The Batman (2022) - 4/5

This movie is yet another reinvention of Batman, this time both more grounded and more gritty than Nolan’s trilogy. It chooses style over convention many times, which could have made the chase scenes hard to follow, for example, but the direction masterfully guides the audience to keep up with the action. Pattinson is good as Bruce Wayne but really shines as Batman, and the script focuses on the intimidatingly silent detective more than the super-human super-rich super-hero. The Riddler’s riddles aren’t sublime, but they’re more than good enough to carry keep the audience intrigued until the answers are revealed. This film’s primary sin is its length, clocking in at four minutes shy of three hours, when a deft editor could have trimmed it down by a solid half hour if he had been allowed to do so.

Closest comparison: It’s like Batman Begins by way of Joker (2019).

Setting: Crime
Plot: Detective
Tone: Thriller

Okja (Netflix) - 1/5

This film is a disgusting propaganda piece with excellent production values. It launches an avalanche of buzzword premises that are arguable at best, and then draws exclusively a priori conclusions. None of the protagonists are particularly likable and the antagonists are over-the-top caricatures of imaginary villains. There’s no substance to this movie beyond its overt political statements and those are thoroughly invalid at every level of analysis. Also the special effects are quite good.

Closest comparison: It’s like Mighty Joe Young by way of Meet Your Meat.

Setting: Jet Set Action
Plot: Rescue Adventure
Tone: Tragedy