Indian fans happy with Batman’s portrayal in DC’s movie

The Batman has grossed over half a billion worldwide in the box office in just two weeks since its release

Earlier this week, Warner Bros announced that its latest release, The Batman, already declared a success on the box office, had collected over USD 500 million in worldwide screenings, that is almost 250 pc of what it cost the studio to make the film, directed and co-written by Matt Reeves of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fame. The Batman movie has an IMDb rating of 8.4 and an 86 pc rating at RottenTomatoes, websites that track films and their popularity.

The Batman narrates the story of fans’ favourite superhero Batman. The Caped Crusader also known as Batman has been prowling on the streets of Gotham City for over two years but is still struggling to make peace with his unresolved trauma. He and his ally, Gotham City Police Department Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffery Wright), are trying to catch the serial killer with the alias of the Riddler (Paul Dano) who is also Batman’s arch-nemesis.

English actor, Robert Pattison’s debut in the DC universe through The Batman (2022) has garnered immense love from fans across the world. Within two weeks of its release, it has earned USD 505,757,833 at the global box office. The film right now has an even split of USD 258.3 million domestically in the United States and USD 247.5 million internationally. In its first two weekends, it grossed USD 134 million and USD 66.5 million respectively. The movie has quashed Warner Brothers’ previous pandemic record and has the best international opening since Joker (2019). Apart from that, The Batman is the third biggest opening of the pandemic era, only behind Spider-Man: No Way Home and the latest James Bond movie, No Time to Die.

In a statement, Warner Bros Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich said, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to see people all over the world enjoying The Batman in theatres. Matt Reeves has delivered an extraordinary film that manages to honour the legacy of this global cultural hero while taking moviegoers into an experience that feels fresh and original. We congratulate Matt, Dylan, Walter, Chantal, Robert and Zoë, and the entire cast and crew on this wonderful benchmark.”

The project was initially presumed to be made by Justice League’s Ben Affleck. However, it was dropped and was picked up by Cloverfield’s Matta Reeves. There was some backlash around Twilight star’s casting. But the success of the movie has changed people’s opinions.

Indian fans floored

In India, the movie was released on March 4, 2022, and has crossed the USD 36 million mark. Fans who have watched the film were thrilled by the cinematography. “The movie was an absolute piece of art. I don’t think I have fallen in love as hard as I did for the cinematography it had, every shot felt aesthetically pleasing to the max. I loved how Matt Reeves portrayed the broken and battered Batman, depicting the duality of a vulnerable Batman who is also supposed to be a symbol of fear for the criminals,” Akshat Sadat, a student at Delhi Technological University & an avid cinematography fan tells Media India Group.

“I enjoy these kinds of portrayals where we get to see the human side of these supposed superheroes. How they are in a constant moral dilemma, how they are learning to trust and learning about who they really are. This movie hit all those notes for me. I also loved the concept of the movie, where we as audience and the protagonist were united in the quest of finding out what kind of a man the Caped Crusader is,” Sadat adds.

Sadat compared Reeve’s Batman with Cristopher Nolan’s Batman and says “In Nolan’s Batman starring Christian Bale had slyness and swagger, all his plans pretty much used to work out perfectly, he already knew he had to be a symbol of hope for Gotham. On the other hand, Pattison’s Batman was in the early stages of development, he was intimidating yet vulnerable. He had to improvise on the go as his plans failed. Batman was focused on vengeance rather than being a hope.”

Another avid cinematography fan Anza Umair is also very happy with the film. “I loved witnessing an emotional, little boyish version of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Batman being broken, mentally unstable, depressed, impulsive and still confused about how to handle things after two years won me over. The character also reminded me of another superhero of the Marvel universe called Daredevil,” Umair says.