The Batman proves Warner Bros’ third law: for every divisive reboot of the Caped Crusader, there is an oppositional masterpiece waiting to be made. 

Scaling down beautifully from the silly operatics of the DCEU, Matt Reeves has crafted a movie which stands cape-to-cape with The Dark Knight, perhaps even surpassing it as a forensic study of Gotham’s most famous protector. Here, we descend from the heavens and return to the hellish underbelly of the streets – somewhere Batman has always been best suited.  

This version of the Bat balances the cerebral with serial brawling, leaning heavily into noir to deliver a gripping, grim mystery where ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ skills are every bit as important as pointy cowls. The film’s opening twenty minutes are a confident, thrilling mission statement of intent, setting a tone which is maintained throughout a backside challenging (yet justifiable) runtime.

Robert Pattinson breaks decisively away from Batman’s recent incarnations made famous (and infamous) by Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, while retaining the angst and molten rage felt by each respectively. When the dust settles, his take on the billionaire/vigilante dichotomy may be best compared to Michael Keaton’s more oddball outing – yet even that feels reductive.

Instead, what has been delivered here, across the board, is excitingly new and remarkably different from what has come before. In nearly all of his previous cinematic adventures, Batman has played second fiddle to his more flamboyant rogues’ gallery. This regeneration, however, may just be the first of the character’s movies to finally do the Dark Knight himself true justice – as well as pushing much further than we have come to expect from the spandexed genre.

Rather than being another cough from that endlessly hacking franchise photocopier, The Batman has been made with the heroic trinity of care, attention, and vengeance. 

RATING: 5/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Peter Craig, Matt Reeves 

SYNOPSIS: When the Riddler, a sadistic serial killer, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement.