‘The Batman' (2022) Review: Reeves' Batman Shatters All Expectations

Equip with voice-over narration and a detective-like, film noir-style drama, The Batman shatters all expectations fans could have had based on what Warner Bros. promised it would be.

★★★★½

PG-13 - Action, Crime (175 minutes)

dir. Matt Reeves

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano

“When the Riddler, a sadistic serial killer, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement.”

— Official Synopsis

When the casting was first announced for Matt Reeves’ depiction of the Caped Crusader, I couldn’t even comprehend just how enjoyable an ensemble of that caliber would be in a grittier, ultra-dramatized Batman, nonetheless a mainstream blockbuster. Now, a few months later, it’s nearly impossible to think how this could have worked any other way. Equip with voiceover narration and a detective-like, film noir-style drama, The Batman shatters all expectations that fans could have had based on what it was promised to be.

For casual fans of the character, The Batman fires on all the major plot points one would expect for a Batman film: including a severely broken individual who’s toeing the line between hero and vigilante. We’ve got a long way to go in terms of discovering how Batman learns to balance his public persona of Bruce Wayne. So for people just now discovering this comic book character, it’ll be easier to follow without a complete understanding of the past iterations. You don’t need to see any other Batman film or read any of the comics to understand The Batman. Its story stands on its own, and acts as a starting point for breaking down the psyche of both Gotham City and it’s most popular vigilante.

One of the easiest ways that Reeves was able to achieve a near-perfect balance between the intersection of the title character and his environment is through Gotham City’s residents. People are genuinely frightened at the idea of Batman lurking in the shadows of narrow, underlit alleyways. Near the beginning of the film, Batman foils an assault attempt on an innocent bystander in the subway. It’s evident that not all the perpetrators are aware of who this masked madman is. And clearly neither does the victim of the assault— as he pleads with Batman not to hurt him. Between the residents, and the policemen who consider him a freak, Batman exists in the early stages of becoming more than a vigilante; at this point, he’s two years into his Gotham City corruption project. Yet, people are still reluctant for his help.

Reeves and co. understand that Gotham breathes as a character in-and-of itself. With sprawling gothic architecture, streets that are consistently flooded with precipitation, and days that feel shorter than plausible, The Batmans’s Gotham feels like the most realized of any live-action iteration. Additionally, Batman’s allies exist in a morally gray area (with Batman himself). Of course, that doesn’t excuse the corruption and crimes of any one character, but it also don’t entirely feel black-and-white all the time. Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), aka Catwoman, befriends Batman with much hesitation but their undeniable chemistry bring them together even when their morals differ. It’s the subtle tension between The Bat and The Cat, a push-and-pull dynamic, that really makes this work. Jeffrey Wright’s Lt. James Gordon has the most believable live-action relationship with Batman. The way Gordon defends his masked colleague, and the way that both characters are only able to trust each other, is explored in satisfying ways. It feels much akin to Holmes and Watson.

And where there’s a Batman, there are, of course, a thousand villains. Sure, he has a fair share of street-level criminals that compete for his attention but there are also quite a few big baddies, too. Here, The Penguin (Colin Farrell) and The Riddler (Paul Dano) serve as Batman’s main foes. The Riddler gets one of the most memorable introductions and Penguin has, perhaps, one of the best on-screen car chases in recent memory; exhilarating and muscular, much like the overall action and fight choreography in The Batman. Carmine Falcone (John Tuturro) is an important antagonist in Batman’s journey to learn the truth about his past. It feels like Batman gets to just be Batman in this film. With many antagonists, there’s little time to spend with Bruce Wayne here even when he’s challenged by Alfred (Andy Serkis) about his familial identity. Bruce Wayne practically doesn’t exist this go around.

That being said, Robert Pattinson commands the screen from start to finish. Part of what makes his presence so special isn’t that he broods like no other, but that the filmmakers understand how to capture him in relation to others. Between the scoffs, gasps, and wandering gazes, Pattinson is striking—a true force caught on film. Greig Fraser’s cinematography captures the bleak nature of Bruce’s life without having to idolize him. He also makes it clear that Gotham desperately needs Batman to help eradicate the corruption in the city’s government and police state through the fabric of realism. Michael Giacchino matches Pattinson’s energy as Batman with a score that both heightens the action spectacle and burns just slowly enough to inflict anxiety. This is a prime example of why we love blockbusters.

While the runtime will likely discourage people from a theatrical experience, rest assured that every frame builds upon the next—culminating in the ultimate beginning to Batman’s journey in a Matt Reeves universe. The Batman is a complete story on its own, without having to rely on a sequel-bait structure to give us full context of Batman’s arc. A rare achievement for a studio blockbuster these days. Still, there is a strong sense that this is just the beginning in a much larger, thematic story. I can’t help but restelessly await for what’s next in Pattinson’s run of Batman.

The Batman (2022) is now out in theatres.