The Batman: Reviewed!

Before I answer those questions, here is some background information about the movie’s production and release. The idea of a new solo Batman film was first discussed all the way back in 2013. This movie was meant to star Ben Affleck as an older Batman who would embrace Batman’s experience and his connections to other heroes like Robin. However, this idea was scrapped by newly-chosen director Matt Reeves, who wanted to completely disconnect all ties to other heroes and focus strictly on the detective side of a new Batman.

With his goals set in mind, Reeves began production on February 23, 2017. After spending almost a year writing the script, he decided to cast Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon. He also brought in cinematographer Greig Fraser, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and music composer Michael Giacchino. These hiring choices were amazing and made fans extremely hopeful for the film.

Fans were even more excited by its first teaser trailer, which was posted in August 2020. In addition to displaying great song choices and visuals, the trailer showed a unique and darker side of Batman that just got fans hooked. Sometime in 2021, Reeves cemented the movie’s final release date: March 4, 2022. About 5 months before the release date, the main trailer dropped, which is one of my personal favorite comic book movie trailers of all time (if you want to watch it for yourself, see the video to the left). Long story short, my expectations were extremely high when The Batman was finally released this month.

But did it reach those expectations? In my opinion, absolutely. The movie told a thrilling detective story that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat the whole time. It also had really creative and well-choreographed action, especially in a specific Batmobile chase in the middle of the movie that will make you stare in awe at how incredible it is.

Also, as you would expect, the cast was phenomenal. Robert Pattinson is spectacular, embracing the look, skill, and emotional center of Batman better than anyone else in live-action. Paul Dano was as close as you can get to a flawless performance playing the Riddler. A hidden gem was Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, who stole essentially every scene she was in.

And finally, the movie was presented really well too. As promised by its trailers and posters, its visual effects and cinematography were some of the best in any comic book movie I’ve ever seen. A big surprise to me was how great the soundtrack was. Michael Giacchino’s score perfectly captured the feel of Gotham and the eeriness of the Caped Crusader in a way that had only been touched upon by past Batman movies like The Dark Knight.

As for the minor things that I didn’t like about The Batman, I felt like the plot’s pacing could have been better. The movie is a striking 3 hours long– and you can definitely feel that while watching the movie. In particular, the third act of the film feels a little tacked on and out-of-place compared to the rest of the movie.

Also, because the movie focuses solely on Batman for most of its runtime, I feel like it didn’t do many of its other characters justice. Specifically, Andy Serkis’ Alfred Pennyworth was severely underutilized compared to previous iterations of the character. In a similar fashion, Colin Farrell’s Penguin should have had a bigger role in the story than he ended up having. These are just minor complaints though, the movie was generally really good.