Several films have been made about the origin of Batman in film and TV, so unless you are pre-teen, you already know how who the masked vigilante is and what he has done for the city of Gotham. Enter the new film The Batman that takes you into the world of Gotham, but in a way you’ve never seen before. I like the way director and co-writer Matt Reeves uses his characters in this one especially Cobblepot aka The Penguin and The Riddler making them very dark and dangerous. They are like rattlesnakes in this one ready to spring out at you and dig their fangs into the closest spot of your body if they can. The film is very incisive and blistering as Batman takes aim at his nemeses that are trying to take down the one man who can save the city.
The city of Gotham knows the dark knight vigilante (Robert Pattinson) real well as he has been protecting the weak for some time now. He is their hero, but not so much for the police who have been getting overly “protective” of the people to the point of discrediting Batman. Only Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) has been standing up for him and in some cases vouching as well, especially when he shows up at crime scenes.
One night the Mayor gets killed and a message is left for Batman at the scene. It is a riddle that puzzles both Gordon and his District Attorney (Peter Sarsgaard). But, Batman has the answer and it sets off a number of killings by the sadistic killer who left the note. Matt Reeves leads his audience into the thrilling chase with a number of riddles and even some clues that lead to persons within the law departments. Using a lot of special effects and fire power and hand to hand combat, the film gets very up in your face exciting.
As the Batman Robert Pattinson does a very good job of creating a very vengeful dark knight. He broods over the killings and gets very defiant when he cannot put his hands on The Riddler or determine the reasons why he is trying to bring the city to its knees. Still, in my memory are past actors who have taken on the role, but Pattinson has kept the character alive and well for future sequels to come.
Newcomer to the Dark City, Zoe Kravitz plays the “Cat Woman” who turns up to assist the Batman. Feisty and equal to the cause of justice, she is works with Batman in order to find out what happened to her best friend who has gone missing. I like Zoe who was the voice for the Lego Cat Woman, but even more so for her performance here and TV’s “Big Little Lies”.
The Batman has been rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material. I found the film to be more violent than the PG-13 rating and some of the scenes are extra grisly. Be sure to be cautious when bringing immature pre-teens to see the film. For Batman film fans I am giving this one 4 out of 5 stars.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Koeghan
Directed and co-written by: Matt Reeves
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material
Running Time: 2 hrs. 55 min.
Opening Date: March, 4, 2022
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Released in: Theaters
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
