REVIEW: The Batman

Full of grit and settled on a dark, foreboding backdrop, The Batman delivers in spades. It is perhaps the most visceral, violent and complex movie I’ve seen since (fittingly) The Joker in late 2019–and the audience is better for it.

The film was compelling from start to finish, terrifically directed by Matt Reeves with a well fleshed-out story even at three hours in length. Even so, I did find myself wondering at times whether Gotham City had ever heard of overhead lighting.

Robert Pattinson, who plays the titular character, cements he is more than “Twilight Boy” (although his excellent performances in films like The Lighthouse, Tenet and Remember Me were each enough to prove that on their own). He provides an powerful, edgy, tough and complicated performance as the Caped Crusader, underscoring the reality that his character’s real identity is that of The Batman, rather than billionaire recluse Bruce Wayne—and his vengeance has a purpose.

Likewise, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman brought a great presence to the screen, as did Paul Dano as The Riddler. Each of them delivered remarkable outings and Dano’s in particular appears to me to be an early-on contender for best supporting role. Jeffrey Wright and Collin Farrell are also excellent in their roles as Commissioner Gordon and The Penguin, respectively.

The cast’s chemistry and some incredibly well-choreographed and perfectly shot fight scenes would have been enough for me, but as a whole, this film delivered in every facet.

It’s a dark movie, but it flows well and wholeheartedly embraces the grit of Batman. It also makes me eager to know what’s next for this character and the city of Gotham.

This isn’t my favorite Batman movie—that title still belongs to The Dark Knight—but Pattinson might be my favorite rendition of the title character.

The bottom line: Dark and intense, it’s not the best for kids. But darn, is it a great movie—comic book-based or otherwise. 8.5/10