The Batman director Matt Reeves explains the inspirations behind the movie's epic car chase sequence. After numerous delays due to COVID-19, The Batman is finally out in theaters worldwide. Fans and critics alike are praising the film for its intimate explorations of Bruce Wayne as a character, its gritty and dark version of Gotham City, and the powerful leading performance from Robert Pattinson. The Batman has also had a very strong opening weekend at the box office, earning over $128 million in North America.
The film chronicles Batman's journey deep into Gotham City's criminal underbelly in order to catch a serial killer known as the Riddler (Paul Dano). Like any Batman movie, The Batman features plenty of action, some of which is teased in the film's trailers. As well as a number of fistfights and sequences of hand-to-hand combat, The Batman also features a standout car chase, wherein which Batman chases after the Penguin (Colin Farrell). The set piece has generated much enthusiasm, as Baby Driver director Edgar Wright praised The Batman's car chase sequence. Now, Reeves opens up about his influences for it.
In a new interview with IndieWire, Reeves delves into the Batmobile chase sequence and explains that there was one gritty 1970's film that served as the main inspiration – The French Connection. Reeves explains that, like in The French Connection, he wanted the car chase in The Batman to serve as an extension of the main character's drive and determination. Check out Reeves' full comment below:
“I wanted to feel that kind of visceral chaos, so I wanted the cameras to be mounted, everything a hard mount as much as it could be. [The point of view] is totally subjective and hard fixed to this vibrating beast of a car driving through visceral elements of dirt and rain, and you feel like you’re sitting on that engine with him, and the car could come apart at any minute.”
Featuring Gene Hackman as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, The French Connection features one of the most famous and revered movie car chases of all time as Doyle chases a suspect down a busy New York City street. The French Connection car chase sequence was filmed by mounting cameras to the speeding cars, giving a first-person perspective of what it's actually like to participate in such a chase. While thrilling to audiences, The French Connection car chase was also filmed without proper permitting and safety measures, meaning cars really were speeding down busy streets filled with innocent civilians, putting them in danger.
Reeves manages to capture the same gritty feel as well as the same frantic energy as the chase in The French Connection, but he does it in a much safer and more controlled environment. In addition to being thrilling to watch, the chase also serves as an extension of Batman as a character, showing the extreme lengths to which he will go to catch criminals. With The Batman now finally released in theaters, audiences can experience the car chase scene on the big screen, which is easily one of the most thrilling Batmobile sequences ever.
Source: IndieWire
