Review: The Batman

If you thought to yourself, hey, The Dark Knight is just not dark enough for me. Like I want it to be darker, grittier and full of emo energy. Then The Batman is for you. 

There is a scene early on in Matt Reeves’ The Batman where Bruce Wayne, played by Robert Pattison, removes his helmet to reveal his eyes covered in caked on makeup making him look like a My Chemical Romance cosplayer. We all know the previous versions of Batman has worn the eye makeup but this is the first film to show it. Why is this important? Because this is a film that’s messy, brutal and not afraid to show you warts and all. It also might be the one of the best comic book movies ever made. 

Reeves delivers the darkest (both literally and figuratively) take on the character yet. His Bruce Wayne, is a tortured soul who wears sunglasses inside and lets his long bangs fall over his eyes. He also beats bad guys in the middle of the night. 

This Batman isn’t the hero of Gotham as much as he is a force of vengeance. He wants to strike fear into the hearts of Gotham’s underbelly but when the zodiac killer, er sorry, the Riddler starts his killing spree, the ugliness of Gotham surfaces. This is the most fully realized Gotham. It’s a rain soaked hellscape, and looks like a city you have never seen and not just Chicago or Pittsburg. 

All around this film is strong, with a grossly engaging and thematically rich story, beautiful and inspiring cinematography, great performances (especially John Turtorro and Colin Farrell), and an incredible score. I could go on and on about each element but this is what happens when you have a strong and well developed vision. It’s filmmaking at it’s finest. 

This is also a mature film, it’s a serial killer detective story that just happens to feature Batman, and not a spandex, glossed over superhero flick. Leave the little kiddos at home. Its still PG-13 but pushes the boundaries as far as it can. 

The Batman is a breath of fresh air in a genre that doesn’t allow for much creativity lately because it forgoes even being that genre. Its a richly engrossing character study, artfully crafted mystery and spectacle film all at once. 

4.5/5