Running time: 176 minutes
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis
Directed by: Matt Reeves
The story: When a serial killer begins to leave cryptic clues all over Gotham City, Batman must work to uncover the culprit. Meanwhile, corruption threatens to tear the city apart from the inside.
The verdict: Robert Pattinson, an actor who is often unfairly berated, yet again proves his naysayers wrong in Matt Reeves’ take on the caped crusader.
In The Batman, the eponymous character is tortured and sleepless - kept awake by the weight of his family’s legacy and haunted by his parents’ untimely deaths. He wears dark makeup under his black cowl, which only highlights the torment in his eyes and he prefers to spend his time alone in rooms scant of light. Often Bruce Wayne and Batman go hand in hand, but in The Batman, Wayne takes a backseat to his alter ego in a way that he hasn’t in previous films featuring the character. This focus on Batman, with Wayne merely a shadow of a once great family, works really well in establishing the darkness with which the character is so often associated with. Pattinson is exactly the man for the job and balances the chiaroscuro of the role perfectly.
The Batman also has a notable supporting cast and there is not a bad performance to be had. Particularly notable were an unrecognisable Colin Farrell as The Penguin and Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon. These are two characters who it will be especially interesting to see in any potential sequels, as they have so much scope to explore.
Visually, The Batman is top notch. This is a neo-noir detective film and it more than looks the part. Gotham is grungy and grim and at times its flaxen and inky colour palette brought to mind the logo of the titular hero. The action sequences are great fun and the fight scenes are brutal without being over the top.
With there having been so many previous Batman films, some of which were truly great, one particular concern that many audiences had when this film was announced was how would The Batman be any different to what came before it? Though The Batman doesn’t necessarily feel different tonally - after all there have been dark and gritty Batman films previously. It does differentiate itself in several ways. Firstly, the character feels different here but what really stood out was how The Batman doesn’t just feel like a comic book film, but also a detective thriller film.
In the Batman comic books, Batman is referred to as ‘the world’s greatest detective’ and this film really plays into that moniker. This is also fun for the audience, because they become involved in solving the crime as well.
At three hours long, The Batman could have easily become a struggle to sit through but it remained engaging throughout. Perhaps its one noticeable flaw was a slightly weaker third act that didn’t quite live up to the first two acts. The Batman might not be flawless, but it’s pretty damn close.
The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half
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