This Bat Doesn't Just Twinkle
Ever since it was released that Robert Pattinson would star as Batman in Matt Reeves', The Batman, people have been littering Facebook with twinkling vampire scenes from Twilight. Personally, I never read or watched the Twilight series. (Harry Potter all the way! Which Pattinson stars in also, as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). They are mocking the fact that a glittery, romanticized vampire is now playing a badass DC superhero. However, what they aren't realizing is, Pattinson's career involves more than just the young adult series, Twilight. The extraordinary thing about Pattinson is that he can adapt to just about any role he chooses. Some of his best performances are in the following:
Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.
Director: David Cronenberg
10 years after a global economic collapse, a hardened loner pursues the men who stole his only possession, his car. Along the way, he captures one of the thieves' brother and the duo form an uneasy bond during the dangerous journey.
Director: David Michdô
A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another, and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.
Director: David Cronenberg
A true-life drama, centering on British explorer Major Percival Fawcett, who disappeared whilst searching for a mysterious city in the Amazon in the 1920s.
Director: James Gray
After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
A father and his daughter struggle to survive in deep space where they live in isolation.
Director: Claire Denis
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity whilst living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
Director: Robert Eggers
I've watched the teaser trailer a couple of times, and each time I get a little more excited. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here. Personally, I am much anticipating some of the cast, like Pattinson, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, and Jeffrey Wright. From the teaser's soundtrack of Nirvana's "Something in the Way" to Pattinson's smoky, black eyes I'm definitely getting a dark emo feel to the film. Some have become exhausted with the idea of yet another take on the Batman universe. Normally, I would feel the same because usually the original is better than the remake. However, my favorite Batman version to-date is The Dark Knight, but after seeing the teaser for The Batman, I may have a new favorite after 2021.
If you haven't seen any or all of the Pattinson films listed above, do yourself a favor and check them out. He's truly a versatile actor, and he stretches his abilities in every new film he takes on. Don't knock one of the best, currently working actors of our time by one genre of film he did at the beginning of his career. Everyone has to start somewhere, but Pattinson is a prime example of how an ugly duckling (or glittery vampire) can turn into a beautiful swan of an actor.