The Batman (2022) Review

"The Bat and the Cat. It has a nice ring,"

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

As someone who never really enjoyed The Dark Knight trilogy, I was excited to see if Matt Reeves' The Batman would bring a new view of the character to me, and if it would change my pre-existing and, as I'm now ashamed to say, slightly negative view of the masked vigilante. The simple answer: it did.

The Batman brings a new perspective to the title character by exploring the change in both his life as Batman, and his life as Bruce Wayne. Robert Pattinson's portrayal has to be one of my favourite versions of Batman in film, as he carries the character with a sinister sort of tone de plaa good guy. Patti's dedication to his role is shown in each scene and each interaction. I was really taken in by how he shows a clear separation of the person from the mask - the way Bruce Wayne is shown to be confined and separate from the ordinary society around him versus the way Batman works throughout the night to save this very same society, therefore showing how his crime-fighting alter ego becomes more important to him than upholding his family name. It shows how the death of Bruce Wayne's parents affected him, and Pattinson creates this grief-stricken character through the simplest things, such as his body language and facial expressions.

Pattinson's co-stars reflect this commitment to the role given. Zoe Kravitz, who plays Catwoman a.k.a Selina Kyle, steals the shot in even scene she is in. She works with such elegancy while still keeping the same threatening aura that made the Catwoman such a powerful and compelling character. The relationship between these two characters develops throughout the movie up until the end where Selina asks Batman to leave town with her, who refuses, and the two create such a chemistry within the movie that demands the undivided attention of the audience. And as if Zoe's performance could not create a better character, Jaqueline Durran, the costume designer, creates the perfect outfits for each appearance of Catwoman that enhance each scene she features in.

Being someone who watches a lot of movies in my free-time, I tend to focus on how much I enjoy the fight scenes as part of my overall enjoyment, especially when it comes to superhero movies (if the fight scene doesn't draw your attention, what's the point in them?) and, of course, if you're watching a movie centred around Batman you're going to want some really good fight scenes. One of the first scenes in The Batman shows a group of criminals on the subway who target a man leaving the train, and as they begin their attack they are suddenly prevented to do so by Batman, who takes on this group all by himself. This initial fight scene sets up the movie for even more intense action-packed sequences such as this one, and it does not disappoint through both scenes of the Riddler targeting those who have corrupted Gotham and through every scene where Batman is shown in combat.

Touching on the Riddler, whose portrayal by Paul Dano is done perfectly, the villain of this movie is one of the things that have made it most enjoyable. Although there have been other villains used within Batman movies, such as Bane in The Dark Knight trilogy (but as stated above, I didn't enjoy those movies all that much) it has been refreshing and interesting to see a villain other than the Joker being used especially considering the movie centring around the laughing villain back in 2019. That being said, it was fun to see the Joker appear at the end of the movie even for a minute, who was unexpectedly played by Barry Keoghan in a very amusing way.

Lastly, the movie fulfilled all my requirements (which isn't a lot, as movies are easily enjoyable to me) to be a good movie through both the use of the sets and the music. The sets showed a dark Gotham City, with the use of constant rain to show the influence of the crime and the corrupt government surrounding their city. Additionally, the score which was created by Michael Giacchino further conveyed the dark and sinister tone surrounding the movie and really helped me to connect with the city as it begins to rot from the inside out.

The movie as a whole has increased my liking of Batman's character, and is definitely worth watching. So if The Batman (2022) is in the cinemas near you, you'll regret not seeing it on the big screen.