Reclusive Batman uncovers dark secrets

Much like its title character, this film practically lives in darkness

Two years into his nocturnal war on crime, Bruce Wayne’s alter ego, Batman (Robert Pattinson), is summoned to a crime scene. The Mayor of Gotham has been murdered, and the killer has left an envelope addressed to The Batman.

Aided by police lieutenant Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and the mysterious Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Wayne follows the trail of clues and victims left by the Riddler (Paul Dano). In doing so, he uncovers a web of secrets running through the heart of Gotham’s political and criminal elite, leading him to question even his own family’s culpability for the actions of the killer.

In 2005, we were served Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (starring Christian Bale in the bat suit); in 2016, Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, (Ben Affleck) and now, in 2022, we have Matt Reeves’ spartanly titled, The Batman. So, what exactly sets this entry apart?

Batman has been known as the world’s greatest detective for nearly 70 years, so it’s great to get a filmmaker who wants to focus on that aspect.

The film is very much a noir detective story at its core. If you’re after colour and camp from your Batman, this is not the film for you. Much like its title character, this film practically lives in darkness, and when Reeves does allow colour to spill into the frame, he doesn’t hold back, creating shots that personally, I could stare at for hours.

Reeves takes into account that the story of Bruce Wayne has garnered its own corner in the cultural zeitgeist. There is no scene of Wayne’s parents getting gunned down in an alleyway, there is no journey to Tibet to train with ninjas.

This film begins with the bat suit complete, Wayne is just working out what it means for Gotham.

On that note, instead of a playboy philanthropist, Pattinson’s Wayne is a Kurt Cobain-esque recluse, spending his nights prowling the streets, and his days hidden away in his Gothic penthouse (as opposed to a mansion far outside the city he seeks to save).

Sure, these changes are small, but for someone who has seen Batman be a focal point of five films since 2005, they were nice to see, and they make the three-hour runtime go down a bit easier. Oh, did I not mention that? Although three hours long, the runtime is well deserved.

It’s also worth noting this is the first theatrically released Batman film to receive an R-13 rating. Not exactly material for a family outing.

The only point I would hold against the film, is the small amount of screentime Andy Serkis’ Alfred gets. I can only hope there is a sequel on the horizon that will take some time to flesh out the relationship between these incarnations of Bruce and his trusted ally.

The Batman feels like a natural culmination of sorts. It’s as though Reeves has combined the best elements of Nolan’s “realistic”, and Snyder’s “artistic” takes on the Dark Knight, to provide us with what I consider to be one of the best takes on the character yet.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Nat Dolan is an Auckland actor and movie enthusiast