Released in March of 2022 “The Batman” is one of the biggest movie events of 2022. Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Collin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, and Andy Serkis. This film yet again brings us a new Batman and new takes on villains such as Cat Woman, Penguin and Carmine Falcone (Played by John Turturro).
“The Batman” starts out unlike any of the other films. We are not getting a new origin story for Bruce Wayne. We do not have to watch his parents die in the street again. We open with an unknown person stalking a family across from their home. He is set up on the roof watching them and capturing the acts of their everyday life. After we watch this scene for a few moments we cut away. We then jump into narration by Batman. He is telling his story and provides a setting of when the film takes place. This is a year 2 story of the dark knight. This is one of the best takes on Batman’s psyche and how he has taken up this mantle of Batman and is using it as vengeance through the city of Gotham. This really sets the tone for the story.
Batman working in his second year has really started to strike fear into the criminals of Gotham. They see his symbol in the sky which is new, and they know too not be out. They know that he is coming for them and that really pushes that dark tone. During the opening segments Batman is called to a crime scene where he has been left evidence with his name on it. Commissioner Gordon walks in with him into the scene and helps him move past all the officers. Of course, they are bringing Batman in for two reasons at this point. One because the evidence was left to him. The other because at this point Gordon knows he is a great detective in his own right and could provide a different point of view on what was happening. Gordon and Batman worked together to solve the first piece of a puzzle left by a murderer which led them both down a path that made this movie so much more interesting as a Batman film. I won’t be spoiling the entire story more so discussing how the characters worked with one another and how the actors impacted the roles and it worked with the film.
First the leading man Robert Pattinson. I will say at first, I had little hope for this film. I mean I have watched a lot of his movies, but I just didn’t know if he would fit the role. He is tall and thin, not really who you would pick to play Batman, even a young Batman. He also had a lot against him with not wanting to change his body up that much to bulk up for the role. As a comic book fan, we all know that Batman is in peak human condition. However, Pattinsons surprised me! The role of course was written perfectly, and Pattinson nailed it. His portrayal of a young Bruce Wayne who really was lost in his identity of Batman was about perfect. Again, this speaks back to the fact that it took Bruce a while to realize that Bruce Wayne was the mask and Batman was who he truly is. He has not figured that out at this point so being “emo” as they say and just distant and distracted. Bruce did not really care about anything but doing what he needed to for the city. Batman and vengeance were really his focus. This was done very well in the film. The one other thing about the writing and character was the detective work that was on the forefront of this film.
Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon was another shocker from the film. His chemistry on screen with the Batman character and the way that he was portrayed was just as good if not better as Gary Oldman from the Nolan trilogy. Oldman is the main comparison when it comes to Gordon because his portrayal was spot on. Wright’s is just as good, and we have a chance to see it get better. It reminded me a lot of the relationship the two characters have from the Arkham universe video games. Hopefully, they keep capturing that if there is a sequel and in the rumored spinoffs on HBO Max.
Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle was great. She really was not Cat Woman yet, but this was more of a spin on her origin story. She was a server in the Iceberg Lounge yes, the Penguins club. She was also what you would call a cat burglar. She was skilled. She should start going by Cat Woman in a sequel especially since her mission was successful in this movie. The character had good chemistry with Pattinson and the rest of the cast. It just worked and was not over the top. She was out for revenge for her mother and was working on getting to the person responsible for her death and through this story she lost a friend. Batman used her to get information and work his way inside the Iceberg Lounge without being noticed. The work between the two characters was one of the best parts of the stories.
The rest of the cast Collin Farrell (The Penguin), John Turturro (Carmine Falcone) and Paul Dano (The Riddler) really gave their all with these villains. The take for the Riddler was different. He was 100% insane. He wasn’t like the Riddler we have seen in other forms. I thought it was a great take on the character. John Turturro is a live action, Carmine Falcone who is behind a lot of what’s going on in this story. He is a crime boss, the crime boss now that the Maroni boss has been sent to prison for his drug dealing. The best part of the 3 villains in this film is Collin Farrell as Penguin. His version of Penguin is just a businessman who has implanted himself into taking over as everyone around his goes to prison. The Iceberg Lounge is where most of the business is taking place and as these crime bosses go away Penguin takes their territory. Is this the same Penguin that we are used to seeing? No, he goes by Oz and as far as anyone is concerned is just an owner of the club and that is really it.
As the story ends Bruce can really see what is happening. He knows that The Riddler is coming after him. It was the final piece of a puzzle to take Gotham and the heir to the Wayne Fortune down. The sins of the father as they call it. While it didn’t quite work out with taking Bruce Wayne down. Riddler was successful in his attack against Gotham. The final act of the film saw Pattinsons Batman fighting Riddler’s team and working to save the city while water poured in from all around. He fought and worked and saved the day but through the process he realized one thing. That vengeance shouldn’t be his goal, that the city of Gotham needed someone to look up to and he could be that symbol of hope.
“The Batman” provided us with a look at the Batman that we really have not seen. It was dark and gritty and a detective Noir type story. We got to see Bruce Wayne/Batman grow. We were able to see Penguin in a way we hadn’t seen outside of the video games. The Riddler was a different take and was an enjoyable one. I just can’t say enough about this film. They really gave us that story that shows how good of a detective Batman can be. How dark his world is, and how Bruce Wayne still has room to grow to become the playboy that we know. We have a world now to build on. A young Batman, young villains and story lines that can really lead to something great. I hope this gets to continue and Reeves and Pattinson can really play this out to be an amazing universe and a separate part of the DC extended Universe of films.
This movie is easily a 10/10 it had everything I wanted and even though it’s right at 3 hours long it never stopped providing a story. Please guys go check it out and let’s hope that this universe gets built right!
