Two scenes that got me emotional. One, when Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne does the eye scan and walks into his room of batsuits. Two, the climactic multidimensional, multiverse showcase of the DC superheroes and the various incarnations. There was Christopher Reeve and that got me into tears. Yes, it's an emotional manipulation on the filmakers' part milking nostalgic reactions from the audience...but it was well placed within that multiverse nonsense (acceptable nonsense because it's from god-damned comic book, not pages of Tolstoy).
There's only one draw for me to eagerly wait for this flick - Keaton. Other Batmen came and gone, but for three decades like a fanatic loyalists, I stood by Keaton, proclaiming that he's the best. So what if he's not comic book accurate (oh yeah, try the various other earlier incarnations on pages you get even ones sillier than the intentional campy live TV version).
Keaton didn't have a trilogy. He sort of moved on when his earlier frequent collaborator Tim Burton decides not to do the third. This, for me, is that third Keaton Batman. To watch from that perspective, despite his lesser screentime, makes the entire film a fantastic experience.
This, to me, is the best DC flick since the earlier Keaton Bats film (I don't dig Christian Bale's grim take, sorry Nolan fan boys), and certainly the best comic book film since the first Iron Man (2008).
The multiverse concept doesn't bug my semiliterate brain, it works because, hey, we watched and understood Back To The Future (referred to heavily here - great plot device to enlighten the audience - albeit the Eric Stoltz version.... movie nuts would know about that casting trivia). It's quite easy to follow but can be messy when we are thrown in it, then again it doesn't ruin the flow.
The simple message of not changing the past and accepting "fate" and that "fate" can never be altered is hammered down enough to make the early devotional Tamil film fans proud. I hate that message and that is my only complaint. Fate, like the concept of "creation" is all encompassing easy answer to unanswerable questions relating to selfish desires and disappointments. To throw that chip into a comic book film feels like ho-hum, almost lazy, to me.
But it is interestingly probed here. The question as to whether you really get to meet, interact and touch the physical you of the past is firmly put aside without getting science in the way. Hey, it's a comic book movie, they have done worst shit on the page panels.
The film was already notorious for casting Ezra Miller.... he's got massive legal baggages to deal with that made him an instant fan repellent in these days and ages of knee jerk, politically correct, woke moral posturing. We are still struggling with the concept of parking legally, making us swell moral judges, don't we? But I digress.
He did a good job, playing dual role of the same character from different age group convincingly. Hopefully the audience can put the actor's personal issue aside, let the real world deal with it, and enjoy the film for what it is. Damn, poor DC could use some hits and try to be at least neck to neck with the smug MCU. DC could really kick off a good new phase with this film. Hey, I even liked Sasha Calle's Supergirl.
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