[Review] The Batman (9.5/10)

 

Title - The Batman
Production - Warner Bros. Pictures, 6th & Idaho Productions, DC Comics
Starring - Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Gil Perez-Abraham, Jayme Lawson
Writer - Matt Reeves, Peter Craig
Director - Matt Reeves
Release - 4 March 2022

Truth is, this may not have been anywhere being a perfect movie, but it was a very near perfect Batman movie.

The vision Matt Reeves had for this iteration jumped out of the screen like they were from the comics and Arkham video game series. And what's more, it had elements horror like that of James Wan's Saw, as well as David Fincher's thriller Se7en. This is what my version of Batman would be. 

The first half of the movie we saw Batman being a detective, answering riddles from Paul Dano, who brought his Riddler to new heights from a somewhat similar take of his other character from Prisoners by Denis Villeneuve.

I fell in love with this film after 10 minutes in, where Batman appeared as fear incarnate to wrongdoers in Gotham. And the love just grew from there.

There were so many great scenes throughout. The GCPD escape that ended with gliding down from the roof to a very imperfect landing because Batman was still new at this. The car chase scene with a brilliant Penguin played by Colin Farrell, and ended in a terrifying Batmobile jumping out of an explosion. And speaking of Batmobile, it's almost a character of its own; almost like Ghost Rider's car returning from hell looking for its next victim. 

And every actor was cast perfectly. From Jeffrey Wright to John Turturro, even a tiny role of a police officer that's always with Gordon played by Gil Perez-Abraham left an impression. Even the side character of the city's mayor came with an impactful performance from Jayme Lawson. This movie was filled with Best Supporting Actor potential; Wright, Dano, Farrell, Turturro, even Peter Sarsgaard was memorable in his small role.

Was the movie too long? Possibly. And my only other gripe was that Batman became hope for the people too quickly. Maybe through the second movie, not by the end of the first; like in the Man Of Steel where Superman had to kill in the end. A buildup may have served both movies better, but perhaps Reeves has something else planned already for the sequel.

And also I have a worry for said sequel, that is if Reeves is able to keep the purity of the intensity on the same level, if not higher.