Theaters around the world are now blessed with a new box office hit: The Batman. Matt Reeve's film is finally here, and it seems the world is certainly excited about its arrival. Instead of Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson gets a go under the Caped Crusader's cowl this time. Based on the general reception, it seems that he's got the audience's seal of approval.
Thankfully, this isn't another origin story. Instead, Pattinson's Dark Knight has been donning the costume for two years now. He's already met some of his rogue gallery, and Paul Dano's Riddler is far from the first he's had to deal with.
There's a lot that Reeves tries to cram into this new take on Gotham's protector. While Riddler is the focus, other big Batman characters include the Penguin, Falcone, and Catwoman.
The end product results in a movie being nearly three hours long. Despite all the content trying to fit into one cohesive story, is there any other reason why three hours was the way to go?
The Batman's Long Runtime Explained
In a new report published by Deadline, the answer that resides on a great number of minds after seeing The Batman has been answered: Why was the movie so long?
When asked about the film's length, President and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group Toby Emmerich seemingly deflected, instead choosing to talk about his experience with the premiere's audience, saying that they "[were] rapt:"
“The last time I went to a premiere in Alice Tully Hall was Seven, and on Tuesday night, Batman reminded me of that: The audience was rapt.”
How Long is The New Batman Movie?
The Batman movie is 2 hours 55 minutes long with 8 minutes of credits. Deadline's report went on to note the reasoning behind the long cut. According to the source, a shorter version of the movie was in fact screened to test audiences, yet it didn't score as well.
Was the Long Cut the Best Choice?
Having a long movie can be divisive. To warrant such a long final product, the story really has to support the amount of time the creatives are giving it.
While many were quick to praise The Batman as a perfect film for the Dark Knight, others felt that there were some issues here and there—with the runtime being one of the most common reoccurring complaints.
In terms of recent comic book movie films, the only other to beat The Batman's length was Avengers: Endgame, a film that had to service over a decade of connected storytelling and the dozens of characters that came with it. Marvel Studios' Eternals was the only other one to come close at only 2-hours and 37-minutes.
Whether The Batman used its three hours wisely is entirely up to the audience. So, if it hasn't been done already, make sure to go check out the film, which is now playing in theaters worldwide.
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