Nolan v Reeves

I stumbled upon P.J. Onori’s incredible analysis of the differences between Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and Matt Reeves’s The Batman. I like Reeves’s version more than Nolan’s and hope it becomes a trilogy soon, but few can deny the merits of Nolan’s work. However, P.J.’s self-described “over analytical analysis” of the two films opens up so many areas for discussion.

In describing its motivation, the article sums up my own feelings succinctly: “I watched The Batman with comic-book-movie expectations and little anticipation. Then I watched it again. And again. Numerous times. Its style grabbed me. Then I watched the Nolan-era Batman movies to see if it caused the same reaction. Nope.”

From sparse dialogue to a darker tone to a more consistent colour grade and style to more stylistic lens choices to things you never thought of, this analysis breaks it down systematically and in a visually rich manner. If, like me, you always saw Nolan’s trilogy as “normal” films with Batman in them but Reeves’s film (like the Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer starrers before it) as real “Batman” films, this analysis might just explain why.