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The Batman

A review by Forrest Humphrey


Its hard to believe this is our second Batman reboot since Christopher Nolan's beloved take on the character ended a mere decade ago, but when Ben Affleck announced he was leaving the project the entire thing had to be overhauled. New cast, new director, the whole thing. So now we have “The Batman”, a film completely unrelated to the ongoing DC universe films. Outside general knowledge of Batman's origin story, no other knowledge is required to enjoy the film. 

While there was an initial backlash against Robert Pattinson in the lead role of Batman/Bruce Wayne, it has died down thanks to people becoming more aware of his credentials and acting chops thanks to films like “The Lighthouse” and his independent film work. Joining the cast include Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jeffry Wright as James Gordon and Colin Farrel as The Penguin. To put it simply, the entire cast absolutely kills it here. Pattinson is exactly as intense and brooding as you expect Batman to be, Zoe Kravitz  plays Selina as a wonderfully sassy femme fatale and Paul Dano makes his take on Riddler memorably creepy. Jeffrey Wright as Gordon has a friendly relationship with Batman that I found enjoyable as well.

Without getting into spoiler territory, the plot involves a young Batman in his second year of crime fighting, working with the police to stop a serial killer who leaves riddles and clues at the scenes of his crimes and letters specifically to Batman, drawing the caped crusader into the corrupt underbelly of Gotham's rotten heart. Its very much styled like a Film Noir, and takes a lot of inspiration from loved Batman stories like “The Long Halloween”. While the films immense three hour runtime drags in a few places, on the whole I found it quite gripping. 

The film's score, done by Michael Giacchino, is absolutely amazing. Its much more gothic and creepy than usual, sometimes making the film feel more horror than superhero thriller. The film is also absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully shot, with some creative and brutal action setpieces. One of my primary issues with the Nolan films is that Gotham City looked to “normal”. Gotham City here isn't quite as stylized as Tim Burton's take on the subject back in the 80's but it has all the gargoyles, imposing clock towers and giant churches I wanted the city to have. There are also plenty of small world-building references for fans to pick up on that wont distract the more casual audience as well. 

I absolutely loved this film, to the point it 'might' be my favorite live-action take on the material; and hearing that the crew wants to keep going has me more excited than I have been for anything related to Batman in years. 

Rating: 5/5 



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