Sensational. Michael Giacchino is doing the best work of his illustrious career here. The score is like if Jaws met Inception (everything is based off the chord progression of Something in the Way), and I am here for it.
The story is very much a less R‑rated Fincher, which I love because I love very R‑rated Fincher movies, but the cinematography is very Ridley Scott. Feels like Gotham takes place in the same dystopia as Blade Runner, just before Tyrell comes along and ruins it.
Matt Reeves doesn’t wholly stick the landing. The last ten minutes are super bananas. The camera work is amazing, but not always fully committed, lending me to wonder why subjective perspective is so nailed in one sequence and skipped in the next.
At the same time, Reeves has spent a long time learning by mimicking. Christopher Nolan did the same — Dark Knight is beat-for-beat Heat sometimes. But Reeves does it better, and he’s closer to being a wholly original auteur. It’s so great to watch a big superhero movie made by a guy who knows how to fill a frame, and does it confidently.
Not to keep ragging on Nolan, but I can remember one or two well-composed shots from The Dark Knight. Not a lot. There are tons of great shots in this. Images that stick with you. Whether it’s the chase scene with the rear view mirrors, or Batman slowly walking in on his prey, or a meeting with Selina Kyle at sunrise, or a shootout in pitch black, this visually delights. And that’s half of what a movie should do, right?
I can’t wait to see what he does with another one of these.