Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Batman.
Matt Reeves’ The Batman has been praised by critics for just about everything except its three-hour runtime. Most reviewers complained about the bloated length, but praised all the things contained within those three hours: the performances, the action sequences, the complex yet focused mystery plotting.
The movie has two delightfully grounded takes on iconic Batman villains: Paul Dano plays the Riddler as a shockingly realistic serial killer and Colin Farrell plays the Penguin as a wisecracking low-level mafioso. These are both unforgettable on-screen portrayals of Batman villains, but which is better?
The Riddler
It’s A Hauntingly Realistic Take On The Character
The Batman’s take on the Riddler isn’t the far-fetched comic book villain that fans are used to. There’s no silly green jumpsuit covered in question marks; just a violent psychopath in a winter combat mask, killing people in the name of what he believes is right.
This Riddler is hauntingly characterized as a horror movie slasher like Jigsaw or John Doe with the unnerving real-world edge of the Zodiac Killer. Plus, Edward Nashton is a much more believable name than Edward Nigma (it’s a huge stretch that a man obsessed with enigmas happens to be called E. Nigma).
Paul Dano’s Performance Is Genuinely Unsettling
Paul Dano’s intense, truly unsettling performance in The Batman brings one of the goofiest Batman villains to life as a chillingly real, heavy-breathing serial killer.
Dano reprises the “wiry creep” persona from Prisoners, but where that character turned out to be innocent, this one knows what he’s doing. The Riddler isn’t a harmless, misunderstood kid like the Prisoners role; he’s a cunning, violent sadist with a master plan to bring Gotham to its knees.
His Riddles Pave The Way For A Detective Story
In the comics, Batman is known as “The World’s Greatest Detective,” but the movies tend to brush over his detective skills because his brute force and his gadgets are much more exciting to visualize.
Reeves has finally shed a spotlight on the Bat’s talents as a detective in The Batman, and the Riddler’s trail of puzzles and cryptic messages provided the perfect framework to tell a hard-boiled detective story pairing Batman up with Jim Gordon in a sort of “buddy cop” dynamic.
The Riddler Knows Bruce Wayne’s Secret
One of the biggest dangers that a villain can pose to the Bat is figuring out his secret identity and threatening to reveal it to the public. The Riddler’s crusade against the rich and powerful naturally brings him to Bruce Wayne. And when he targets Bruce – who he deduces is Batman – he decides to toy with him by sending C4 to Wayne Tower and nearly killing Alfred.
This makes the stakes of the conflict personal (not just for Batman, but for Bruce as well). Usually, Batman has to protect the people of Gotham; it’s rare that a villain forces him to protect his own alter ego.
He Has A Point
Like all the best villains, the Riddler has good ideas with wildly misguided execution. He’s a ruthless serial killer, but he targets public figures who masquerade as noble, well-intentioned people but actually lead secret double lives as reprehensible monsters.
The Riddler has a point that the lies and deceit at the hands of politicians and law enforcement officials need to stop if there’s ever going to be “real change.” Like Heath Ledger’s Joker, his villainous motivations make a shocking amount of sense.
The Penguin
The Movie Explores The Penguin’s Origins
While The Batman skips over its titular antihero’s origin story, it does explore the origins of its secondary villain. At the beginning of the movie, Farrell’s Penguin isn’t yet the crime boss that fans recognize from the comics.
He’s still a mid-level mobster rising through the ranks. Farrell is confirmed to star in an upcoming spin-off series for HBO Max that will chart the Penguin’s Scarface-esque rise to power.
An Unrecognizable Colin Farrell Gives A Captivating Turn
Dano is more recognizable under his Riddler mask than Farrell is under all his Penguin prosthetics and makeup. But the actor’s signature dry humor, antihero nuance, and sinister edge can be spotted underneath it all.
If fans were wary of a Penguin series before The Batman hit theaters, they’re now excited to see Farrell explore his take on the character in more depth.
The Penguin Has The Movie’s Funniest Moments
Some critics have lambasted The Batman for being humorless, which sort of misses the point of the grounded neo-noir tone and also ignores the fact that the movie does have a few big laughs – mostly thanks to Farrell’s dry humor in the role of the Penguin.
With a lot of anger and yelling, Farrell channels Robert De Niro’s darkly comedic turns as hothead gangsters in Scorsese movies. There’s also a great visual gag after Batman and Jim Gordon tie up the Penguin’s ankles and he has to waddle like an actual penguin.
Farrell’s Penguin Has A Compelling On-Screen Dynamic With Pattinson’s Batman
While Dano’s Riddler only shares one scene with Batman and it focuses on their conflicting energies, Farrell’s Penguin develops a compelling on-screen dynamic with the Bat.
The Penguin isn’t afraid of Batman despite the obvious physical threat he poses. He cracks jokes whenever they’re in a room together and they develop a biting back-and-forth based on burning mutual resentment.
He’s Eccentric But Still Grounded
The Penguin can’t be an easy character to ground in reality. He’s a familiar icon with a monocle and an army of penguins. The character often comes off as cartoonish, and both Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito leaned into this aspect. But Farrell manages to find a happy medium between the character’s traditional eccentricity and the grounded tone of the movie.
Farrell certainly gives a big performance – his Penguin is very peculiar and outspoken, and he’s often used as a deadpan reactionary character – but he never feels unrealistic. This Penguin is always rooted in a believable (albeit morally questionable) humanity.