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by Joshua Cox
Arts Section Editor
Out of the dark passageway beneath the subway, a figure emerges. The sudden appearance startles a gang, rampant on a crime spree, but only for a moment. A member approaches the lone vigilante. “What are you supposed to be?” The Batman replies: “I’m vengeance.”
“The Batman,” an exciting new addition to the DC universe, brought up mixed feelings for audiences. On one hand, why on earth did we need another film documenting the adventures of The Caped Crusader? But, on the other hand, this movie was exactly what we didn’t know that we wanted.
Thrilling and enticing, “The Batman” always keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. No other movie about the Dark Knight can rival those of Christopher Nolan, so director Matt Reeves didn’t try. Instead, he gave us something different, something darker and new.
While watching, I couldn’t escape the feeling I was watching a true crime film with Batman (Robert Pattinson). Grisly murders on screen, combined with a fantastic performance from the villain, the Riddler (Paul Dano), creates a really dark detective film. Constant puzzles and riddles always kept me engaged, making me want to know more. And, with the length of the film being about three hours, “The Batman” is able to go into depth about the entire mysterious plot.
In the greatest Batman movies, the Dark Knight trilogy, most of the movies are made up of action and fight scenes. In “The Batman” we’re given a little less action, but a lot more gritty, down-in-the-dirt detective work. This does well to pull the viewer into the film and make you try to figure out what will happen next.
A host of other characters bring the film to life, including Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Jeffery Wright as James Gordon, and Andy Serkis as Alfred. They all do brilliantly, but there is kind of a problem with the main character.
First off, Robert Pattinson is not Bruce Wayne. He does well as the vigilante, but you can’t tell the difference between Bruce and Batman. That isn’t ideal, he’s attempting not to reveal his identity. Pattinson also looks like an Emo/vampire with his cowl removed, which worked for “Twilight,” but it seems like he might be trying to exemplify the wrong kind of bat in this movie.
Besides some issues with the characters, some things in the plot seemed forced. Even with the detective work, nothing really seems to come out of it. There are many times during the movie where major plot twists are just handed to our heroes, rather than them figuring it out themselves. And, even with the brilliant portrayal of the main adversary, the Riddler seems to be too good. It never shows how he does anything, but the things he does are extremely meticulous and far-fetched.
Overall though, “The Batman” was a fantastic movie, and one that I would recommend to anyone. Although it’s not as good as “The Dark Knight,” it certainly turned out better than I expected, even with the issues with the setup of the plot.
