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The Batman (4K Ultra HD+Blu-ray+Digital)
(Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, et al / 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray+Digital / PG-13 / 2022 / Warner Bros.)

Overview: More than a year of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City.

With only a few trusted allies — Alfred (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), Oz, aka The Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka The Riddler (Paul Dano).

As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the quite wondrous, and always uproarious to watch The Batman in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this May 24th, 2022.

For my money, this The Batman [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is The Batman presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable.

For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; such as one of the most heart pounding scenes entitled Chasing The Penguin In The Batmobile.

There’s a hilariously anticlimactic moment at the beginning of The Batman’s big Batmobile set-piece as Bruce fires up an early version of the car, revs it toward the Penguin and his goons, and then stalls it. This gives the Penguin and his henchmen enough time to escape, but Batman takes chase.

This captivating car chase sequence sees Batman pursuing the Penguin the wrong way down a highway, zipping in and out of speeding vehicles and charging through the fiery wreckage of an exploded gas tanker.

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material - notably the fine detail to the faces of all those involved in the scene entitled The Opening Train Station Brawl.

Any Batman fans who feared that Edward Cullen couldn’t convincingly play the Caped Crusader were silenced when they saw the first trailer and watched Pattinson’s Batman mercilessly beat a thug to a pulp and aggressively quip, “I’m vengeance.”

This sequence doesn’t disappoint in the final movie. The Batman ably takes on this entire street gang, but he takes as many punches as he doles out in the early days of his crimefighting career.

As for the audio, well we have a veritable smorgasbord of choice here: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (320 kbps), French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the movie itself, well, this film delivers a much darker and more sinister Batman, quite unlike the many versions that have gone before. The representation of Gotham as well, is steeped in corruption and decay.

The story opens with the death of the city’s mayor, and from there introduces the principal characters that are part of the Batman legacy that are known all too well by fans. In tone, I think this film was more like the Gotham TV series than any of the prior movies, even if that show had more to do with the young Bruce Wayne growing into the masked crime fighter.

The villains both in Gotham and in this story personified the evil and malice that gripped Batman’s hometown, with an added element of corruption in the background of Bruce Wayne’s father that put him under the thumb of crime boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).

All of the performances here were exceptional. Robert Pattinson’s take on Batman was more effective than his portrayal of Bruce Wayne, who looked like he was part of the grunge scene. I didn’t much care for the Batman outfit, it looked unusually heavy and clunky; ergo, one’s first inkling that Batman was arriving was heralded by the thumping footsteps one might associate with Jurassic Park.

Also, Pattinson’s voice as Batman, as well as those of Lieutenant Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and The Riddler (Paul Dano) sounded like they were coming through a synthesizer. It made for dramatic effect, although not quite realistic.

Indeed, this film version of The Riddler is not like anything you’ve seen before or would have expected. His off-screen portrayals hinted at a demented masked vigilante, which made the actual appearance of the character that much more compelling when it revealed an almost baby faced Dano in the role of a psychotic madman.

Quite honestly, it wasn’t until the credits rolled that I became aware that Colin Farrell had the role of Oz, hidden underneath all the prosthetics and make-up. Yes, he was referred to as The Penguin, but it wasn’t overdone, and his full name (Oswald Cobblepot) was never mentioned. Rounding out the principals was Zoe Kravitz as the slinky Catwoman, Selina Kyle. She had some major kick butt action in the film and rose to the occasion to save Batman’s near the end of the story. Speaking of which, even with his seemingly armor plated outfit, Batman appeared unusually vulnerable to attacks by his foes in the picture. It marked him as more human than the average super-hero with unusual powers.

I will say this, your attention needs to be focused due to the nuances that are revealed in the telling of Bruce Wayne’s parents’ story and how he might have been misled growing up. His father’s relationship with Falcone and fellow mob boss Salvatore Moroni bear on Gotham’s reputation.

Maybe it was inadvertent, but there might have been a subliminal tribute to the Gotham series here with the character of Falcone associate Kenzie (Peter McDonald) for the role of James Gordon in that series was portrayed by Ben McKenzie.

Lastly, over the past few years, DC has disappointed a lot of people, and it is also true that it has become difficult to see DC go up to the same position as Marvel and compete with them. However, recently, films such as Joker and The Suicide Squad, masterpieces that utilize DC’s unique personality and creator’s vision have appeared, and The Batman seems to have no problem standing alongside.

Therein, I hope that Matt Reeves will be able to complete a trilogy that utilizes his vision safely without following the path of SnyderVerse.

DIGITAL, 4K, BLU-RAY & DVD ELEMENTS:
“The Batman” Premium Digital Ownership contains the following special features:
• Vengeance In The Making
• Vengeance Meets Justice
• The Batman: Genesis
• Becoming Catwoman
• Looking for Vengeance
• Anatomy of The Car Chase
• Anatomy of The Wingsuit
• A Transformation: The Penguin
• The Batmobile
• Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary

“The Batman” 4K UHD combo pack and Blu-ray contain the following special features:
• Vengeance In The Making
• Vengeance Meets Justice
• The Batman: Genesis
• Becoming Catwoman
• Looking for Vengeance
• Anatomy of The Car Chase
• Anatomy of The Wingsuit
• A Transformation: The Penguin
• The Batmobile
• Unpacking The Icons
• Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary

“The Batman” DVD contains the following special feature:
• Unpacking The Icons

Unmask the truth behind Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, when “The Batman” arrives for Premium Digital Ownership at home on April 18th.

The film is directed by Matt Reeves from a screenplay by Reeves and Peter Craig, based on characters created by DC, and stars Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse”). The film will also be available to stream on HBO Max on April 18th and will be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD beginning on May 24th.

The film also stars Zoë Kravitz (TV’s “Big Little Lies,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”), Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”), Jeffrey Wright (“No Time to Die,” TV’s “Westworld”), John Turturro (the “Transformers” films, “The Plot Against America”); Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Interrogation”), Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”), Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”) and Colin Farrell (“The Gentlemen,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”). The film was produced by Dylan Clark and Reeves, with Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo and Simon Emanuel executive producing.

• On April 18th, “The Batman” will be available for early Premium Digital Ownership at home for $29.99 and for 48-hour rental via PVOD for $24.99 SRP on participating digital platforms where you purchase movies.

• On April 18th, “The Batman” will be available to stream on HBO Max.

• On May 24th, “The Batman” will be available on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD. “The Batman” will also continue to be available to own in high definition and standard definition from participating digital retailers.

“The Batman” can be enjoyed at home with Filmmaker Mode TM. Developed by studios, TV manufacturers and some of Hollywood’s leading directors, Filmmaker Mode disables all post processing (e.g. motion smoothing), preserves the correct aspect ratios, colors and frame rates, and enables your TV to display the film precisely as it was intended by the filmmaker.

Filmmaker Mode is available on televisions from select manufacturers. “The Batman” will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.

www.WarnerBros.com

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