The Batman (Reeves) 2022

While I never had a true problem with Ben Affleck’s version of Batman, I can see why many people claimed Pattison as the best Batman in a long time. However, I don’t share the feelings of the masses that adore this film above all others in the franchise.
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It’s a good film, but it’s not a great film. Yes, it’s dark and brooding, just like it’s title character, but in that darkness, I get the feeling of being one dimensional. There are new takes on old characters that we all love, but that’s just the problem. It’s another version of the same stories we’ve been told with the same characters for years, decades even.

Don’t get me wrong, the performances in this film are top notch. Pattinson inhabits The Batman with ease, but seems to struggle with Bruce. Granted, this is not the playboy Bruce we’re used to seeing from Christian Bale or Val Kilmer, but at least Bale was able to play both playboy Bruce and broken Bruce. Zoë Kravitz is the best of the film for my money as Selina Kyle and Catwoman. She is a less polished version of the character than we got from Michelle Pfeiffer or Anne Hathaway and she is clearly a broken character.

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Jeffrey Wright was a decent Gordon, but I still found myself comparing him to Gary Oldman’s version. I was lukewarm on Paul Dano as The Riddler, mainly because of his lack of screen time, and felt that Andy Serkis as Alfred and Colin Farrell as Penguin were equally lacking in screen time although Farrell’s makeup was stunning and I hope someone at least gets an Oscar nomination for their work to make him nearly unrecognizable.

When it comes to the plot, there was so much there as to be too much. I understand that it was a crime film at its core, but there was too much dancing around the story for my taste. That is The Riddler’s way of going about things, but it really felt like The Riddler was just sitting as a placeholder in this film, until the completely predictable Joker reveal near the end.

Again, my favorite plot points centered not around the battle of wits between Batman and The Riddler from afar, but the internal conflict of Kyle, first trying to find her missing friend, and then seeking revenge on her estranged father, Carmine Falcone. I wonder if the film would have been an even more effective crime drama if that had been the central point to be made.

At nearly three hours of running time, The Batman is too long and too dark (both visually and emotionally) for me to enjoy it as many do. I understand the appeal for some segment of the audience, but hope that the expected sequel takes a slightly different turn.

6 out of 10