The Batman Movie Review

The Batman (2022) movie poster

With all the previous iterations of the caped-crusader, Matt Reeves’ The Batman is the darkest, violent, and somewhat complex with its noir style of storytelling to date. Robert Pattinson brings a brutality that was yet to be seen from Batman, and Pattinson breaks into the character well establishing him as the new Batman. It is a movie that pops right out of the comic book pages as its cinematography, editing, and its gothic atmosphere are very reminiscent of Batman graphic novels like The Long Halloween, Batman: No Man’s Land, and Batman: Hush.

The Batman follows the dark knight in his second year as Batman, and this version of Batman is not the world’s greatest detective as we get to know him in previous films, but he is in the process of reaching that status. This version has Bruce Wayne learning how to infiltrate underground criminal nightclubs, learning how to sore through the sky of Gotham without falling to his death, and most importantly Batman is learning his place in Gotham and his responsibility to its citizens.

An aspect of the film that I really enjoyed was the characteristic of Batman being the detective that is highlighted in his backstory in the comics. In the film, Batman is set on several missions that require him to be tactical, sneaky, investigate crime scenes, and connect the evidence that is discovered to solve the many riddles left by The Riddler portrayed by Paul Dano. What Heath Ledger did for the Joker in The Dark Knight, Paul Dano does to the Riddler, which completely reinvents the character to be more grounded and realistic to our world. Though Ledger in my opinion did the character of the Joker justice in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Dano still gives a tremendous performance as The Riddler and makes it his own.

Throughout the film we follow Batman as he tries to stay one step ahead of The Riddler before targeting Gotham’s corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. For Batman to stop The Riddler he needs to solve the Riddler’s numerous riddles encoded in symbols and signs which is very reminiscent to how the zodiac killer would leave notes behind. Since Batman is barely in year two of his crime-fighting endeavor, he is not the smart, seasoned vigilante that he later in life becomes, which just makes for an interesting film. This also gives audiences something to look forward to in the next film as we follow his journey into becoming Batman.

There are many characters that this film introduces us to who also give an amazing performance. To name a few, Zoe Kravitz who portrays Catwoman does a phenomenal job playing this swift, sneaky, burglar who dresses as a cat as she tries to get more information about a missing friend of hers who she thinks the Penguin might have answers to her questions. Kravitz as Catwoman plays well next to Pattison’s Batman as both characters are these dark, troubled, and lonely people which they express through their actions as the bat and the cat. Colin Farrell is the actor behind all the prosthetics that gave him his look of the Penguin, and at first glance he is almost unrecognizable as the design on his face is flawless.

Everyone involved in this film did an amazing job recreating Gotham and making this world feel authentic to its reality. From the character designs to the dark noir look to Gotham, this film just sucks you into its world leaving you wanting to see the next Batman movie. Its complex story line and long run time might turn a few audiences off, but if you love murder mystery films mixed in with comic book action then this film is for you.

Harvest International 2022