The Batman – Truly Fantastic Vision of the Batman
Director: Matt Reeves
Writer: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig (Screenplay) Bob Kane (Creator)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Paul Dano, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro
Plot: When the Riddler, a sadistic serial killer, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement.
Tagline – Unmask The Truth
Runtime: 2 Hours 55 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Batman starts when Batman (Pattinson) will find himself working with LT James Gordon (Wright) when a new serial killer The Riddler (Dano) arrives, leaving his messages to Batman on each crime scene.
As Batman starts to investigate, he will meet Selina Kyle (Kravitz), Oz ‘The Penguin’ (Farrell) and crime lord Carmine Falcone (Turturro) as he looks for answers, as he learns the truth about what the Riddler is looking to expose.
Thoughts on The Batman
Characters & Performances – Bruce Wayne is known to be one of the most illusive figures in Gotham now, turning all his time into being The Batman, not conducting enough meetings to keep face within the city. The Batman has been showing the side effects of years of fighting crime, even showing how he has been left unable to stop every crime. The Batman is accepted into helping with the investigation, where he will hint at clues, while using his own position in the city to try and figure out who is behind the killings. A real brooding figure here, relentless in the combat, fearless, while having his own weaknesses, a brilliant way to bring the icon back to the big screen. Robert Pattinson brings a new vision of the figure, one that feels more withdrawn from the world that we have ever seen before, hiding the playboy figure Bruce is often seen as. The Riddler is the new serial killer in Gotham, using his riddles as clues for Batman as he looks to engage with the city’s protector. He embraces the social media to create an even more threatening force within the city. This is by far one of the most compelling villains we have seen Batman face, with Paul Dano giving us a disturbing performance on every level, being a character, you want to see more, but would be scared what he would bring to the table. Selina Kyle has her own motivation for targeting certain members of the criminal underworld, she will work with Batman, who will help guide her down a better path for her crime fighting ideas. James Gordon has the built-in connection with Batman, he knows he will trust him to get the job done without turning to murder, even if he does things in a different ways. The Penguin is a member of the crime society controlling the city, he knows he is in position where he can get away with anything, waiting for his chance to get rid of the Batman. Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright and Colin Farrell are all brilliant in the supporting roles too, helping build this world with ease.
Story – The story here will follow Batman as he will face up against a deadlier killer calling himself The Riddler, one that is looking to expose the secrets the city has been hiding for years. This story will make a point to show us how Batman has been doing this a while now, the characters in the city have been established, helping create the story filled with the shock when the killing starts. The story will use Batman needing to learn his position for the city to make it through against the killer. When it comes to the criminal side of things, this is a truly disturbing crime thriller that will leave you shocked it is in the Batman universe.
Themes – The Batman is an action crime thriller that could easily be horror with how disturbing the killer will become, with plenty of crime figures thrown in, planning their own reasons to make it through the situation on hand. The color pallet is much darker than we have seen in any Batman movie, feeling like it could have been ripped out of a comic book, being a much more mature version of the character’s story. The action involved is big, without feeling like anything over the top which many comic book movies might well be guilty of in the past.
Final Thoughts – The Batman is the darkest version of the Batman, disturbing, engrossing and excellent world building.
