Matt Reeves, a newcomer to the superhero crowd, takes the archetypal character and molds him into a glowering, grungy mess of a militant with his family’s past monopolizing his mind.
We meet Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) – the Batman – two years into his caped crusade against the crime-riddled Gotham City, which he claims has turned him into a nocturnal animal.
Concurrently, a new villain is introduced to the metropolis, with evident influence from mystery-thrillers Zodiac and Se7en. The Riddler (Paul Dano) is a methodical genius that has the entire Gotham City Police Department caught in a chokehold, playing into his game of madness.
In Batman’s investigation, his ventures take him into the illuminated path of fellow vigilante Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), a mystifying, yet fascinating figure to his expedition. Kravitz’s character is a separate vengeful, powerful force to Gotham City, just much quieter in her exploitation of it. Still, Kravitz is glaring and messy, and it makes her the perfect Catwoman.
“The Batman” is piloted by its own noir-style ventures, highlighting the detective skills and operations of Wayne accompanied with his quick temper leading to violence. The city he protects is as corrupt as it has ever been before, powered by iniquitous mob bosses and their companions.
Pattinson’s Defender of Gotham, however, is systematic and structured in every step he takes, recording each of his daily interactions via camera contact lens, later rewinding the footage and journaling the aggregate. In each of his methodical endeavors, he establishes himself as the booming beast that stalks the night’s shadows: He’s Vengeance.
The Batman is far from a MCU-type superhero film, as it relies on genuine thrill and fear rather than a conglomerate of characters telling witty one-liners. The Batman is a stunning, gripping and psychologically-disturbing tale that gives Bruce Wayne a grounded detective story of protecting the only city he’s ever known.
I would give it a 4.5/5 stars.
