Matt Reeves is the first director to truly understand Batman.
The Batman is finally here after being pushed back due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. If you still do not have any excitement for this move, can you call yourself a Batman fan? I, for one, have been a huge Batman fan ever since I could remember. I wish I still had my versatile Batman pajama with the footsies that I would wear pretty much 24-7, and you can thank Batman The Animated Series for my obsession with the Dark Knight.
Synopsis
When a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues, Batman ventures into Gotham City’s underworld. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.
The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. Being a year-two story, we see a confident and brutal Batman figuring out his proper place in Gotham. Pattinson looks excellent in the suit, which is more fundamental than we have seen before, but it is very tactical and protective, still allowing for swift movements during fights. His performance as a young Bruce Wayne and 2nd-year as the world’s greatest detective is balanced harmonically as the movie shows him changing and growing right in front of your eyes. The focus and emphasis on his detective skills have not been seen before until now.
Director Matt Reeves dives deep into the psyche of the dark knight. He delivered a masterful noir detective story that was point-of-view-driven. Reeves gave us what Christopher Nolan could not. The movie sits at 3 hours and brilliantly uses every minute to develop all the main heroes and villains. Even with a PG-13 rating, The Batman is raw, brutal, creepy, and at times shocking.
Starring alongside Pattinson is a high talent pool of actors.
Zoë Kravitz’s performance as Selina Kyle/Catwoman is sultry, intelligent, strong, and fearless. The Cat and the Bat have strong chemistry and magnetism. Paul Dano as Riddler is terrifying, and this grounded approach to the maniac killer that loves his riddles was mesmerizing. In addition, there are tons of fun callbacks to the previous incarnations of the iconic Batman Rogue. Jeffrey Wright brings an uncompromising and capable James Gordon to the film that teams up with Batman himself on multiple occasions, which we have not seen before on the big screen.
John Turturro as Carmine Falcone was a casting decision that originally made many scratches their heads. Still, Turturro masterfully plays the powerful and dangerous mob boss that is the center of Gotham, proving himself as a versatile actor. Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, aka Penguin, is just as good as we have seen previously portrayed in the likes of Robin Lord Taylor from the GOTHAM series and Danny Devito in 1992’s Batman Returns. However, the makeup of Farrell is unbelievable and makes him completely unrecognizable. In addition, Farrell’s version is a great in-between hybrid that is a solider of Falcone and is on the rise in his own right.
Finally, Andy Serkis as Alfred fits the mold of the iconic butler, as we have seen many times. In this movie, his relationship with Bruce is already fractured. However, he still manages to be his mentor and showcase his high-level intelligence when cracking the Riddler’s cipher.
Verdict
I give The Batman my first ever 5 out of 5 Stars! It is a love letter to the iconic caped crusader that humanizes him more than we have ever seen before on the big screen. The Batman will hit theaters on March 4th.
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Sean Tajipour
Sean Tajipour is the Founder and Editor of Nerdtropolis. He is a member of the Critics Choice Association. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram @Seantaj.