies the rhizomatic nature of the oncoming ‘bloody’ power struggle that will further dissolve the truth and dismantle abrosecent systems in Gotham. Only the ‘reverse-nomad’ can resist this. Here, the function of water is not dissimilar to that of the rain in David Fincher’s Se7en. Overall, the cinematography of The Batman presents us with a film-noir esque  depiction of Gotham that is reminiscent of Se7en or Zack Synder’s Watchmen. However, the ‘noir’ element is much more developed and sophisticated than the latter. 

On a more practical level, Robert Pattinson continues his career revival, which began with Christopher Nolan’s masterful Tenet, by producing a commanding and overtly physical performance as The Batman. In addition, Pattinson gives a more than convincing performance as Bruce Wayne whose trauma and disillusion with Gotham is reflected in Pattinson’s the physical and psychological aspects of Pattinson’sperformance. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne does not recall Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, and in fact, they feel diametrically opposed. Pattinson’s trauma is manifested overtly, whereas Bale’s trauma is manifested internally. Paul Dano’s Riddler is menacing and imposing until The Riddler is unmasked. As the masked Riddler, Dano is a perfect combination of psychotic and controlled – a combination that can leave the viewer feeling both uncomfortable and dishevelled. Unmasked, Dano’s psychopathy verges on the ridiculous. In Joker, Joaquin Phoenix sets the standard for a depiction of trauma induced psychopathy, whereas Dano in The Batman reduces The Riddler’s psychopathy to farce and dramatic ‘over-exaggeration’ that presents itself as empty. A notable performance is also given by John Turturro as Carmine Falcone. Turturro’s on-screen presence is undeniable, and he masterfully increases the threat of a physically meagre character. Furthermore, Zoe Kravitz performance marks a ‘return to form’ for Selina Kyle – The Catwoman – who plays the aforementioned with an emotional depth and strength that is rare for both the character and the genre. 

However, in my opinion, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot – The Penguin – ‘steals the show’. Farrell, under lays of prosthetics and make-up, is the perfect combination of menacing and ridiculous. For example, during Batman’s interrogation of The Penguin, Farrell is able to match, and potentially surpass, Patinson’s physicality and menace, whereas after being captured by The Batman and Lt. Gordon, Farrell’s Penguin is reduced to comedy. Farrell masterfully recognises changes in the tone and dynamic of the script and is able to adjust his performance accordingly. 

However, forgettable performances are given by both Andy Serkis and Jeffrey Wright as Alfred Pennyworth and Lt. James Gordon respectively. Serkis’ performance lacks the emotional depth required for the ‘father-son’ depiction of the relationship between Pennyworth and Wayne that the script adopts, whereas Wright’s depiction of Lt. Gordon is confused and lacks direction – an attribute that is perhaps a consequence of confused writing on Matt Reeves and Peter Craig’s behalf. 

To conclude, The Batman is an intriguing and well developed addition to the D.C canon that is a vast improvement on recent additions such as Zack Synder’s Justice League and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984. The script and score are comparable to Todd Philips’ Joker, whereas the acting falls short of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight through its lack of an era-defining performance Philosophically considered, The Batman exemplifies how ‘truth’ can function rhizomatically in corrupt political, financial and judicial system. However, I don’t believe that The Batman will be remembered for the aforementioned, perhaps it will be remembered as a well needed return to ‘noir’ for the nocturnal nomad. 

Bibliography

Bruns, G., (2007)., ‘Becoming- Animal (Some Simple Ways)., New Literary History., Vol.38., No.4., pp 703-720

Deleuze, G., and Guattari, F., (1988) ‘Capitalism and Schizophrenia: A Thousand Plateaus’., Bloomsbury Academic., pp7, 16, 352