Dark, gritty, and brutal. The Batman certainly lives up to the expectations of both its predecessors and the modern movie-going audience. A two hour and fifty-nine minute runtime chronicles the most recent of the Dark Knight's eternal war on crime in the rancid city of Gotham, and boy, does it sell. A story of embedded crime-lords, corrupt city officials, and a crazed terrorist intent on wiping the slate clean through blood and death makes this narrative of the Bat both modern, yet retain the classical feeling of darkness and blight that is so often associated with the Caped Crusader. Robert Pattinson's Batman truly shines on its own here. From tantalizing action sequences with stunning visual and sound effects to twists that'll make your head spin, here's my take on The Batman!
Set in the perpetual now, the plot of the Batman revolves around a fraudulent drug-bust and Bruce Wayne's complicated lineage. Instead of providing an origin for how the billionaire became the brutal embodiment of Gotham's Night, we hop in about approximately two years into his brutal battle, opening with a standard fight scene of him eliminating some goons. From there, he becomes aware of a supervillain known simply as 'The Riddler', who continuously leaves clues for the Bat to follow at the murder-scenes of prominent city figures he murders. This eventually leads Batman and his police Commissioner Ally Jim Gordon, and later the vigilante Catwoman, into a conspiracy that encompasses the whole of Gotham and threatens its entire stability.
Aside from your standard hero characters, we also receive a few cameos in the form of Oswald Cobblepot, aka the 'Penguin', Carmine Falcone, an infamous mafia don that usually shows up in Batman Media, and of course, at the very end of the film, the Clown Prince of Crime himself; the Joker. This movie's plot takes a number of twists and turns throughout its runtime, leaving viewers completely unaware of what's going to happen next. For a decent amount of time, I figured that Riddler knew of Bruce's secret identity and was using it to lure the Batman to him for a confrontation. So, when the movie revealed Riddler believed Bruce and the Bat were two completely different individuals, it blew my mind. There was also the twist with Falcone actually being Catwoman's father, and Batman's father not having the journalist killed out of brutality, but rather to protect his own family. This movie truly takes you for a ride, and I'm not even starting to mention the truly epic and dramatic moments of action (such as the Batmobile's reveal and Penguin's chase scene), and I love every moment of it!
Another major upside of this movie is how the modern day reality is integrated into Gotham. The Riddler assembles a group of like-minded terrorists on a web forum and uses live social medias to broadcast his chaotic activities throughout the city. A political election between two Mayoral Hopefuls also takes place in the background, of which ultimately comes to a crux in the climax. Essentially- nothing in this movie should be taken for granted. Matt Reeves painstakingly ensured that every piece of the puzzle laid out built up to a greater conclusion, and the movie's finale pays off that desire brilliantly. Frankly, I'd say it's a fitting spiritual successor to Dark Knight Rises, providing a brutalist 'Noir' take on the Batman with the ever-present darkness and grimness, whilst also contextualizing it in the modern world, and providing a brilliant conspiracy all the while. Saying too many spoilers will sully this movie for you, and I've already said more than enough! If you want to give any movie a watch this Spring Season, give it to The Batman! 10/10!