Disclaimer: This review is about to be conducted by someone who 1) has read zero DC comics, 2) is a huge Marvel fan, 3) has only seen the Christian Bale Batman movies (because Christian Bale) and 4) only watched “The Batman” to see Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz look good.

Background

My past experience with Robert Pattinson’s acting consists of the Twilight Saga and his unfortunate demise in “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire”. “The Batman” is my favorite Pattinson film yet.

Like Spiderman, there have been a multitude of Batman franchises, most notably with Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and the recent Justice League movies with Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne. Robert Pattinson’s Batman will rekindle a new era of DC films.

For background, Bruce Wayne is a recluse billionaire who hides in the shadows of Gotham City despite his family’s philanthropic history. Wayne was orphaned as a child, and has spent his life sulking with his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. 

Synopsis

The first thing that sets “The Batman” apart from other films is the fact that it is not an origin story–at the start of the movie, Bruce Wayne is actively bringing justice to the streets of Gotham. The city, as always, is a complete disaster: crime-ridden, politically unstable and oh yeah, there’s a guy walking around in a bat costume beating people up.

 Wayne goes around the city serving justice to lowlifes with his good-cop partner, James Gordon, played by Jeffrey Wright. The main villain of the movie was The Riddler, a serial killer who murders corrupt Gotham officials like the mayor, the DA and the commisoner. I definitely would not recommend this movie to younger audiences, as The Riddler is a psychotic manipulator who’s methods of killing are really dark and torturous.

Batman chases The Riddler while also discovering the secrets and sins of his family’s past. He meets Selina Kyle (Catwoman), played by Zoë Kravitz, who helps him in his crime-busting ventures and shows him another perspective on the definition of justice. 

Analysis

Overall, the plot of the movie was rich and exciting. Just when you thought things were getting slow, something absolutely wild and unexpected happened (like the funeral-car crash-hostage situation–what WAS that?) Even though the film is a lengthy 2 hours and 56 minutes, I was far too invested to go to the bathroom.

I’d also like to comment on the cinematography aspect of the film. I enjoyed the beautifully aesthetic clips of the Batman and Catwoman silhouettes on a roof during the sunset, the fiery high-speed car chases and the close-ups of Bruce Wayne’s mournful frame. The theme song is also pretty epic–especially when it’s timed with Batman’s footsteps.

The best part of “The Batman” is that it is unlike any other superhero movie that I’ve ever seen; in fact, that’s because it’s not a superhero movie. “The Batman” emphasizes the fact that Bruce Wayne is not a hero at all, but a man driven by his own corrupted sense of justice. Throughout the movie, Wayne narrates that his goals are to keep his family’s legacy alive by protecting the people of Gotham, but in reality, Wayne only wishes to protect himself from the darkness of his own mind.

Robert Pattinson, ever the awkward character, played an excellent Bruce Wayne and Kravitz was a great supporting role. This movie really dove into the concept of justice, and how it is defined differently by the individual.

I went into this movie with negligible expectations and emerged from the theater as a fan of Batman. I look forward to seeing the next movie, which will hopefully star the most famous Batman villain of all time, The Joker.