Matt Reeve's The Batman offers new take on caped crusader 

Posted Dec. 11, 2022

By Lily Beckham

Cub Reporter

The Batman, a 2022 film, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson, is a new take on superhero films that we don’t often see. DC movies, in recent years, have objectively been less successful than Marvel films because DC superhero films have been very serious, compared to Marvel’s lighthearted, “well that just happened!” humor. 

However, The Batman was a popular film because it was inherently better than DC’s other films. The difference? It wasn’t boring. DC’s other recent films (i.e. the justice league movies) were long, dragged out, pointless, and they had no substance. They were just content. The Batman was a riveting movie, with an actual plot. 

The Batman follows Bruce Wayne, a classic superhero character, who’s an orphan. His parents were very rich, and their murders inspired him to fight crime using their money to create weapons and new technology that makes it easy for him to be a superhero. There’s a serial killer murdering polititians and Batman has to figure out what’s happening. He teams up with Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman and they track down Paul Dano’s Riddler and identify him as the murderer.

There were a lot of notable details about the film, one being the score. The film had fantastic music, as well as sound effects. Nirvana’s ‘Something In the Way’ was featured, and that song has since been associated permanently with Batman’s character on social media. 

Robert Pattinson’s performance as Batman was absolutely incredible. He played the stoic, broken man incredibly and gave the character so much depth. Paul Dano’s Riddler was also fantastic, he gave the Riddler this crazed energy, an almost manic feel. Zoe Kravitz also deserves to be mentioned, she truly transformed into the character with her body language. 

The sets for the film were also breathtaking. The film was dark and grungy, and the sets all had a very gothic feel to them. The Wayne manor, as classically portrayed in the comics, was a reflection of Bruce Wayne’s character himself. The inside of his home was dim, and dark. His batcave was shady and gloomy as well. The entire film was shot in a very angsty way, which helped convey Batman’s character and keep the watcher interested.

The Batman was Robert Pattinson’s debut as Batman, following Ben Affleck’s run as the character. There have been many famous actors to play Batman, such as George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Will Arnett, and more. Pattinson will supposedly return as Batman in two sequels of The Batman, as well as two HBO Max series. 

The film itself does drag on a little bit towards the end, but it picks up and ultimately, is 100% worth a watch. At almost three hours, however, it’s a lengthy film, and a commitment. Nonetheless, it’s a great movie, that sets up more Batman films for the future. It develops Robert Pattinson’s Batman in a way that’s specific to that universe, and so the sequels may be confusing for a new fan who hasn’t seen the movie. 

Conclusively, The Batman, the fifth highest grossing film of 2022, was a spectacularly angsty movie. It was gritty and entertaining, and it’s one of the best movies DC has ever made.