WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Batman, now playing in theaters.
Matt reeves’ The Batman took the familiar setting of Batman (Robert Pattinson) protecting the streets of Gotham City. However, rather than travel the world like in Christopher Nolan’s films or show the city in a state with a high degree of control with Batman and the GCPD in power, this film took a new approach. In the film, Gotham City is in its worst state yet, with criminal activity rampant, the mob with a strange hold on lower-income areas, the drug trade and the police department filled with dozens of corrupt officers. But rather than tell this story solely through Batman’s eyes, the film utilized the most of what Gotham City had to offer.
In past films, Gotham was always established as a backdrop to tell a larger story, often involving the latest supercriminal to terrorize its streets. But because no major locations were used like the Narrows, Crime Alley or Ace Chemicals, there was little to no personality to the city aside from appearing gothic. More often than not, most of the plot progression took place with Bruce in the Batcave deciphering everything he could in the couple of nights he was on the streets. Then once he solved the mystery, he would go back out and defeat the main antagonist. In The Batman, Bruce took his work to the streets and progressed the plot while on patrol or in disguise. This allowed for audiences to get better acquainted with the world as well.
Throughout the film, new locations were introduced that helped give the story scope and expanded the lore found in the comics. For example, when Batman needed information from the Penguin (Colin Farrell), he went to the source at the Iceberg Lounge. This is a classic hangout for the Penguin and the larger criminal element in Gotham in the comics and games. It helped establish a base for Bruce to get answers and showcased how the surrounding area is far less safe, hence why the villains operated there. The film also showed the orphanage and Arkham Asylum on the outskirts of the city, which helped give a glimpse at the early years of Gotham and how it grew into what it’s become today.
The more affluent and modern locations also show how the middle to upper class lives. These examples included Wayne Tower, which blended modern and gothic architecture to show the city’s evolution, and its version of Times Square, which mixed its older architecture with massive advertisement screens. The settings represented a city that was trying to grow past what it was but couldn’t seem to evolve due to the corruption. It’s in pain and wanted to expand, but it had no way to until Batman appeared.
While Gotham has its own secrets, it clearly isn’t the only city in its universe. But rather than not bring attention to that, the film made a note of famous comic locations like Bludhaven and Blackgate Prison. While they aren’t seen in the movie, even its mention helped to show that there’s a larger universe of opportunity that could be explored in the future. By giving these various options, the film created a level of character that Gotham City never had in live-action. It’s always been an evolving metropolis, and The Batman showed this tastefully and didn’t overwhelm the viewers with too much information.
Gotham City has always served as a setting that was rarely explored in any of the other films. As a result, it became so empty in terms of character that Batman could have been anywhere, and it wouldn’t have changed the story in any drastic way. However, The Batman used Gotham as more than a location and gave it a unique personality. It could be beautiful or dangerous depending on how its residents treated it. But no matter what, it remained a city crying for help, and the only one who heard it and answered the call was Batman.
To see a fully realized Gotham City, check out The Batman, now playing in theaters.
About The Author