The Batman review: A refreshing take on the caped crusader

The first true movie event for 2022 has arrived in the form of director Matt Reeves‘ The Batman. Last year, Warner Bros. and DC Films had The Suicide Squad, a movie which quickly became the most-watched DC Film on HBO Max. DC has a long way to go being in the shadow of Marvel, but they have gone to show no matter the studio, superhero movies have staying power in the public consciousness.

Heading into The Batman, my expectations were tempered. Admittedly, I am more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan, having loved the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy and the sensibility of many of the recent DC Universe projects. I had seen the trailer, but didn’t dig into much beyond that. As I will outline in my review below, The Batman is a wild ride. There are ups and downs no doubt, but put it all together, and I expect Matt Reeves to really ‘wow’ audiences and give people a refreshing take on the Batman character, both tonally and thematically.

Spoiler alert! This review does contain spoilers.

The Batman is ambitious and carried by the strong performances

Zoë Kravitz. Zoë Kravitz. Zoë Kravitz. She was my main take-way from this movie. Her performance as Catwoman was one of the more exhilarating performances I’ve seen in quite a while. She is both alluring and intimidating and is a great sidekick to Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Even playing the titular role (cue the Beanie Feldstein meme), Pattinson plays a sort of grunge Batman that is wildly interesting, but to me pales in comparison to Kravitz’ performance.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Pattinson is one of our most talented young actors. His performance as, Connie in Good Time is one of my favorite performances of the 2010’s. His performance here as Batman is in stark contrast of previous Batman iterations. To me, he portrayed just the Batman character and not Bruce Wayne. I think that fit the tone of the movie well, though. Kravitz kept the heartbeat going throughout and was the character who had me on the edge of my seat.

Paul Dano and Colin Farrell nail their performances in The Batman

Paul Dano has been getting much early praise, and well deserved, for his portrayal of Riddler. Dano gives a chilling performance and it felt like the most modern character of the Batman universe. Dano’s Riddler character has an online presence in this movie, gaining followers through sowing discord. While it doesn’t match the legend of Heath Ledger’s Joker (which may be totally unfair to compare the two), the performance is truly eerie, because it reminds us so much of some of the troubling personality types we see in today’s world.

Colin Farrell is utterly unrecognizable as Penguin, both in physical appearance and in his voice. Farrell, a native Irishman, nails the New York accent and the physicality of what I imagine a mafia crime boss to be. He deserves so much praise, but honestly the cast is so talent-rich, he doesn’t even make my Top 3 most memorable performances.

Jeffrey Wright gives a tempered and measured Jim Gordon, which seems to be the nature of the character from the comics and previous movies.

Now, moving past the cast, I want to touch on the tones and themes of the movie. The tone is dark. Perhaps, darker than any previous Batman movie, The Batman reminds me very much of the FOX TV series Gotham. Gotham is perhaps the darkest network television show I’ve seen and actually reminds me a lot of Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City. Gotham City feels damp and hopeless, with crime overrunning the forces who seek to protect the town.

Pattinson’s Batman is somber and melancholy. His character matches the morale of the city residents. Thematically, The Batman much more has the feel of a mystery movie than a superhero one. In the vein of Se7en or Prisoners, this movie has the cat-and-mouse elements of The Dark Knight, but you get the feeling like the narrative could flip on a dime in an instant. Dano’s Riddler creates a giant maze in Gotham City, with Batman constantly chasing his own tail. This brought a level of intrigue, which had my interest throughout the 3 hour runtime and is chock full of colliding subplots.

The visual effects stunned me. Reeves makes the conscious choice to give the camera many different perspectives that give the 3D goggles effect to the audience without actually having them. The car chase between Penguin and Batman at one point rivals a movie like Tenet in terms of stunning practical effects.

The plot at several points did lose me. I’m sure that was the intention, because it feels as though Riddler is setting so many traps, that we’re living in the head of Batman throughout. A constant state of confusion. As strange as it sounds, I would’ve like even more character development in the villains of Riddler and Penguin for the audience to invest in the characters, even though they are previously known entities.

That Batman’s sound, score, and visual effects make a great cinematic experience

The ending felt somewhat climax-less, with all of the characters surviving the flooding of Gotham City, including Riddler who perpetrated a van attack that caused the city water barriers to explode. Riddler’s minions attempt to assassinate the newly elected mayor as Riddler joyfully watches from Arkham Asylum, and the final 20 minutes, while epic, feel a bit predictable. Overall, I would highly recommend people go see The Batman in the theaters. The sound, score, and visual effects make for a truly great cinematic experience.

The Batman will do well at the box office, but I question how many repeat viewing it will receive with the run time and dark themes, leaving audiences shuddering. The Batman is now playing nationwide in theaters and will be available in 45 days to stream on HBO Max.

My score: 8.4/10