The Christopher Nolan “Batman” trilogy was a work of cinematic art, but there’s money to be made, so nobody thought the franchise would end there. “The Batman” (2022) continues to emphasize the dark in the Dark Knight while supplying a brooding millennial update. Robert Pattinson is our new prince of Gotham City, teaming with trusty cop Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to chase a riddle-rendering serial killer. It’s a solid, middle-of-the-road procedural if not for the all the bat-related accoutrements attached to the man and the story, providing sometimes unwelcome weight. John Turturro is sublime as a mobster in a twisty subplot.
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There are plenty of movies about two guys trying to outdo one another, but none quite like “The Prestige” (2006). Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play a pair of magicians who duel to the bitter end. And I do mean bitter. And I do mean end. The first half is tedious and non-sequential, which is, as usual, more work than art (something filmmakers refuse to understand). Once the time sequence gets a little straighter, the pace picks up. False climaxes are layered with macabre worthy of Poe. And then you get blindsided with the oldest trick in the storyteller’s book.
Remember when we used to debate who was the better Batman? Clooney? Keaton? Ummm, Kilmer? And then, in 2005, came the Dark Knight trilogy, with “Batman Begins.” Bankable, big-name stars can make for good box office, but it’s the story that makes for a great movie. When Christopher Nolan rebooted the Caped Crusader, he made the story less like the cartoonish 1960s TV series and more like the brooding comic books. And he surrounded a relative B-lister, Christian Bale, with stellar cast of character actors. Because if the story’s good enough, Batman is the only bankable big name you need.
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