Movie Review - The Batman (2022)

 

Yes it is that time again. It has been a long time since we last had a solo live action Batman film on the big screen and this time, the story behind it is quite lengthy. To sum up, Ben Affleck was going to do a Batman film that he would direct, produce and star in. But due to creative differences (for lack of a better phrase), he left the project altogether. Then Matt Reeves took the helm, reworked the film, removed all connections to the DC Extended Universe, recast Affleck and this is what we got. A film that is pretty much the start of its own little shared universe, but with everything being tied to Batman. Yes we are supposed to be getting a trilogy of films, a couple of TV shows and maybe some other things later down the line if this film became successful. But most of us want to know if it lives up to the hype that it got. Well, that's for me to decide in this review, so let's get to it:

On one Halloween night, the mayor of Gotham City Don Mitchell Jr. (played by Rupert Penry-Jones) is murdered by a man known as The Riddler (played by Paul Dano). Bruce Wayne (played by Robert Pattinson) who has been Batman for two years and has established a bond of trust with police lieutenant James Gordon (played by Jeffery Wright), becomes the vigilante and investigates the murder with Gordon much to the frustration and reluctance of his superiors. The Riddler clearly wants to lure Batman out and so the caped crusader sets out to take him down while also learning about the operations of Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro) and makes a few uneasy alliances with those that in the mythos are usually very much part of the Bat family.

The film reminds me a lot of the Gotham TV series and also the Arkham and TellTale games in its tone, character designs and just the overall look and feel of the film. Yes, it is a long film, but it makes sense for it to be long as every part has a reason for being in the finished product. I like the Riddler in this film, whose way of going about his actions reminds me a lot of Heath Ledger's Joker (only difference being that his face remains covered for a large chuck of the film). It's also nice to finally see a Penguin that is like the Penguin we know and love, but at a point where he isn't as well established as some gangsters in Gotham. The action sequences are good, the intensity of some scenes are well executed and while definitely far from being the greatest of Batman films (including the animated ones), it's definitely made its mark. And Robert Pattinson, like all Batmen who came before him, makes the character his own with a tragic backstory that doesn't delve too much into what we already know about him prior to becoming Batman. 9/10