The Batman stands apart from The Dark Knight by hurting Robert Pattinson

BatmanThe DC comics’ new DC-inspired thriller War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves, struggles to create distance from Christian Nolan’s still-impressive trilogy. Both are inspired by seminal Batman texts, including Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s down-and-dirty Batman, Year OneWe rely upon top-tier cinematographers (Wally Pfsiter in the Dark Knight films). Dune’s Greig Fraser working with Reeves) to create hyper-realism in contrast to Tim Burton’s gothic vision, Joel Schumacher’s living cartoons, and Zack Snyder’s mythological frescos. Reeves is able to find a rare spirit in a simple pleasure, beating Batman. Robert Pattinson can’t body slam into enough walls, in my opinion.

Christian Bale’s Batman was more vulnerable than the screen incarnations before him — who worried more about surviving a horde of evil penguins or being turned into a block of ice by Mr. Freeze — but between armor and high-tech gadgetry, he was still mostly untouchable in skirmishes with the common Gotham goon. There are a few moments of brutality across Nolan’s trilogy; a pouting young Bruce has his ass handed to him in a Bhutan prison early on in Batman Begins, but he’s just (Batman) beginning, and we know he’ll be walloping back in the immediate future. This is after the heavy psychology. The Dark KnightNolan wrote Bane into The Dark Knight RisesRecreate the scene to inflict maximum pain Batman: Knightfall when Bane cracks Bruce Wayne’s back. Nolan pushed the franchise to extremes, and if anything was going to derail Bale’s Batman in the final act, it was going to be the ultimate takedown.

However, BatmanReeves requests Pattinson become Bruised Wayne. His millionaire goth kid dons the cowl, cape, and bodysuit like every other Batman, but underneath, he’s Extremely Human and susceptible to violence. Though only in his second year thwarting crime, this Batman (excuse me, THE Batman) knows how to throw a punch — and he unleashes his fist force upon street gangs, mafiosos, and the occasional incel with a gun. But he is only one man, and when his opposition is eight harlequin-painted thugs with machetes and baseball bats, he can’t avoid taking a hit. After a brutal early encounter, Reeves pushes his camera in close to see Batman’s weary eyes, and quiets things down enough to hear his shortness of breath. The close-up becomes a key tool for the director, not only as a way of observing the gears turning in Batman’s head as he deciphers the Riddler’s clues, but to allow the strain of being Batman to set in.

Warner Bros. Pictures

After 100 years of car chases, there aren’t too many ways to improve upon vehicular choreography, but Reeves’ philosophy of banging up his boy enhances even the most straightforward set piece. Halfway through, Batman (Colin Farrell), riding in his black Batmobile chases down the Penguin. Reeves opts to avoid the Nolan-esque IMAX wide stunt show for a less suffocating experience. Instead, he sticks to shots of both drivers and wheel-side vantage point to increase momentum. Sometimes, the camera follows Batman as he looks out his windshield. Mack trucks start crashing into Batman’s car and out of control. The tank-like Tumbler from the Dark Knight movies would have no problem smashing through everyday cars to catch a bad guy, but Pattinson’s Batman finds himself whipped around as he attempts to maintain proper 10-and-2 steering-wheel positioning.

Car metal crunches, tires squeal, and there’s a sense that Bruce Wayne may be dealing with a bit of contrecoup when he finally captures the Penguin. The stunt work in the sequence is subtly impressive, and it’s unclear how much CG is required to make Robert Pattinson flail like ragdoll.

Reeves slaps his Bat with great glee. In an interior fight, almost all of which is lit with muzzle flashes, the super hero is assaulted by rifle shot after each one knocking his breastplate off. However, he stumbles. Bruce gets knocked down by rifle shots in a fight late in the game. He resorts to using adrenaline poison that causes him to go into an exacerbating rage. After surviving an explosion that was close to his head, the Bat-sleeper is forced into sleep by his fellow Bat-sleepers. They do. It’s quite distressing!

This suit design is the reason these heart-stopping moments were so memorable. For all the horror stories of previous Batman actors being trapped in leather suits or stiff padding that barely allowed them to move, Pattinson’s outfit allows the actor to be light on his feet and physically emote. Pain is more than gnashing teeth and squinting eyes — it’s felt in how an actor, theoretically, picks themselves back up. Comic book reality-setting is impressive in that this Batman can both fall and then rise again.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Reeves’ other ingenious touch is to keep Pattinson in the suit for most of the movie’s run. Batman’s presence at a crime scene, or even showing up at a club door is what normalizes his suit. It’s a second skin, required to do business, and seeing it mundane action makes the instances of more bombastic action feel even deadlier. The suit can’t be This If Bruce Wayne has the ability to do more than 100 things, it is protected.

Reeves’ persistent denting of the Dark Knight culminates in Batman’s best scene: In an attempt to flee the aforementioned squad of policemen, Batman zips his way up from the ground floor of GCPD HQ to the roof activates a wingsuit, which, in theory, allows him to glide through the city streets to freedom. Based on the noticeable gulp he takes before leaping, it’s Bruce’s first true free fall — and the actual jump goes well. The landing … not so much, in that he crashes into a bus andBefore hitting the ground and rolling a single block, an overpass is built. Pattinson sells the moment through pain and agony, even though visual effects are used to connect it all. Batman! Jackass.

The quixotic goal for a superhero movie is the setting of stakes. When characters can’t die and sequels loom, drama can only rely on the aura of danger. Nolan sought larger-than-life thrills made possible by Wayne tech to compensate for franchise limitations and set the tone. Inversely, Reeves goes all in on Pattinson’s performance, and the Man part of Batman. Reeves, the writer/director steers clear of boring origin beats and focuses on the consequences when a simple mortal man enters street-level criminality and leaps out from the rooftops for the first. The answer is injury — of all kinds, played for gasps laughs. I was never quite sure how this version of Batman would stand up again, and the dire moments were when Reeves’ movie was most alive.

Ultimately, BatmanThe genuine moments of deductive lightbulbs are not enough to create a compelling ticking-clock mystery. Batman BeginsOder The Dark KnightIt’s not the best, but Reeves with his writing team almost make up for it in moments when they question what being a masked vigilante is like. It’s a much-needed exploration; as DC and Marvel’s output becomes more fantastical and entranced by the multiverse, sequels to BatmanThis could be a welcome addition to the environment. Let me see you as a fallen hero, left with bruises and a painful three-story leap. There’s no reason Batman can’t be highly relatable.