Whenever a popular and/or critically acclaimed film releases, it inevitably draws comparisons to the films that influenced it. JOKER for example pulls a lot from Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY. Akira Kurosawa's THE HIDDEN FORTRESS influenced George Lucas' STAR WARS. Hell even DUMB AND DUMBER owes a debt to The Three Stooges. All great works of art in some way honor the past.
The same will likely hold true for Matt Reeves' upcoming film THE BATMAN. No matter what the story consists of, it's likely to draw comparisons to Tim Burton's 1989 film and Christopher Nolan's DARK KNIGHT trilogy. Indeed the plot is rumored to draw heavily from Jeph Loeb's graphic novel The Long Halloween. Although THE BATMAN's plot remains shrouded in mystery, cast member Peter Sarsgaard compared the movie to something fairly unique – the alternative rock band The Pixies.
In a recent appearance at the Television Critics Association show, Sarsgaard (who is rumored to play Harvey Dent in the film) was asked about his involvement with THE BATMAN. As previously stated, Peter Sarsgaard likened the production to attending a Pixie's concert:
"The cast is so awesome. It seems different from other Batman movies to me, just with the cast. There’s something about it that has an edge, it’s young. To me, just my perception of it, it reminds me of when I was in college, and I went to go see The Pixies play, and looking around and feeling the vibe at a Pixies concert. That’s what it felt like to me, a song like ‘I Bleed.’ That it has the energy and that sort of thing, and isn’t so specifically targeted to a very young audience, or a very old audience, but has that power of chaos in it. The Pixies were my favorite group of all time. I went to like 20 concerts, and it was that feeling of all of us in this. And it’s very emotional. The Pixies were an incredibly emotional band, and I think this Batman is very emotional in that way. I think it will be very powerful."
I have to say, Sarsgaard's comments sound most intriguing. I don't think I've ever heard a film production compared to a movie concert before. Many of The Pixies' songs tend to start quiet and build to a raucous crescendo. Could Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN follow a similar path, a slow-burn Batman film if you will? This would line up with Reeves' previous statements that the picture would be a noir driven story. An emotionally driven, dramatic Batman film sounds exciting. That's not to say previous Batman films haven't contained a dramatic element to them (THE DARK KNIGHT in particular) but most have been action driven. This sounds like something completely different and I'm all for it.
THE BATMAN starring Robert Pattinson, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Kravitz, John Turturro, and Andy Serkis swoops into theaters June 25, 2021.