B.D. Lawrence's Blog, page 12
September 15, 2022
Suspenseful Romance: Please make this a Sub-Genre
Suspenseful Romance: Please make this a Sub-Genre
An adjective is a descriptive word of a noun. The noun is the primary thing being described. The adjective is an attribute of that noun. For example, a red car is an automobile that has the color red. It is not the color red that is an automobile. We could also have a small car, a fast car, an old car. Again, the car is the key. The adjectives simply describe the car. It’s still a car without the adjective.
Why do I bring this up? Because in the publishing world there are genres. These are categories that books fall into. Within genres, there are sub-genres, which are generally an adjective describing the genre. For example, mystery is the genre. Within mysteries, there are cozy mysteries, private detective mysteries, etc. The key being without the adjectives, one could call them mysteries.
The genre my latest book is in is called suspense. A cousin to suspense is thriller. And the biggest genre is romance.
“So what?” you say.
Well, for some reason the romance genre has turned the English language on its head and decided that the important word in the adjective / noun combination is not the noun but is the adjective in one key sub-genre, which happens to be the sub-genre my latest book should be in.
In the romance genre there are many sub-genres, all following the rule of adjective / noun. Here are some of them: Tudor Romances, Amish Romances, Sports Romances, Gothic Romances, Fantasy Romances, Western Romances, Vampire Romances, Regency Romances, Medical Romances, Mystery Romances, Psychic Romances, Holiday Romances, Military Romances, Victorian Romances, Christian Romances, Historical Romances, Time Travel Romances, Billionaire Romances, Contemporary Romances, Multicultural Romances, Inspirational Romances, Science Fiction Romances, and Romantic Suspense.
Wait a minute. Look at that last one. There is a mystery and suspense romances category on Amazon. However, nearly all authors who write that type of book call their books romantic suspense novels. And in all cases except that last one, if we take away the adjective, the noun still applies. They are all romances. However, in the last case, if we take away the adjective, “romantic”, these books are not suspense novels. They are still romance novels.
For those of us who write suspense novels and want to have an important element of romance in those novels, we should be able to call our novels romantic suspense novels. However, we can’t because the market says a romantic suspense novel is a romance with suspense. And in many cases, with a little bit of suspense and a whole lot of romance.
We need a change in thinking. A romance with suspense should be a suspenseful romance, not a romantic suspense. It leaves books like my book, Killer Redemption, without a good sub-genre home since it’s a romantic suspense by the rules of English, but not a romantic suspense by current market standards.
Romance is already the largest selling genre. So please, romance writers who have some suspense in your novels, start calling them suspenseful romances so us suspense writers can have romantic suspense as a sub-genre.
Reader, please help support this movement. Tell your favorite romantic suspense writer to start calling their books suspenseful romances. #callitsuspensefulromance.
Thank you.
The post Suspenseful Romance: Please make this a Sub-Genre first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
September 13, 2022
Book Review of Anna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry Toler
This police procedural mystery hits justice, as it obviously should, some relationship redemption, and the bad guys are motivated by vengeance. We get them all. This is the first novel in the Cliff Hanger series, a nice play on words, as the main character is Chicago homicide investigator Cliff Ford. Apparently only his mother called him Clifford (though one character does in the story) and I can see why. Clifford Ford is a bit awkward.
Cliff meets a mysterious and beautiful woman named Anna in a coffee shop in chapter one. By the end of the chapter, she is supposedly dead and laying in the city morgue, having been murdered. It’s not Cliff’s case to find out who killed her, but his obsession with Anna drives him to do his own investigating on the side.
This mystery takes several turns and keeps the reader guessing. There’s a powerful Chicago gang involved called the Strikers. These guys are into everything from drugs, human trafficking, to murder. Mr. Toler is hitting many of the investigator tropes. Cliff’s wife was murdered about a year ago, the case still unsolved. This unsolved murder plays a big role in this book. He’s a loner, socially awkward, and pours himself into his work. Two challenges I found in this. First, as good of a detective as he is supposed to be, the cases he solves in this book are handed to him on a sliver platter by a mysterious blond woman with incredible skills. Second, Cliff’s inner dialog spends a lot of time pontificating on how he’s breaking the rules of the department and how much trouble he could get into. If Cliff is going to be a lone gun, he needs more bravado and confidence.
I don’t know Chicago police procedures, but everything seemed reasonable and in fiction that’s what is important. It doesn’t have to be true, but it must be believable, and nothing made me pause and say, “Now wait a minute,“ unlike many other books I’ve read lately.
Another interesting aspect is that Mr. Toler brings in a character from another series of his, the Jamie Austen series. See my review of Save The Girls by Terry Toler, which is book one of this series.
Only one criticism and that is the deviation from Cliff’s first-person point of view for a few chapters. I don’t think these chapters were necessary. I would have preferred to keep things only in Cliff’s point of view and to discover what happened to Anna through Cliff’s eyes and not see it through the main bad guy’s or Anna’s points of view.
The book is clean. No sex. No profanity and no on page violence.
Overall, I rated this four stars on Amazon / Goodreads and recommend it. It was a fun read which moved fast. Eventually, I’ll try some more in the series. For this year’s reads, I put this at number six.
Book Rankings for 2022The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa GardnerMoonlight Awakens by John Matthew WalkerWin by Harlen CobenMurder Board by Brian SheaAnna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry TolerThe Man Burned by Winter by Pete ZachariasInto the Flames by Liz BradfordYou Are Invited by Sarah A DenzilGirl, Alone by Blake PierceOne Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
Commission earned
The post Book Review of Anna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry Toler first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
Review of Anna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry Toler
Anna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry Toler
This police procedural mystery hits justice, as it obviously should, some relationship redemption, and the bad guys are motivated by vengeance. We get them all. This is the first novel in the Cliff Hanger series, a nice play on words, as the main character is Chicago homicide investigator Cliff Ford. Apparently only his mother called him Clifford (though one character does in the story) and I can see why. Clifford Ford is a bit awkward.
Cliff meets a mysterious and beautiful woman named Anna in a coffee shop in chapter one. By the end of the chapter, she is supposedly dead and laying in the city morgue, having been murdered. It’s not Cliff’s case to find out who killed her, but his obsession with Anna drives him to do his own investigating on the side.
This mystery takes several turns and keeps the reader guessing. There’s a powerful Chicago gang involved called the Strikers. These guys are into everything from drugs, human trafficking, to murder. Mr. Toler is hitting many of the investigator tropes. Cliff’s wife was murdered about a year ago, the case still unsolved. This unsolved murder plays a big role in this book. He’s a loner, socially awkward, and pours himself into his work. Two challenges I found in this. First, as good of a detective as he is supposed to be, the cases he solves in this book are handed to him on a sliver platter by a mysterious blond woman with incredible skills. Second, Cliff’s inner dialog spends a lot of time pontificating on how he’s breaking the rules of the department and how much trouble he could get into. If Cliff is going to be a lone gun, he needs more bravado and confidence.
I don’t know Chicago police procedures, but everything seemed reasonable and in fiction that’s what is important. It doesn’t have to be true, but it must be believable, and nothing made me pause and say, “Now wait a minute,“ unlike many other books I’ve read lately.
Another interesting aspect is that Mr. Toler brings in a character from another series of his, the Jamie Austen series. See my review of Save The Girls by Terry Toler, which is book one of this series.
Only one criticism and that is the deviation from Cliff’s first-person point of view for a few chapters. I don’t think these chapters were necessary. I would have preferred to keep things only in Cliff’s point of view and to discover what happened to Anna through Cliff’s eyes and not see it through the main bad guy’s or Anna’s points of view.
The book is clean. No sex. No profanity and no on page violence.
Overall, I rated this four stars on Amazon / Goodreads and recommend it. It was a fun read which moved fast. Eventually, I’ll try some more in the series. For this year’s reads, I put this at number six.
The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa GardnerMoonlight Awakens by John Matthew WalkerWin by Harlen CobenMurder Board by Brian SheaAnna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry TolerThe Man Burned by Winter by Pete ZachariasInto the Flames by Liz BradfordYou Are Invited by Sarah A DenzilGirl, Alone by Blake PierceOne Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.Coffin Cove by Jackie ElliottCommission earned
The post Review of Anna: A Cliff Ford Mystery by Terry Toler first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
August 21, 2022
Book Review of Into The Flames by Liz Bradford
This one is about justice. Since it involves the FBI, makes sense. The crime is the disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl, who is taken by traffickers. Another author showing the dark and true side of human trafficking. I appreciated that aspect about the book.
This is a well-written book. The story is compelling. The ending is exciting and suspenseful. This book is categorized as Christian Mystery and Suspense and as Christian Mystery and Suspense Romance. It is definitely the latter. If you like romances and you want a romance that is clean, and you like what is mislabeled as romantic suspense, then this book and this series is for you.
The Christianity is obvious in this book. Nearly all the point of view characters are believers. We often see their prayers to God. Because it is Christian and clean, there will be some that will say it’s not realistic, especially since we’re dealing with the FBI. And given the latest state of the FBI, if there are actually four believers in one unit, I’d be surprised. Sorry, couldn’t resist that.
The story centers around Jacq, a female FBI agent transferring into the Knoxville, TN unit. Her and Dylan (the other main character) immediately hit things off. The first ninety percent of the book covers about two weeks, and in true romance fashion, our protagonist and her flame progress quickly. Personally, I could do without all the ooshy gushy stuff. I mean how many times do we need to read about the electric charge that runs through the body of one when they brush the other? But that is romance. So, if you’re like me and you don’t like romances, then steer clear. If you do, this is one of the better written ones I’ve read. Granted, I’ve only read a few.
There are some interesting family dynamics going on. Dylan’s mom is a proper Southern belle and isn’t happy with Dylan (her second son) working in the FBI. And Jacq has some previous history with the family. I’ll leave the other details to you to discover on your own.
Bradford leaves the reader hanging in several areas. I’m assuming intentionally for the next book. Jacq does not meet Dylan’s family yet. There’s a point when Jacq hears a phone conversation and says she vaguely recognizes the voice, but we never find out who it is. And one of the prostitutes is someone Jacq knew. That final point, I feel Bradford should have left a mystery. The reader knows who she is. Jacq and the rest of the FBI doesn’t, she’s just a mystery woman. I think it would have been better to leave her real identity a mystery for the reader as well.
There were three gaffes I have to point out. In one scene, Jacq buys a Dr. Pepper, then refers to it as a “cherry cola”. Dr. Pepper is NOT a cherry cola. Cherry might be one of the twenty-three ingredients. On a stakeout, Dylan eats a caffeine protein bar instead of coffee so that he doesn’t have to pee. It’s the caffeine, not the coffee that causes one to need to urinate since caffeine is a diuretic. Finally, the author calls Dylan’s sister Emma toward end instead of Scarlet. Ms. Bradford must have changed her name and missed one on editing.
Being a Christian novel, it’s clean. No profanity, no sex, no over the top violence. Just a lot of rapid heartbeats, blushing, and electric charges. I’m putting this one #7 for this year, mainly because of the sub-genre. Not my favorite.
Book Rankings for 2022The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa Gardner Moonlight Awakens by John Matthew Walker Win by Harlen Coben Murder Board by Brian Shea The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias Into the Flames by Liz Bradford You Are Invited by Sarah A Denzil Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce One Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer. Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
Commission earned
The post Book Review of Into The Flames by Liz Bradford first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
Review of Into The Flames by Liz Bradford
Into the Flames: Knoxville FBI #1 by Liz Bradford
This one is about justice. Since it involves the FBI, makes sense. The crime is the disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl, who is taken by traffickers. Another author showing the dark and true side of human trafficking. I appreciated that aspect about the book.
This is a well-written book. The story is compelling. The ending is exciting and suspenseful. This book is categorized as Christian Mystery and Suspense and as Christian Mystery and Suspense Romance. It is definitely the latter. If you like romances and you want a romance that is clean, and you like what is mislabeled as romantic suspense, then this book and this series is for you.
The Christianity is obvious in this book. Nearly all the point of view characters are believers. We often see their prayers to God. Because it is Christian and clean, there will be some that will say it’s not realistic, especially since we’re dealing with the FBI. And given the latest state of the FBI, if there are actually four believers in one unit, I’d be surprised. Sorry, couldn’t resist that.
The story centers around Jacq, a female FBI agent transferring into the Knoxville, TN unit. Her and Dylan (the other main character) immediately hit things off. The first ninety percent of the book covers about two weeks, and in true romance fashion, our protagonist and her flame progress quickly. Personally, I could do without all the ooshy gushy stuff. I mean how many times do we need to read about the electric charge that runs through the body of one when they brush the other? But that is romance. So, if you’re like me and you don’t like romances, then steer clear. If you do, this is one of the better written ones I’ve read. Granted, I’ve only read a few.
There are some interesting family dynamics going on. Dylan’s mom is a proper Southern belle and isn’t happy with Dylan (her second son) working in the FBI. And Jacq has some previous history with the family. I’ll leave the other details to you to discover on your own.
Bradford leaves the reader hanging in several areas. I’m assuming intentionally for the next book. Jacq does not meet Dylan’s family yet. There’s a point when Jacq hears a phone conversation and says she vaguely recognizes the voice, but we never find out who it is. And one of the prostitutes is someone Jacq knew. That final point, I feel Bradford should have left a mystery. The reader knows who she is. Jacq and the rest of the FBI doesn’t, she’s just a mystery woman. I think it would have been better to leave her real identity a mystery for the reader as well.
There were three gaffes I have to point out. In one scene, Jacq buys a Dr. Pepper, then refers to it as a “cherry cola”. Dr. Pepper is NOT a cherry cola. Cherry might be one of the twenty-three ingredients. On a stakeout, Dylan eats a caffeine protein bar instead of coffee so that he doesn’t have to pee. It’s the caffeine, not the coffee that causes one to need to urinate since caffeine is a diuretic. Finally, the author calls Dylan’s sister Emma toward end instead of Scarlet. Ms. Bradford must have changed her name and missed one on editing.
Being a Christian novel, it’s clean. No profanity, no sex, no over the top violence. Just a lot of rapid heartbeats, blushing, and electric charges. I’m putting this one #7 for this year, mainly because of the sub-genre. Not my favorite.
The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa Gardner Moonlight Awakens by John Matthew Walker Win by Harlen Coben Murder Board by Brian Shea The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias Into the Flames by Liz Bradford You Are Invited by Sarah A Denzil Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce One Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer. Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
Commission earned
The post Review of Into The Flames by Liz Bradford first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
August 6, 2022
Book Review of The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin
Another terrific book by Charles Martin. This one hits all of our themes. Justice is served, but not completely. There is vengeance and the consequences of vengeance. And there are redemptive journeys for several characters. One is redeemed to herself, battling the inner demons due to the life she was forced into.
This is the second Murphy Shepherd novel. It’s first person from Murphy’s point of view, as was The Water Keeper. Summer is back, along with her daughter Angel. Murphy’s daughter Ellie, Bones, even Gunner, the dog return, as well as a cast of girls in Freetown.
The story opens with plenty of action. In the first chapter, Murphy is in Florence, Italy to rescue a girl caught up in human trafficking. This chapter is a good example of someone who pretends to be a girl’s boyfriend and grooms that girl for trafficking. Chapters two and three Murphy flies to Montana, this time to rescue a young boy. During this rescue, Murphy makes a new, powerful enemy.
The book takes an interesting turn. As a bit of a spoiler, Murphy’s boat is blown up with Murphy in it. This leads to several months of recovery in Freetown. During this time, the action stops. If you’re looking for a non-stop thriller, this isn’t that book. We get about 170 pages of character building, introspection, relationship building, and fantastic writing. Two main themes occupy this section, besides Murphy’s recuperation. First, Murphy and Summer’s relationship blooms. Second, we become reacquainted with Casey, a young girl Murphy rescued in The Water Keeper who has been living in Freetown since then.
The journey of Casey’s self-redemption is a well-written and fascinating trip through the life of a girl that is abandoned at birth and sold into abuse and trafficking not long after. For the reader unfamiliar with human trafficking, this section gives a great overview of what these young girls go through and what it’s like even after they are rescued, and how hard it is to recover.
The action ratchets up many notches once Murphy recovers. Someone gets way too close to Murphy, Freetown, Bones, and the girls, and Murphy must go on another rescue mission, this one much more personal. Enough about that as I don’t want to give any more spoilers.
This book is the best book I’ve read in at least two years. The section about Murphy / Summer and Casey pulled me along more than any action sequences could have. We really get to know Murphy, Bones, Summer, Casey, Ellie, and Angel during this section. This book, like The Water Keeper, pulls no punches when describing the evil of human trafficking. The book doesn’t end, though. It sets up the reader for book three, The Record Keeper, which came out this past June. I look forward to reading that one, though it may be next year.
As far as content. This book has very little profanity, and what is there is mild. One scene with some sexual content, but it’s completely appropriate. And, like The Water Keeper, the violence is never gratuitous and often implied.
This book moves to number one for this year.
Book Rankings for 2022The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa GardnerMoonlight Awakens by John Matthew WalkerWin by Harlen CobenMurder Board by Brian SheaThe Man Burned by Winter by Pete ZachariasYou Are Invited by Sarah A DenzilGirl, Alone by Blake PierceOne Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
Commission earned
The post Book Review of The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
Review of The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin
The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin
Another terrific book by Charles Martin. This one hits all of our themes. Justice is served, but not completely. There is vengeance and the consequences of vengeance. And there are redemptive journeys for several characters. One is redeemed to herself, battling the inner demons due to the life she was forced into.
This is the second Murphy Shepherd novel. It’s first person from Murphy’s point of view, as was The Water Keeper. Summer is back, along with her daughter Angel. Murphy’s daughter Ellie, Bones, even Gunner, the dog return, as well as a cast of girls in Freetown.
The story opens with plenty of action. In the first chapter, Murphy is in Florence, Italy to rescue a girl caught up in human trafficking. This chapter is a good example of someone who pretends to be a girl’s boyfriend and grooms that girl for trafficking. Chapters two and three Murphy flies to Montana, this time to rescue a young boy. During this rescue, Murphy makes a new, powerful enemy.
The book takes an interesting turn. As a bit of a spoiler, Murphy’s boat is blown up with Murphy in it. This leads to several months of recovery in Freetown. During this time, the action stops. If you’re looking for a non-stop thriller, this isn’t that book. We get about 170 pages of character building, introspection, relationship building, and fantastic writing. Two main themes occupy this section, besides Murphy’s recuperation. First, Murphy and Summer’s relationship blooms. Second, we become reacquainted with Casey, a young girl Murphy rescued in The Water Keeper who has been living in Freetown since then.
The journey of Casey’s self-redemption is a well-written and fascinating trip through the life of a girl that is abandoned at birth and sold into abuse and trafficking not long after. For the reader unfamiliar with human trafficking, this section gives a great overview of what these young girls go through and what it’s like even after they are rescued, and how hard it is to recover.
The action ratchets up many notches once Murphy recovers. Someone gets way too close to Murphy, Freetown, Bones, and the girls, and Murphy must go on another rescue mission, this one much more personal. Enough about that as I don’t want to give any more spoilers.
This book is the best book I’ve read in at least two years. The section about Murphy / Summer and Casey pulled me along more than any action sequences could have. We really get to know Murphy, Bones, Summer, Casey, Ellie, and Angel during this section. This book, like The Water Keeper, pulls no punches when describing the evil of human trafficking. The book doesn’t end, though. It sets up the reader for book three, The Record Keeper, which came out this past June. I look forward to reading that one, though it may be next year.
As far as content. This book has very little profanity, and what is there is mild. One scene with some sexual content, but it’s completely appropriate. And, like The Water Keeper, the violence is never gratuitous and often implied.
This book moves to number one for this year. Here are my current rankings.
The Letter Keeper by Charles MartinRight Behind You by Lisa GardnerMoonlight Awakens by John Matthew WalkerWin by Harlen CobenMurder Board by Brian SheaThe Man Burned by Winter by Pete ZachariasYou Are Invited by Sarah A DenzilGirl, Alone by Blake PierceOne Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.Coffin Cove by Jackie ElliottCommission earned
The post Review of The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
July 30, 2022
World Day Against Trafficking Persons 2022
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons
According to an article on WebMD, recent research shows that a baby tends to develop object permanence around four to five months of age. Object permanence is when a baby realizes that when an object is taken away it still exists. The contrast to this is the mindset that if something isn’t seen it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, this seems to be the approach that the media in this country takes with human trafficking. And if I’m brutally honest, the same approach most Americans take. If not immediately seen, it doesn’t exist so why worry about it?
A quick search on the AP newswire for stories about human trafficking revealed that the most recent story on human trafficking they carried was on June 25, 2022. Thirty-four days ago. It’s about a MS-13 gang member convicted of trafficking a thirteen-year-old girl. The first story is about Puerto Rico’s largest pot house. After the MS-13 gang member story we see a dog helping to arrest a pedophile, two Greeks killed in a stolen car carrying immigrants, Mexican megachurch leader pleading guilty to sexual abuse, an Egyptian getting prison time for sexually assaulting minor girls, another article on smuggling immigrants, and finally to another story about human trafficking that was published April 19, 2022. Apparently, we’ve solved this problem. Not much to report on. Not!
The trafficking of persons is a worldwide epidemic that gets short shrift in the mainstream press. Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The point of this day is to bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking around the world. Unfortunately, as far as mainstream society goes, it takes special designated days like this to raise the awareness (the other one was January 11). The rest of the time, most people tend to exhibit a lack of object permanence and for them the buying and selling of human beings, mostly for sexual exploitation, doesn’t exist.
The website nationaltoday.com gives a brief history of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. You can read it at this link. This article talks about The United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, which was adopted in 1949. There are 193 member countries (or states as they are called) in the United Nations. To date, only sixty-six of them have ratified the convention. Fortunately, the United States is one of them. Apparently, there are countries that don’t want to criminalize prostitution. I think it shows the basic depravity that exists in this world that so many people are okay with prostitution, even though over ninety percent of prostitutes are in the life against their will.
I realize we all have many things occupying our minds and a lot of things we must deal with. Human trafficking probably isn’t the foremost and hopefully it’s not something you have to deal with. But, please today, give it some thought. And if you feel this is a problem that needs to be eradicated, visit one of the many organizations doing something to help stop human trafficking and see how you can help. You can find a list of some of them in this blog of mine.
Let’s get rid of this heinous travesty and blight on our society.
The post World Day Against Trafficking Persons 2022 first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
July 24, 2022
Movie Review of The Batman
Considering Batman calls himself “Vengeance” in this movie, it certainly does hit vengeance. There is also justice, as all superhero movies should have. And in this one, we see some redemption.
This Batman movie is quite different than the previous ones. First, it has narration. They went for a film noir tone in this version. Bruce Wayne is portrayed very differently. Not at all the flamboyant playboy by day and Batman by night. Instead, he’s brooding, self-destructive, and anti-social. I didn’t particularly care for Robert Pattinson’s portrayal. He came across more as a spoiled teenager not getting his way than a vengeful crime fighter. However, the focus on vengeance is true to the story, at least in the beginning.
Another aspect I liked is that this is not an origin story. We join the story about two years into the Batman’s existence. The Joker is already in Arkham. The ending sets up the next movie to involve the Joker, so we’ll see. In this movie we’re introduced to Selina Kyle, never officially called Catwoman, but she does have a lot of cats. We meet The Riddler. A very different version of The Riddler, especially if you’ve watched Gotham. Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin (played by Colin Farrell – though you’d never recognize him), is a henchman for Carmine Falcone. He’s called Oz, Oswald, and The Penguin. Very different from other Penguins, like Burgess Meredith, Danny DeVito or Robin Lord Taylor. The Riddler and Catwoman are the two we get an origin story for.
The story starts after a big Gotham police bust of the top mob boss (Marone) who is dealing a drug called “drops”. People that take it are drop heads. Shortly after this historic bust, top officials start to die and clues are left at the scenes, cards with riddles left to The Batman, implying a deep conspiracy and corruption within Gotham politics. The underlying mystery is good. The interplay between Batman and Selena Kyle is well done. The ending is reminiscent of The Dark Knight Rises. All I’ll say is that it is a dark ending, but with a hopeful epilogue.
Since I mentioned The Dark Knight Rises, this movie lacks the intensity of that one. Remember that constant music that kept you on the edge of your seat? And, of course, the action and the thought that surely Batman will win the day somehow? That’s missing from The Batman. It’s slower moving, until the last quarter of the movie. Kept me watching, though, but didn’t have that boiling gut, intense involvement that The Dark Knight Rises produced. Also didn’t have any over the top good acting seen in The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger).
I’m still on the fence as to whether I liked this version. Robert Pattinson ranks behind Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Christian Bale (in that order). The movie itself isn’t as good as any of the Christian Bale movies nor the two Michael Keaton’s, and certainly not as good as Batman Vs. Superman. Let’s sum it up by saying, it’s worth the watch, but didn’t blow me away. I’d prefer a return to more Justice League movies or another Batman with Ben Affleck.
It’s PG-13. Some language. The violence isn’t over the top. And no on-screen sex. Actually, just a kiss or two and nothing even more suggestive than that.
Commission earned The post Movie Review of The Batman first appeared on B.D. Lawrence.
Review of The Batman
The Batman starring Robert Pattinson
Considering Batman calls himself “Vengeance” in this movie, it certainly does hit vengeance. There is also justice, as all superhero movies should have. And in this one, we see some redemption.
This Batman movie is quite different than the previous ones. First, it has narration. They went for a film noir tone in this version. Bruce Wayne is portrayed very differently. Not at all the flamboyant playboy by day and Batman by night. Instead, he’s brooding, self-destructive, and anti-social. I didn’t particularly care for Robert Pattinson’s portrayal. He came across more as a spoiled teenager not getting his way than a vengeful crime fighter. However, the focus on vengeance is true to the story, at least in the beginning.
Another aspect I liked is that this is not an origin story. We join the story about two years into the Batman’s existence. The Joker is already in Arkham. The ending sets up the next movie to involve the Joker, so we’ll see. In this movie we’re introduced to Selina Kyle, never officially called Catwoman, but she does have a lot of cats. We meet The Riddler. A very different version of The Riddler, especially if you’ve watched Gotham. Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin (played by Colin Farrell – though you’d never recognize him), is a henchman for Carmine Falcone. He’s called Oz, Oswald, and The Penguin. Very different from other Penguins, like Burgess Meredith, Danny DeVito or Robin Lord Taylor. The Riddler and Catwoman are the two we get an origin story for.
The story starts after a big Gotham police bust of the top mob boss (Marone) who is dealing a drug called “drops”. People that take it are drop heads. Shortly after this historic bust, top officials start to die and clues are left at the scenes, cards with riddles left to The Batman, implying a deep conspiracy and corruption within Gotham politics. The underlying mystery is good. The interplay between Batman and Selena Kyle is well done. The ending is reminiscent of The Dark Knight Rises. All I’ll say is that it is a dark ending, but with a hopeful epilogue.
Since I mentioned The Dark Knight Rises, this movie lacks the intensity of that one. Remember that constant music that kept you on the edge of your seat? And, of course, the action and the thought that surely Batman will win the day somehow? That’s missing from The Batman. It’s slower moving, until the last quarter of the movie. Kept me watching, though, but didn’t have that boiling gut, intense involvement that The Dark Knight Rises produced. Also didn’t have any over the top good acting seen in The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger).
I’m still on the fence as to whether I liked this version. Robert Pattinson ranks behind Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Christian Bale (in that order). The movie itself isn’t as good as any of the Christian Bale movies nor the two Michael Keaton’s, and certainly not as good as Batman Vs. Superman. Let’s sum it up by saying, it’s worth the watch, but didn’t blow me away. I’d prefer a return to more Justice League movies or another Batman with Ben Affleck.
It’s PG-13. Some language. The violence isn’t over the top. And no on-screen sex. Actually, just a kiss or two and nothing even more suggestive than that.
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