Been turning and turning THE BATMAN over in my head since my first HBO Max viewing a few weeks back and, given that I'm currently listening to Giacchino's (semi-ponderous) score, I might’ve figured out a way to express the one nit that I can't shake: with the exception of Zoe Kravitz's Selina, I didn't – and this isn't even a perfect encapsulation of said nit – feel for any of the characters; not to say that I didn't enjoy all of the characters and all of the performances (especially Turturro's Carmine Falcone, Farrell's Penguin, and Dano's Riddler) – rather, it was as though there was a layer missing.

Example: can't shake the disconnect I felt in the interactions between Jeffrey Wright's Gordon and Pattinson's Batman, much more so than between Oldman and Bale. And, while I recognize that theirs are totally (and tonally) different Gordons and Bats (I did, after all, write the book on this (or something tangentially relevant to this) ten years ago) - and that both Wright and Pattinson – two of the best actors working today – gave fantastic performances – I still can't shake that something, that... I don't know. Something.

While I suspect that that disconnect was intentional and character-driven (and, in some cases, it definitely worked and captured the character well), it didn't feel developed and polished enough. Either way, an excellent Bat-film: looking forward to seeing where they take this universe, particularly the Arkham and Penguin shows.