“THE Batman” depicting a new standard [Mizumaru Kawahara’s CINEMONOLOGUE Vol.66]

All-New Riddler

The Riddler is a clever criminal whose symbol is a question mark, who leaves riddles at the scene of his crimes to toy with Batman . The only movie he has played was the one played by Jim Carrie in Batman Forever , so this is his first appearance on screen in 27 years, and he has finally updated his character. This new Riddler does not have a suit, tie, hat or cane with question marks, but his old jacket with handwritten question marks and glasses over his mask make him much scarier than the previous version, which is an interesting way to incorporate him into the real world. Although he does not look like the Riddler at all, the riddle cards he leaves at the scene of his crimes are still the Riddler's, and above all, no matter what he is wearing, the green with a question mark makes him look like the Riddler, so we can see the strength of the original design.

In "The Dark Knight,"the Joker committed theatrical crimes using television, but this time, the Riddler finally brought theatrical crimes using the Internet to the world of Gotham, showing the dangerous relationship between Batman's villains and social media. I won't go into the details or the impressions I got from it, but the aforementioned "wearing whatever was nearby" look seems to echo that. I wonder if the character was designed through a process of thinking, "If there really was a person like this, and they did this for this purpose, they would surely dress like this." For now, it's fine if I can hide my face, but I don't have good eyesight, so I'll wear glasses on top. The simple feeling of wearing a mask like that is both realistic and scary. It's not some mysterious high-tech machine that is used, but silver duct tape, which is simple but impactful.

Although this is a new image of the Riddler, I think that if the Riddler were alive in reality, he would look just like this. This feeling may be similar to when I saw the Scarecrow played by Cillian Murphy in " Batman Begins ." In the original, the Scarecrow is a scarecrow man like the one in "The Wizard of Oz," but in the Christopher Nolan version, he wears a normal suit and only a burlap sack on his head, which is a mismatch that makes him look like a pervert and terrifying. I think the Riddler's outfit this time is similar to that.

The film also features familiar villains such as the Penguin and Catwoman, but they are designed with a realistic slant, just like the Riddler. The Penguin is just a fat old man who owns a nightclub, and Catwoman (who is never called by her real name in the film, but is always called Selina) is a thief wearing a balaclava that looks like a headband. Overall, Batman is the only one who looks "weird," but the villains, who are strangely plain in appearance, are not inferior to overgrown giant bats, which is probably due to the actors' efforts. In any case, the characters in this film, which have been given a realistic arrangement, show a different image from the Nolan version, which also emphasized realism.

This is what I would have liked to see in the Nolan version of the Riddler, perhaps in a smart suit. And perhaps with a good head on his shoulders.

Not a tank, but a car