The Batman, a neo-noir film based on the beloved Caped Crusader directed by Matt Reeves, has been one of the biggest box office hits of 2022, earning over $600 million internationally. 

The film provides a fresh take on the character of Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, by allowing the audience to see Batman in action during the early years of his crime fighting reign. In Batman’s second year as the vigilante, he is still developing and learning how to be Batman. 

One thing I loved about the film is that Matt Reeves put a ton of emphasis on the detective side of Batman, allowing him to solve crimes and deduce coded messages in order to see the bigger scheme being plotted. People often forget that a name Batman has donned is The World’s Greatest Detective, and I love that Matt Reeves wanted to give people an opportunity to see Batman’s brain at work, rather than more of his fists.   

Robert Pattinson took an edgier, brutal, more gothic approach to the character of Batman, which hasn’t really been portrayed before, and it was quite exciting to watch. The audience is provided with an in-depth look into the mind of Batman and how he thinks, operates, and behaves. There is a psychological component to this Batman that has never been explored before on the big screen and it is something so interesting and complex to delve into. 

In the film, Bruce Wayne is not the billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist everyone knows and loves. He is a loner and introvert who truly believes he is The Batman, and that Bruce Wayne is just a mask he wears for the public. Bruce Wayne is almost portrayed as an insane person as he only wants to be the crime fighter, and nothing more. While his intentions are good, his main mission of vengeance and striking fear into the criminals of Gotham City becomes a never-ending cycle, allowing for the city to stay corrupt and riddled with crime. 

The movie allows the audience to embark on a journey with Batman that breaks him down and challenges his own beliefs to become something more in order to bring hope to the city of Gotham and transform into the hero everyone knows and loves.

The main antagonist of this movie, The Riddler, played by Paul Dano is excellently portrayed and brings a great sense of brilliance, creepiness, and insanity to the character. The film does a great job at showing the strategic mind of The Riddler, challenging Batman’s smarts and exploiting all of the corruption that has filled the streets of Gotham. 

Colin Farrell does a beautiful job at playing the massive crime lord Oswald Cobblepot, otherwise known as The Penguin. 

The stunning Zoe Kravitz brings out the sneaky and independent-minded personality of Catwoman extremely well. Her chemistry with Robert Pattinson is on full display throughout the entirety of the film.

John Turturro, who plays the ultimate crime boss Carmine Falcone, brings a menacing and frightening side to the character that truly shows why he is so feared among everyone in Gotham. He shows why he runs the city.

Jefferey Wright plays a wonderful Commissioner James Gordon, who makes the audience feel he is one of the only characters in the film that Batman can actually trust.  

Furthermore, the cinematography of the film is extremely beautiful, clear, and satisfying as each scene seems to be pulled straight from a comic book. The monologues given by Batman at the beginning and end of the film allow it to feel like a live-action comic book. 

The film has an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and fans all over the world are seemingly enjoying this new take on The World’s Greatest Detective, including one of Riordan’s own, Oisin McClorey ’22. 

“Batman is one of the best movies that I have watched,” he said. “I love the different take on Batman that Matt Reeves takes. It shows the early years of Batman’s career as he is portrayed as more of a detective. The dark vibe makes it feel like you are experiencing the investigation alongside them. Overall, this was a great movie with great opportunity for expansion in the future.” 

The film is being considered as possibly the best Batman film of all time and is currently streaming on HBO Max and I fully recommend watching it.