The Batman’s Penguin Car Chase Blows All Past Batmobile Scenes Out The Water

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Batman. 

When Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight gives chase to Colin Farrell’s Penguin, the result is The Batman‘s Batmobile scene becoming the best in Batman movie history. Any new Batman movie is likely to incorporate – and be judged upon – several of the character’s most intrinsic elements, from costume to supporting character to, of course, the car. The Batmobile has been a core part of the character since his early comic days, but it’s on screen where it can really shine. All movie versions of Batman have had their own Batmobile, wildly ranging in style and size, be it the gadget-filled, Futura-inspired car of Adam West; Michael Keaton’s über-long, super-cool powerhouse; the sillier, more toylike Batmobiles of the Joel Schumacher-era; or the hulking, menacing, tank-esque vehicles driven by Christian Bale and Ben Affleck’s Batmen.

Robert Pattinson’s is no different in once again changing up the Batmobile, though this time it is, like much of director Matt Reeves’ vision, a more grounded, stripped-back approach that fits with a character in his second year as the Caped Crusader. Gone are the tanks, in comes a heavily-modded muscle car. Pattinson’s Batmobile fits perfectly with his version of the character, with few frills (relatively speaking, at least) and instead a sense of brutal efficiency for this Batman’s form of vengeance, and that’s best seen in the sequence where he gives chase to the Penguin.

The Batman‘s Batmobile scene not only joins the pantheon of other great car sequences in Batman movies – the museum escape in Batman, the car’s snowy entrance in Batman Returns, Two-Face’s trap in Batman Forever, Jim Gordon driving the Tumbler in Batman Begins, the destruction of that same vehicle in The Dark Knight, and the brutal assault in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, to name a few of the best – but beats them all. With the car emerging of the darkness, bursting into life and a high-speed chase, and culminating with the Penguin defeated and Batman emerging from the flames, it stands as the most thrilling and stunningly shot Batmobile sequence in any Batman film.

Why The Batman’s Batmobile Scene Is The Best Ever

The greatness of The Batman‘s Batmobile scene begins with its opening, the first full reveal of Pattinson’s vehicle in action: like its driver, it lurks in the shadows before pouncing upon its prey like a monster from a horror movie, roaring into life with a sound that, especially in IMAX screens, is deafening. It’s the kind of pulsating moment the Batmobile deserves, an introduction worthy of its storied history, and things only continue at that level. With its mesmerizing, non-stop chase through a rain-soaked Gotham, The Batman blends its noir influences with late-19060s/early-1970s thrillers such as Bullitt and The French Connection alongside a dose of modern superhero blockbusters, leading to a cacophony of sound and some blistering, brilliantly-choreographed action designed to get the heart-racing as fact as the cars Penguin and Batman are driving.

What truly sets this apart from the others, though, isn’t simply its incredible action, beautiful cinematography, or ridiculous sound design. Instead, it’s in how all of those elements come together, how they all serve the story and, most impressively of all, how they reflect who this Batman is. The car chase typifies the Dark Knight perfectly: the way he strikes fear into the heart of his enemy from the shadows, the sheer unrelenting intensity of his pursuit of Gotham’s villains, the combination of smarts, will-power, and do-whatever-it-takes attitude that makes him both the World’s Greatest Detective and a man those on the streets call “Vengeance,” and, as he emerges from the flames in that upside-down shot, it cements his position as a mythic figure, an almost impossible hero who cannot be beat. The Batman‘s Batmobile scene is the best ever, because it is such a pure distillation of the Dark Knight as a whole.

About The Author