The long awaited “The Batman” directed by Matt Reeves finally released earlier this month. With over a year of anticipation from its original release date, audience members ask if it’s worth the hype?
Starring Robert Pattinson as the billionaire Bruce Wayne, the film details a sadistic killer known as The Riddler who leaves behind a trail of riddles and clues in Gotham City. As the evidence and darkness increases in the city, Batman must unmask the culprit and bring justice to the corruption.
Pattinson’s role as The Batman was nothing short of phenomenal despite the original controversy for this cast. Reeves made sure Pattinson was the focal point in all of the shots giving the character a sense of intimidation. The once notorious playboy Bruce Wayne is now seen as a very serious, wise, and focused character through Pattisons portrayal. Or, as the internet has noted a very ‘emo’ Bruce Wayne.
Other important characters include Cat Woman played by Zoe Kravitz who is one of the better interpretations of Cat Woman that has been seen on screen. Kravitz and Pattinson had great chemistry although it felt forced at times, but overall the dynamics between their characters balanced out well. Both had eye-catching suits that fans will surely appreciate.
The main villain, The Riddler, played by Paul Dano, comes off as a very sadistic terrorist wannabe. Dano did a good job with the character as it felt like a fresh modern take from the original colorful, campy, Jim Carrey portrayal in 1995.
With a well balanced cast, Reeves’ direction included lots of ground level or eye level shots giving the audience a feeling for being right there in the scene. The visual cinematography felt strong and clear along with the audio production that featured a Nirvana song adding to the dark, eerie, serious air of the film.
One of the downfalls of the film is that it is long. Three hours. However, the storyline moves with in-depth conversations, fight scenes, and the constant feeling of what’s next? The power and strength in the film is one to be noted as for me it ranks just below the unbeatable “The Dark Knight.”
There are many critiques one can give to a franchise such as The Batman but overall a great job and worth a ticket.
