The Batman

The Bat is Back And He Doesn’t Disappoint.

(Left to Right) Robert Pattinson as The Batman meeting with Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon.

Congratulations, you made it through the 3-hour movie that most complained about. I bet my last dollar for anyone that was complaining about the time frame of the movie, if this had been a miniseries on Netflix, you’d probably praise it as one of the best you’ve seen in a while. But never mind those who can’t still and enjoy a movie for more than an hour and thirty minutes, lets talk about vengeance.

Here’s a riddle, What can fly without wings?

The Batman kicked 2022 off for us as the most anticipated film yet. Our previous Batman, Christian Bale, retired from the role after delivering all-star performance throughout the trilogy and working with the greatest joker ever (Heath Ledger Rest in Peace). Now we have Robert Pattinson, the emerging star in Hollywood who has played some very interesting roles leading up to his Batman performance. This Batman movie jumps right into it, we know the story and the history, so we start off in the present. It’s like walking into a comic bookstore and knowing exactly what issue of Batman you want, and you have exact change. We all walk in ready to see this angrier version of Bruce Wayne who claims to be vengeance, and I believe this is what truly makes this movie awesome. Robert Pattinson’s Batman never claimed to be the Batman, instead, he claimed to be a symbol of vengeance for Gotham.

Pair this with Heath Ledger’s Joker saying “Look at me!” , doesn’t it fit perfectly?

We all know Gotham is just a depiction of New York City and how dark it truly is (this is coming from a New Yorker, do not engage in argument with me). Fear has become a tool for Batman, the thought of him lurking in the darkness sends criminals back to where they came from. And James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) knows it too, which is why he teams up with the Bat to take down some of Gotham’s biggest criminals (Shout out to Jeffrey Wright being the first Black man to play James Gordon in the Batman films, I see you Playa). But the real criminals at times are sitting on the throne pretending to be good people, and that where the Riddler (Paul Dano) comes in, finally getting his chance to shine his light on how Gotham should be. A protagonist can only be measured by how strong the antagonist is, and Riddler does not fall short of his role. In fact, Batman and Riddler are very much alike, but Riddler is one step ahead of Batman always. While he can’t actually fight Batman toe to toe, he can play the mind game very well, which forces us to see if Batman can live up to being “The World’s Greatest Detective”.

This takes Batman on the hunt for answers which is why this movie is 3 hours long, the Riddler has a bizarre sense of humor and leaves bizarre clues on how to find him and play into his hand. During his hunt, Batman meets Penguin(Colin Farrell), and more importantly we meet penguin, the supporting villain we didn’t know we needed. Penguin has always been seen as the fat, rich, snazzy dressing, mobster with a weird nose but this time around he’s the owner of the hottest club in Gotham, the Iceberg Lounge, and a drug dealer. Working for him is our favorite girl, Selina Kyle, otherwise known as Cat Woman (Zoe Kravitz) , who stays in the midst of trouble for her own personal reasons as always.

Colin Farrell steals the show as Penguin displaying an unforgettable depiction of one of Gothams finest villains. He also scored his own spinoff which will be coming to HBO Max soon.

The on-screen chemistry between Batman and Cat Woman enraptures us into believing they can cure one another’s loneliness. Although the Bat and the Cat have different feelings about the law, the lust for one another remains the same, which actually makes them great partners in the heat of battle, sounds like an ex you may have? The greatest detective and one of the greatest thieves working together is probably the equivalent of two magicians trying to impress one another, you’re aware of all the tricks in the book.

(Left to Right) Robert Pattinson as Vengeance with Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle AKA Cat Woman.

Now if you came into the theatre expecting The Dark Knight, you will fail to experience the beauty behind Matt Reeves’ version of how The Batman should be. I know I mentioned this before, but this time it is truly darker than what you’re used to. The scenery is dim and darkness lurks everywhere in the film, Bruce Wayne himself seems like a dead loner billionaire who only becomes alive when he’s wearing the mask. The charming billionaire days are through, Batman is looking to change the city he refuses to give up on, honoring his fathers legacy. You can’t even see behind Carmine Falcone’s shades in this movie, so drink a Red Bull or have an espresso, it’s going to be a dark 3 hours. This version reminds me of when cartoon network was still cartoon network and we had Batman the animated series (Much like The Dark Knight). Then came along this darker version of batman, Batman Beyond, and we all watched that darker futuristic version of Batman on Saturday mornings while eating cereal.

Stop the Robert Pattinson vs Christian Bale debates, just enjoy the damn movie.

Overall, The Batman isn’t one you want to miss. For majority of the film, we see Batman in his suit fighting and solving riddles more than we do see him as depressing Bruce Wayne. Funniest part of this all is reprising the idea of villains doing broadcast, here we have Riddler speaking to the public through the internet becoming one of Gotham’s favorite underground youtuber. Sprinkle in some dark humor, an unforgettable mob boss performance from Colin Farrell as penguin (who is getting his own series as Penguin by the way), watching Zoe Kravitz remind us that she’s one of the most stunning in the game, and of course the famous line “I’m vengeance” and you got an 8/10 Batman film. Sounds like we got a sequel on the way, this time with a familiar face Gotham knows and loves. Go see The Batman while it’s still on the big screen, nothing like hearing Nirvana’s “Something in the way” while watching Gotham be Gotham.

Don’t forget to enjoy Paul Dano’s performance as The Riddler.