Breaking down the 1970s movies influencing Matt Reeves’ The Batman
polygon.comWhile The Batman fits into the trend of longer runtimes, director Matt Reeves appears to be relying on more than the works of Bob Kane and Bill Finger to shape his DC Comics adaptation. Beyond the creators of the original character, Reeves also seems to be mostly looking past Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Joel Schumacher, and every other director who has brushed up to The Bat.
So where is Reeves looking? If his interview with MovieMaker is to be believed, the 1970s.
While there’s longstanding debate over what the best individual year for movies was, there’s a loose consensus for the 1970s being the best decade. Emerging out a Hollywood which had been overloaded with historical epics and stifled by the censorious Hays Code, “New Hollywood,” as the moment became known, started in the late 1960s and moved into full force in the following decade.
Reeves name checks five ’70s classics in his MovieMaker profile. Here’s a breakdown of each one, and how seeing them before The Batman could enhance your viewing experience.
What it is: All the President’s Men was focused on one of the decade’s biggest stories: Watergate, the ur-scandal of modern Washington that forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, President’s Men is a thriller focused on two journalists working step-by-step to take down the most powerful man on the planet. It’s not a violent movie, but the threat of violence constantly hangs over the two.
The Batman connection: All the President’s Men’s poster tagline was “the most devastating detective story of this century.” It’s an ethos Reeves wants to embody: “this story is, in addition to being almost a horror movie,
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