Was The Batman Worth The Hype?

The highly anticipated film The Batman directed by Matt Reeves starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz premiered Friday, March 4th after four years of not seeing Batman on screen. 

The movie begins with a tense wide shot of The Riddler, the antagonist of the film, stalking a rising political figure who we later find out is corrupt. Immediately during the first ten minutes of the film we can see just how much attention to detail was taken into every shot with scenes like The Riddler’s glasses glowing, even though it is just the reflection of the television.

After being introduced to the Riddler, we get introduced to Batman, who is into his sophomore year of his new duty. Batman begins to do a voice-over while we see a multitude of crimes being showcased. Then, after the crimes are committed, the criminals see the Bat-signal up in the sky and realize they have a chance of meeting Batman. This scene is so important because we, as an audience, get a glimpse of the fear Batman has instilled in Gotham’s criminals. Then, after fighting a whole gang we hear Batman replacing the famous “I’m Batman” line with “I’m Vengeance.”

Pattinson plays Batman completely differently than the way Christian Bale did. We no longer see the billionaire orphan who buys restaurants for fun and has a social life. We instead see a man who is still struggling with the trauma of losing both his parents to which has made him completely dedicate his life to the “nocturnal animal” he believes he is. Personally, I believe the new Batman is definitely the better. Pattinson plays such a convincing role of someone who has actually gone through real trauma. 

I’ve heard some people give the movie criticism for the duration. However, I think the movie lasting nearly 3 hours was completely justified. There were next to no scenes in which one could consider it “dull” or “unnecessary” and all scenes stuck to the story.

What makes a good movie turn into a great movie is just how convincing it is. Matt Reeves along with the cinematographer Greig Fraser did just that. They made Gotham feel like a city that’s lost its way with rain pouring almost non-stop and no sun throughout the entire film. Gotham feels like a town where a vigilante would be running the show.

Talking about cinematography, some of the shots in the film are award-winning scenes. With the car chase featuring Batman and the penguin where Batman comes out of the fire untouched to Batman guiding the people of Gotham with a red torch, the scenes in this film were truly masterpieces.

Overall, the great casting, incredible cinematography and overall feeling of the film. The Batman is certainly one of the best films that have come out in the last 10 years. With that being said, it would be a tragedy to give it anything less than a 9 out of 10.