Pattinson's still admirably cut and toned physique isn't singularly imposing, shifting power to the suit itself - another storytelling strength that plays into fear. What Reeves' horror focus in The Batman does is heighten stakes. Just lifeless bodies and another Riddler calling card because a psychopath's game is true horror. It's all quite ruthless - no last-minute escapes. Seven influences overtake as back-pocket commissioners and greedy district attorneys are made into corpse examples, punished for their misdeeds. Riddler's workshop houses all the same blueprints and prototypes found in Kramer's warehouse - if only the Riddler wanted to give his hit list any redemption. As Saw’s John Kramer gives his targets a chance to trade disfigurement and scars for a second chance, Riddler also feigns the idea that his victims can escape from rat maze headgear to explosive collars should they repent. A particular line in one of his recorded manifestos reveals a belief about how the morally corrupt scum of upper Gotham - sinners - can't feel the weight of their actions until confronted with the ultimate consequence. Taxi Driver and The French Connection layer their influences as underbelly mysteries, but this Bruce Wayne is consumed by darkness - a darkness that's better confronted through the bleakness and relentlessness of nerve-shredding horror jolts.ĭano's Riddler takes a page from the gospel of Jigsaw, along with infamous serial killer tendencies. Frasher's camerawork and Michael Giacchino's haunting score emphasize jump-scare moments and the sense of dread that accompanies rain-soaked, dreadfully calculated visuals that play into the film's seediness. Riddler's thumb drive gag - with an actual severed thumb - is morbid humor that revels in gallows grimness. Barry Keoghan's Joker - the brief glimpse we're allowed through prison cell window bars - sure looks unsettling. Paul Dano's portrayal of Riddler couldn't be farther from Jim Carrey's flamboyance and unsanctioned buffoonery. The Batman doesn't seem bothered by these restrictions. Batman's rogues gallery - including a clown prince who cackles like a slasher killer or cannibalistic killer crocodile creature - would all make tremendous horror icons were they not sometimes stuck in detective comics or more mainstream releases where you can be scary enough, just not too scary to ward off younger fans. Or why the same company's Penta El Zero Miedo once donned purple-and-green Joker gear, scarred cheek makeup and all. There's a reason why AEW superstar Andrade El Idolo has adopted an entrance costume that's just beefy Black Mask - to strike fear. Although, for every Adam West portrayal and comic about Batman turning into "Bat Baby" for a bizarre laugh, there's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On A Serious Earth or any of the horrific villains who've realized their most beastly forms. Batman Beyond and Batman: The Animated Series indoctrinated countless new fans into the Caped Crusader's world, so it makes sense that movies would want to keep those demographics available. Television and film adaptations of Batman comics have veered towards more family-friendly representations because children love their superheroes. Christopher Nolan's Batman films favor the moonlight but are a bit cleaner, more action-forward, while Tim Burton's Batman Returns plays more in cartoonish camp versus outright chills (no shock). Horror has seeped into multiple Batman movies because these genre moments are part of its comic book structure - but Reeves and Fraser indulge the horror-noir approach in ways no other production sustains. Or how Danny DeVito's pale-faced, beak-nosed portrayal of Penguin utilizes ghoulish costume and makeup design that feels torn from a Rob Zombie movie (tell me DeVito's Penguin wouldn't aesthetically fit into House of 1000 Corpses). It's not far removed from Wally Pfister's cinematography in Batman Begins, given how Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow interpretation and other fear toxin hallucinations are pure cower-in-fear fiendishness.
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