The Batman (2022) SPOILER FREE Review: The Bat Flies Again
- Beanie White
- Mar 4, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 7, 2022
From the jump-scare, horror-reminiscent opening scene, to the subsequent dulcet tones of Kurt Cobain as he lulls us into this inescapably gritty version of Gotham, Matt Reeves’s The Batman (2022) knows exactly what mood it seeks to set… And by gosh does it do it well.
The city is teeming with injustice, the bat signal registers fear and terror in the hearts and minds of Gotham’s criminal hive, but when Batman (Robert Pattinson) is called to the scene of a riddlesome murder, he is pulled into a plot that threatens to uncover the secrets of the city and of his own past…
There is so much to enjoy about this vision of Batman, it pulls you into a vice-like grip and despite the 2hr 59min runtime the plot seems to shift and mutate naturally without dragging its heels. At its core it is a detective story, with the infamous Bat teaming up with Jeffrey Wright’s promising portrayal of James Gordon and Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman to uncover the filthy corruption at the heart of Gotham’s most trusted institutions. Paul Dano is (unsurprisingly) a scene stealer as The Riddler, his little bursts of unhinged behaviour and his “normal” outward appearance make it all the more chilling to see him in costume and to realise the full extent of his plan for Gotham. It is interesting to see him compare himself to Batman, a vigilante but in a wholly different and entirely more sinister way. There is a sort of unstable influencer aspect of his character which is very believable, and I think the film could have benefitted from more Riddler screen time, just to give him a little more time to instil true fear into our hearts.
Visually, the film is a masterpiece, there were scenes that kept the whole cinema gazing in open-mouthed awe at the true visual scale of this work. Particular mention must go to Penguin’s (an unrecognisable Colin Farrell) upside down POV as he sits in his flipped car watching Pattinson’s Caped Crusader stride unscathed from the depths of a fiery blaze like a literal bat out of hell. I dare you to watch that scene and listen to Michael Giacchino’s swelling and sinister Batman theme without a grim smile forming upon your lips or a spattering of goosebumps peppering the back of your neck. It is the cinematic experience at its absolute best and DEFINITELY a movie to be enjoyed on the big screen with a supersize popcorn warming your lap.
Now… Here we go, I’m going to talk about a certain Mr Robert Pattinson. I have been a long-time champion of his work - Good Time (2017) and The Lighthouse (2019) being two of my favourite Pattinson performances – but if you’ve seen this movie no one could accuse me of being biased when I say that I believe he can make this role his own. He embodies the horror of what Batman is, and the hope of what he could be to the people of Gotham in the future. The portrayal plays with the idea of a younger Bruce Wayne/Batman with a journey ahead of him to learn the importance of his identity as Gotham’s Dark Knight and to discover what lies beyond the acts of vengeance he wreaks across the city. His tone as Batman is more subtle than those that came before him, he delivers his lines with a quiet aggression, like something is teeming beneath the surface waiting to break free. His time as Bruce Wayne is a tad underdeveloped and his relationship with an underutilised Andy Serkis as Alfred must be given more room to breathe in the (surely inevitable DC, SURELY) sequels. In short, I am of the opinion that this is an overwhelmingly positive start and I very much look forward to discovering more about this iteration of Batman with Pattinson taking the lead.
Aside from a couple of quarrels about dialogue (a few lines made me cringe) and a desire for more character development/relationship exploration for Bruce Wayne, I cannot find a lot to fault with this long-awaited revival of the Batman franchise. I only hope that DC can finally bite the bullet and give us an extended run of Batman movies with committed casting and overarching stories.
Whether you’re a hardcore Batman fan or a newbie to the city of Gotham and its inhabitants, Matt Reeves’s movie is almost impossible to ignore. Believe my hype and let yourself be swept up in this deep, dark, and definitive rendition of one of the world’s most famous characters. The Bat flies again, this time can we keep him?
Are you watching The Batman this weekend? Let us know what you make of it in the comments below!
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