After two delays dating back to June 25, 2021, fans finally got the new rendition of the caped crusader, “The Batman” on March 4. This version of The Dark Knight franchise stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne along with Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Paul Dano as the Riddler. What separates this version from the rest is that it does not completely go into Batman’s origins, but takes place two years after he first decided to take the mantle and has more of a detective noir persona than previous Batmans. Director Matt Reeves openly stated what direction he wanted to take the film in an interview with MovieMaker Magazine.

“I wanted to do a story in which the corruption of Gotham was one of the most important aspects of the story because Gotham is a sick place. Bruce is desperate to try and make a change,” Reeves said. “He’s still stuck, to be honest, emotionally stunted at being 10 years old, because that’s a trauma you don’t get past—witnessing your parents murder in this place.”

Timeline of Delays

The movie was announced to be in development in 2013 when Ben Affleck was cast as the next Batman and that this new trilogy would take place in the DC Cinematic Universe (DCEU) many years before Afleck’s Batman would have met Superman in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. Affleck was originally supposed to star, direct, write and produce but many factors took him out of the project that he explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“I had a really nadir experience around “Justice League” for a lot of different reasons,” Affleck said. “Not blaming anybody, there’s a lot of things that happened. But really what it was that I wasn’t happy. I didn’t like being there. I didn’t think it was interesting. And then some crappy things, awful things happened. But, that’s when I was like, I’m not going to do that anymore.”

The Acting

The performances were fantastic from everyone. I think it is safe to say that Robert Pattinson is the most comic-accurate representation of Batman there has ever been on the live-action screen with how terrifying his Batman truly is. From his opening narration to the ending of the movie, I could feel his presence to the point where I would get chills hearing his voice. Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano were also surprisingly great in the film. Kravitz had some great emotional moments throughout the film and overall played a bigger role in the story than I thought she would. Senior Shane Scott shares what he thought of Kravitz’s performance.

“Zoë Kravitz was truly masterful as Catwomen”, Scott said. “Her subplot is so intricately woven into the main plot of the film that it sometimes feels like it’s the one taking precedence within the plot.”

For me though, Paul Deno was the one who stole the show as Riddler. He might even be the most terrifying villain ever seen in a live-action Batman film. He has one simple goal throughout the film and that is for “No More Lies” otherwise explained to kill and expose the people in power who are responsible for what happened to him and corrupting Gotham City. He sends both Batman and James Gordan (Jeffrey Wright) on a goose chase with puzzles and riddles making him always one step ahead of our protagonist showing just how dangerous he is. He even throws us, as viewers, off into thinking what he wants us to think and is terrifyingly calculated.

Gotham City

This is easily the most accurate version of Gotham City in any Batman movie. The city, rather than being a big bright place like in the Dark Knight trilogy, is a depressing and dangerous place to live. It is shown early in the film how bad the city is with crime being at every corner to the point where it feels necessary for Batman to be needed. Corruption has completely covered this city and characters flat out tell Batman that it is beyond saving and that he should just give up. 

My One Problem

To my surprise, I only had one problem with this movie and it was the run time of the film. While it may have used its time very well and kept a good steady pace throughout the movie, two hours and fifty-six minutes was too long and I found myself wondering when the movie was going to end. 

Final Thoughts 

Overall, I would say that this was not only my favorite depiction of Batman but the best live-action Batman movie ever. The way Batman carries himself and how he figures out and solves the problem with nothing but his wit is what I would picture him doing in a comic book. “The Batman” is a dark and thrilling movie that I would recommend to anyone who likes a good detective noir or just a good movie in general.