Point of Exquisite Suspension: Superior Batman

Whenever I can find a clip of the ending for Matt Reeves' The Batman film, I will embed it here for a comparison.

But, for now, my short take is to say that the latest Batman movie surpasses what has come before in at least one significant point: Self-awareness and personal growth.

Bruce Wayne begins the movie perplexed that he has not made a difference in the rate of crime in Gotham City. He has indeed become a fearful symbol to criminals. "I am vengeance" has become his motto.

But by the end of the film, he realizes he needs to become a symbol for something else.

I compare that to this scene in the much lauded Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins. In it, Batman defeats the evil Ras Al Ghul. But his final words to the villain has always bothered me. It's like "moral high ground" by technicality. See if you can grasp what I mean when you hear it yourself (begin at min. 2:32) and compare it to the ending of the latest movie (if you've seen it, that is).

Additional thoughts I posted on Twitter:

I'm not enough of a film noir cinephile to have seen Se7en. So comparisons between #TheBatman and that film are lost on me. But two movies I've enjoyed that the latest Batman movie brought to my mind were Watchmen (from BW's diary voice overs) & Blade Runner (rainy setting). pic.twitter.com/NYOoJfDCJn
— O. Douglas Jennings (@odouglasj) March 6, 2022