“The Batman” was directed by Matt Reeves and was released in 2022. It stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, and Paul Dano.

It tells the story of Bruce Wayne, a well-known billionaire, masquerading as a dark enforcer of Gotham City called the Batman, striking fear into the criminals of the streets. After only two years of this, a deranged psychopath calling himself the Riddler, played by Dano, begins a murderous spree on the crooked politicians of Gotham City and sends cryptic messages to Batman.

With the help of detective James Gordon, played by Jeffrey Wright, they begin to solve the clues of the murder to put an end to the Riddler.

To start, this film establishes the world of Gotham perfectly. It is seen as a dreary and hopeless city which is reminiscent of the city seen in the film “Seven” from which “The Batman” takes great inspiration.

The cinematography does a fantastic job reflecting the hopelessness and fear of the people in Gotham through the visuals of the city.

This film separates itself from every other Batman movie in several aspects of the plot. This is not so much a grand superhero-oriented action film and instead is a mystery thriller that tells a more intimate while realistic story.

We are given Batman and Bruce Wayne in a way that we have never seen before in film. In this film, Bruce Wayne is not an outgoing, social man and instead is a recluse rarely ever seen from the people of Gotham.

Robert Pattinson is spectacular as Batman and tells so much with his facial expression rather than words.

This is also the first Batman film that delves deeply into Bruce Wayne’s detective skills when investigating crimes. This makes “The Batman” an exciting thriller with the Riddler and Batman constantly trying to outsmart each other to gain the upper hand.

Paul Dano gives a haunting performance as the Riddler taking great inspiration from real life serial killers, most notably the Zodiac Killer. For being in a mask for most of the movie, he marks himself as a terrifying, ruthless, and highly intelligent antagonist for Batman.

Zoë Kravitz is also fantastic as Catwoman, giving her own spin of the popular potential love interest for Batman.

The action and special effects are incredibly impressive with an intense car chase being a notable standout. With most of the film taking place at night, it helps the visual effects look much more realistic and grounded.

The soundtrack by Michael Giacchino is among the best of the Batman series adequately setting the tone of a corrupt and despaired world, with the band “Nirvana” being a considerable influence.

While being a longer movie than most superhero films, this film does not feel long due to its impressive script and the captivating, well established world of Gotham City.

“The Batman” is a refreshing, innovative look into the well-known story of Batman and provides a scarily realistic world to surround the caped crusader.

My overall rating is a 4 out of 5 stars.

Drew Coffey is a freshman television and video production major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].