While the long runtime ( 2 hrs 56 min ) eroded some of the momentum of the film, director Matt Reeves take on The Batman was still highly entertaining for me, topped by some excellent VFX utilizing ILM’s Stagecraft tech as well as DP Greig Fraser’s ( Dune, Mandalorian ) beautiful cinematography.

The dark and broody look of Gotham City, shrouded in perpetual smog is one of the visual highlights of the movie, and this art book explores in detail the many pieces of concept art that helped shape the aesthetics that we see in the finished film. Besides the environment concept art, there are also plenty of sketches and studies of Batman’s many gadgets and tactical weapons, the Batmobile and bike, although I wished the character design sections on the Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman had more content.

On-set photography and stills are pretty sparse, and most of them included just for comparisons or reference to the concept art pieces. This is more of an art of rather than a making of book.

(image above) The chaotic funeral scene that ended in a gruesome explosion. The very moody lighting ( realized by DP Greig Fraser for the movie ) is so beautifully captured in these concept art pieces.

(image above) Concept art designs for Batman’s wing suit. The filmmakers actual built a practical version of the suit –

Looks like they shot a practical version of #TheBatman wingsuit. Cool cool cool. @ianfailes @charmainesmchan https://t.co/NoisyhGyXK

— blauereiter (@blauereiter) April 19, 2022

I’m a big fan of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, but Matt Reeves delivers a competent, refreshing take of the Batman character that I highly enjoyed as well, and I’m looking forward to picking up the 4K UHD soon. This art book is a fascinating look at the splendid concept art ( in particular the environment pieces ) that really informed final look of the film. Recommended.

“The Art Of The Batman” book details :

– Dimensions – 9.55 x 0.9 x 12.15 inches
– Hard cover, 224 pages
– Full color, In English Language

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