Matt Reeves has gained a lot of attention recently for his upcoming movie, The Batman. The new reboot of the popular DC superhero is set to release this year in March, providing there really will be no more delays. As all eyes turn toward the movie, looking to see if it will live up to or even transcend its predecessors, there are some people wondering whether Matt Reeves will live up to the challenge. He’s directed several hit films over his career, so things are looking positive for the new movie.
Reeves first gained recognition for the 1998-2002 TV show Felicity, which he co-developed with popular director J. J. Abrams. However, it wasn’t until about 2008 that he gained widespread attention as a director. From there he’s put several TV shows and movies under his belt as the director or producer, and has even been nominated for a few best director awards. Here’s a look at all the movies he’s directed so far to help imagine what The Batman will be like.
5 The Pallbearer
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The Pallbearer is a 1996 rom-com and one of Reeves’ earliest works. It follows Tom Thompson, who is contacted about his giving a eulogy for his ‘best friend’ Bill, who has died of suicide. Tom doesn’t remember this friend, but goes as a pallbearer anyway out of respect. There he runs into Julie DeMarco, his old high school crush, and asks her out on a date. As the movie progresses, Tom tries and fails several times to win Julie and eventually her parents over all while hanging out with Bill's mom. Reeves directed and co-wrote the film, and with stars like David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow, it seems like it would've been a success. However, it didn’t go over very well with critics, and it feels a little too dark for a rom-com.
4 Cloverfield
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Cloverfield is the first in its franchise, a great found-footage monster movie that was Reeve’s claim to fame. The movie is filmed in the found footage style, as if was shot on a personal camcorder recovered from Central Park. Jason throws a congratulations party for his friend Rob, the main character, who just got a new job in Japan. They witness an oil tanker explode near Liberty Island and, as they try to escape the fiery debris, run into a monster that begins tearing the city apart. Now they must find a way to rescue their friends and escape from the city and its monster, which even the military can’t seem to put down.
The movie was nominated for several awards and won a few of them after its release. The success of Cloverfield is largely credited to the marketing, which kept the film secretive while just slightly teasing it; the first trailer didn’t even have a title attached to it. Still, Reeves’ success with this movie helped boost his career, as the franchise continues to grow and the original continues to be watched over and over again by adoring fans.
3 Let Me In
The romantic horror film Let Me In is an English adaptation of the Swedish film, Let the Right One In. Owen, the unhappy 12-year-old struggling to deal with the neglect he’s receiving from his divorcing parents, sees a young girl move into the apartment next to his. They communicate through the wall in morse code, quickly becoming friends. However, it becomes clear that the man she moved in with isn’t Abby’s father, and she isn’t who Owen thinks she is-- she’s actually a vampire connected to a few deaths around the town. Owen must decide whether he should help his new vampire girlfriend escape abusive control or let her struggle on her own. The movie was critically acclaimed upon release, with critics saying it was an adaptation that didn’t insult the original piece, but was different enough to stand out on its own. Considering Reeves did both the writing and directing for this movie, most of the credit goes to him for the film’s development and success. It was definitely a step in the right direction to continue his successful career.
2 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the second movie in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series. This sci-fi film is set after the fall of civilization from the deadly Simian Flu, which also enhanced the intelligence of the monkeys on Earth. When a colony of apes settles in the forests near San Francisco, tensions rise between them and the humans. The apes don’t care much for the humans, especially when they tread on their territory in an attempt to turn the power back on. Even after coming to an agreement to let a small party of humans fix the dam, the apes still eventually turn on them, killing some of their own and blaming the humans to have a reason to fight one another.
After a successful box office release, the movie earned many raving reviews calling it "the best movie of the summer." Sometimes sequels don’t do as well as their predecessors, but critics loved the visual effects and the emotions that the movie brought. It was clear that Reeves was the right director for this film, as he turned it into a global success, ensuring that a third movie would be made.
1 War for the Planet of the Apes
The third installment in the series, War for the Planet of the Apes, was also directed by Reeves. The fight between the apes and humans in the second movie has drawn the attention of the human army, who are now trying to kill the apes, even using some of their own species to fight back. The apes, however, are trying to leave, looking for a better place to stay and to get away from the army. As they attempt to leave, the army finds ways to hinder or stop their progress altogether in often hideous and ironically inhumane ways.
Reeves clearly impressed 20th Century Fox with the second movie so much that they brought him back for the third. Many critics liked the direction he took the series to, and how he perfectly combined several pieces that might seem strange together in other contexts and gave them the emotional depth needed for a heavy topic such as war and the darkness lurking in the human condition. It's one of Reeve's greatest achievements to date, and should silence any naysayers who thinks that he can't handle The Batman.