REVIEW: "The Batman"--A Dark and Immersive Experience

I remember, when the first trailer for director Matt Reeves' latest take on Batman premiered at San Diego Comic Con in 2020, reportedly only 15-25 percent of the movie was filmed. Even so, what we saw in that trailer was seriously impressive, especially when the eponymous character sucker-punched a spray-faced criminal to a pulp in the rain before declaring, "I'm vengeance." 

Even more than the question of whether this new rendition of Bob Kane and Bill Finger's ever-popular creation would be any good--ditto Robert Pattinson's portrayal of a younger Bruce Wayne--I was more curious about the film's 3-hour runtime. True, Christopher Nolan's previous Dark Knight films each came close to that length (with 2012's Rises hitting exactly 165 minutes), but would three hours be too much for a story set one year into Bruce's dark crusade?

Taking a few inspirations from the graphic novels, "Batman: Year One" and "The Long Halloween," The Batman makes the smart choice in avoiding the clichéd origin story beats (e.g., parents murdered when he was a child, his training with the League of Shadows) and getting right into the action and drama. And the film's gritty and brooding aesthetic is all the more original and bold for it. I was immediately sold by Wayne's diary voiceovers, which, more than any other interpretation (save for, perhaps, the animated T.V. series from the 1990s), really tap into Batman's role as "the world's greatest detective". 

Jeffrey Wright and Robert Pattinson in The Batman

I've said it before: I'm still a huge fan of Tim Burton's 1989 film (can't wait to see Keaton again in The Flash and Batgirl later this year), while Nolan's trilogy has my respect and the animated series remains a gold standard. What helps make this latest iteration so distinct is how it takes its time with its characters, and how their respective dynamics really carry the story. And you couldn't go wrong with a more stellar cast. Pattinson, again, really sells it as both Wayne and the Caped Crusader, with equal parts emotion and brute, and an awesome suit, voice, and vehicles to spare (wait until you see the Batmobile). Zoë Kravitz kills it as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman. Jeffrey Wright is a great Jim Gordon, ditto Andy Serkis's Alfred. Paul Dano is creepy as a more sadistic and twisted version of the Riddler. And Colin Farrell is completely unrecognizable and believable as the Penguin (somebody give the makeup effects artists Oscars already). 

More discerning families, on the other hand, should know that this dark variation is filled with hard-hitting violence, elements of horror and disturbing imagery that feel like something out of a David Fincher movie (including characters who are victims of child abuse and/or trauma), and more language issues than the script really needed. Still, it does have worthwhile messages of persistence even in the face of hopelessness, the difference between vengeance and justice, and the visual symbolism of masks, covered and uncovered. Like that first trailer, it may leave a different effect in more ways than one.