There have been a lot of Batman movies over the years.
There were Batman movies in the 1940s. Then Adam West in the 1960s brought his Caped Crusader to a movie and Tim Burton directed Michael Keaton Batman movies starting in 1989. Val Kilmer and George Clooney took Keaton’s place in that movie series and then Batman was gone from the big screen for a few years.
Christopher Nolan then created his Dark Knight Trilogy and with The Dark Knight, he created what some fans consider the best Batman movie ever made. Ben Affleck was up next in the DCEU, and now there is a new Batman.
What is big about The Batman is that it is the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight and might be the third-best of all time behind only Nolan’s movie and Burton’s Batman Returns.
The Batman is also the first Batman movie that took his role as the World’s Greatest Detective to heart.
Robert Pattinson might have shocked people who still hate him for starring in Twilight because he turned in an impressive performance as Batman. Not only did he give movie fans arguably the smartest Batman in movie history, but also the most realistic.
Batman is very different in this movie. In what might be the best portrayal of his role in Gotham City, Batman works in the dark and uses his reputation to cause many criminals to run from shadows. He can stop crime without ever being there.
However, as he mentioned at the start, he has only been Batman for two years and crime has gotten worse rather than improved with him fighting crime. He also doesn’t care about his role as Bruce Wayne and has completely neglected his parent’s legacy as philanthropists. Instead, Batman said he rules by fear.
The Batman is a noir movie with a mystery at its core.
A villain known as The Riddler started killing influential people in Gotham City. He not only killed these people, but he left clues behind that showed these people were corrupt, as most people in Gotham history are. The mayor and police commissioner both died and then had their reputations dragged through the mud after the fact.
The Riddler also left notes for Batman at each murder scene, dragging the Caped Crusader into the mess.
In this world, the Gotham PD doesn’t like Batman, outside of Jeffrey Wright’s Detective Jim Gordon. He brings in Batman and the two work together despite Gordon’s superior officers not liking this. However, the police are not all gunning for Batman (outside of one moment), so they are working the case alongside Batman and Gordon.
Batman has to figure out how he connects to Riddler’s murders, what his father might have done in the past to put Bruce Wayne in the killer’s crosshairs, and stop him before he brings Gotham City to its knees.
There are a lot of characters in this movie. The actors brought their A-game. Robert Pattinson was great in his role as Batman, although his Bruce Wayne was mostly just him moping around. However, as Batman, he made mistakes, was hurt in fights, had to get help from other people, and showed a lot more weakness than any Batman before him.
Zoe Kravitz was great as Catwoman, and even with the changes to her origin and purpose, she helped ground Batman and even got a few chances to stand on her own.
There were also several villains in the movie, but none of them overshadowed each other, as Riddler was the main villain and the rest were more of the supportive roles.
Paul Dano was brilliant as Riddler — after he was unmasked and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. For much of the movie, he was mostly the face of the disenfranchised who helped form what can only be described as a legion of Proud Boys-styled warriors. However, once he was in Arkham, he delivered lines that made me wish I could have seen that Riddler the entire movie. It was electric.
Colin Farrell was unrecognizable as Penguin. He was a bad guy, but he was more of a go-between and it looks like he will end up becoming a bigger villain down the line, which is a great idea because he was great here.
Finally, John Turturro was Carmine Falcone, and he was great as the entitled mob boss, proving that the actor brings the goods every time he steps into a movie role. This was a nice progression from Turturro’s previous roles in Coen Brothers movies.
Director Matt Reeves directed the hell out of this movie as well, and while it is very long, there isn’t a wasted shot in this movie. The music was also incredible, with Michael Giacchino delivering a score worthy of Batman.
As for the movie, this was about a mystery, a detective story with Batman trying to crack the case and bring down Riddler. There could be complaints that the ending was too much of a superhero movie climax, but it was needed. In the start, Batman ruled by fear, and this scene was very important to show that he needed to be a lot more than that if he wanted to change Gotham City for the better.
Batman needed to be a sign of optimism for the people of Gotham City, while striking fear in the villains if he wanted to protect and help people at the same time. This movie showed how a vengeful and angry Batman became a hero.
And it is the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight.
