Tag: Matt Reeves

The Penguin Review: The Greatest Comic Book Show Ever?

There was a lot to love about 2022’s The Batman.
One of these things was definitely Colin Farrell’s portrayal of the Penguin.
The makeup and prosthetics for the role were outstanding, and Farrell completely disappeared into the role of Oswald Cobb.
So, when it was announced that there would be an HBO show about the character, I was excited.
That being said, I never expected it to be this good.
Developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, and produced by The Batman director Matt Reeves, The Penguin follows Oz Cobb on his attempted rise to power after impulsively killing the heir to the Falcone crime family, Alberto (Michael Zegen), in a moment of rage. 

Oz’s impulsive murder of Alberto kicks off the events of the show.

This act does not go unpunished, however, because Oz quickly finds himself under the scrutiny of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Alberto’s sister and a supposed former serial killer who was just released from Arkham Asylum.
Wanting to protect his mentally unwell mother Francis (Deidre O’Connell) from Sofia, Oz recruits Viktor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), an impoverished teenager with a stutter, to both care for her and aid him in his power grab.
All of the four key players, Farrell, Milioti, Feliz and O’Connell give excellent performances, but it is Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti who steal the whole show.
Farrell once again completely disappears into the role of the Penguin, to the point that I once again did not even recognize him.
On top of his performance, the writing for Oz is also stellar.
You cannot help but be drawn in by his charisma, despite being constantly reminded of just how evil he is.
By the end of the show, I was practically begging for Batman to fly in and beat the ever-loving hell out of him. 

Watching Oz receive a beatdown from Batman would be incredibly cathartic.

As for Cristin Milioti’s Sofia, she so often felt like the protagonist of this show more than Oz.
For the first three episodes, I was on the edge of my seat; constantly creeped out by Sofia while wondering if she would win her game of cat and mouse against Oz.
Then, we got her backstory in Episode Four, “Cent’Anni”, one of the best episodes of the show, and I went from being terrified of her to actually rooting for her.
Despite being a bad person herself, it becomes quite clear towards the end which of the two is more morally bankrupt and it is certainly not Sofia. 

Milioti perfectly plays someone who became a monster because of her environment, as opposed to Oz who was always a monster.

Farrell and Milioti deserve all of the awards for this show, as do many of the people behind it, with the makeup, soundtrack, cinematography, and sets all being fantastic.
Speaking of the those sets, just like in The Batman, Gotham City feels like its own character, from the devastated slums of Crown Point, to the luxury of the Falcone estate, to the insanity of Arkham Asylum.
Not everything about the show is stellar though, because there a few issues, namely the level of convenience in the show.
There were quite a few times where characters had the chance to kill Oz and yet they just let him keep talking, despite knowing how duplicitous he is.
Along with this, there are a few scenes that require leaps in logic to believe, the most obvious of which being something concerning Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) in Episode Five.
Aside from these issues, The Penguin is a phenomenal show, and definitely one of the best comic book shows of all time. 

The Penguin has set the standard for great comic book shows going forward.

The acting is fantastic across the board, with Farrell and Milioti delivering the best performances, the storytelling is great and full of tragic turns, and the set design of Gotham makes it feel like a living and breathing city full of corruption.
It is a corruption that Batman will need to clean up in the next film, and let’s hope he starts with a beatdown on Oz Cobb.
The guy certainly deserves it based on every horrible thing he did in this amazing show. 

The Batman Review: Forging a New Identity for the Bat.

Matt Reeves is a fantastic director.
Of the films of his that I have seen, there has not been a single one I disliked.
By far my favourites among his work are the two final installments in the Planet of the Apes trilogy, Dawn and War, which I consider to be one of the best trilogies of all time.
So, when I heard that he would be directing The Batman, I was sure that the caped crusader was in good hands.
After having seen the film, I can say with certainty that this suspicion was correct.
The Batman is an amazing film and my second or third favourite Batman film, coming behind The Dark Knight and either ahead of or behind Batman Begins.
The film follows a Batman, who has been fighting crime in Gotham for two years at this point, when a serial killer calling himself the Riddler begins murdering prominent politicians and leaving clues for the Batman.  
To catch the Riddler, the caped crusader is pushed to his breaking point, leading to a questioning of the very way he conducts himself.

“I’m Vengance” is the perfect beginning point for Batman’s growth as a character in this movie.

This time around, Batman is played by Robert Pattinson, which was a controversial choice at the time of the announcement because most movie goers knew him just as the guy from Twilight, not knowing that he had proved himself as an accomplished actor in many films since then.
I will admit, I was one of these people, until I saw him in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, where he gave one of my favourite performances.
This made me excited to see him play the Batman and I think he absolutely nailed it, convincingly bringing out a side to the Batman we so rarely see in his movies.
So far in this review, I have been referring to Batman as the caped crusader, but in this film he is definitely embodying his little-seen title of world’s greatest detective, even if he does make mistakes.
Most audience members seem to love this take on the Batman, yet I have heard some criticize the fact that we don’t see much of Bruce Wayne, or rather, the persona of Bruce Wayne that Batman uses to hide his identity.
This is, however, clearly intentional, as Batman is entirely dedicated to his crusade, even to the detriment of himself and his relationship with others, leading to what I believe is the greatest Batman arc put to film.
How Batman’s ideology changes from the beginning of the film to the end is just phenomenal writing. 

For those disappointed that we don’t see the Bruce Wayne persona in this movie, we may see it in a sequel.

It is not just Batman, however, because the other characters are just as stellar, most of all Paul Dano as the Riddler.
Honestly, I have never really liked the Riddler as a villain.
He always seemed just too goofy for me to take seriously, and he was such a nuisance in the Arkham games.
Yet Paul Dano and the script he is working with turned the Riddler into a chilling villain that creeped me out right from the first scene he was in.

The Riddler’s first scene in The Batman made me go from, “the riddler is a joke” to “well, now I need to check every corner of my room when I get home to check that there isn’t a deranged serial killer hiding somewhere.”

Zoë Kravitz is fantastic as Catwoman and has great chemistry with Pattinson’s Batman.
Likewise, Jeffrey Wright works well with Pattinson, creating a fun partnership between Jim Gordon and Batman.
Andy Serkis also does well with the few scenes he has, especially one emotional moment between him and Bruce.
Then there’s John Tuturro as Carimine Falcone, who I did not expect to get as much screen time as he did, yet was so glad that he got it because I loved his performance.
Finally, there’s Colin Farrell, who is completely unrecognizable as the Penguin, to the point that I’m pretty sure we were all shocked when we learned it was him. 

Colin Farrell’s casting as the Penguin was the most suprising to me, until I saw how he looked in the trailers and movie. Phenominal make up prostetics and acting.

Essentially, ever single actor in this film, from those with big roles to small, do an excellent job.
This is all helped with excellent cinematography, action, and a gripping score by Michael Giacchino, in a move that is over three hours long when including the credits.
I know a movie is great when it has such a long runtime, yet I feel like barely any time has passed when it ends, which is exactly what happened to me when watching The Batman.
Another common criticism I have heard though, alongside the lack of Bruce Wayne, is that the third act feels out of nowhere and unnecessary.
While I do see where these criticisms are coming from, I felt that this third act was entirely necessary, providing some great commentary on real world issues, while also tying into Batman’s arc flawlessly

The third act really defines this Batman’s journey as something great.

As for my own criticisms, there is one I do have that appears to be shared by the majority of viewers.
This is that there is a certain cameo in this movie that feels quite unneeded and almost as if it was just there because the studio demanded it.
Not that this cameo kills the movie in any way, it just feels unwarranted and I would personally like it if future sequels focused on something else.
Another minor gripe I have is a few plot holes I realized when watching the film, most prominently one to do with the Penguin’s fate but, again, that is just a minor thing.
Otherwise, this movie is amazing. 
The Batman is a gripping film with the best Batman character arc put to the screen and I cannot wait for more.