Partly inspired by The Long Halloween and taking place during Bruce Wayne's second year into his career as a nocturnal vigilante, The Batman explores the Prince of Gotham learning by trial-and-error as he and Lt. Jim Gordon investigate a series of high-profile murders in the city and try to stop the killer from adding to the body count. Like the mood and tone, the story shares themes and story elements with both The Dark Knight (escalation), The Dark Knight Rises (the intended destruction of Gotham; the plight of the city's orphans; teaming up with Catwoman) and Joker (a villain serving as inspiration to other criminals; Thomas Wayne's secrets). It's great to see Bruce's self-pity as an aggrieved orphan challenged. As I said in my 'Fresh Out of the Theater Reaction' video, The Batman is the villains' movie above all. Not only does the film showcase the best versions of the Riddler and Penguin that we've ever had, but the mobsters, and Carmine Falcone in particular, are even upgraded from their Dark Knight trilogy depictions. Seriously, if it hadn't already been common knowledge who the actor portraying Penguin was, I might never have guessed his identity. No longer a mutant nor a walking pun, this Penguin is closer to Robert De Niro's Al Capone in The Untouchables than he is to a member of the Rogue's Gallery. The Riddler? Gone are the days when he wore a skintight green catsuit and mugged for the camera like a moron. This guy's a bona fide serial killer whose smarter than "the world's greatest detective". Someone even had the presence of mind to NOT name him Edward Nigma!
John Turturro's Falcone actually comes off as a legitimate mobster as opposed to whatever the hell the criminally miscast Tom Wilkinson was doing in Batman Begins. And Jeffrey Wright gives even Gary Oldman a run for his money as a hall-of-fame Jim Gordon. Let's all just forget JK Simmons' brief stint in the trench coat. And Andy Serkis is second to only Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth. The car never fails to disappoint either (I'm not calling it the batmobile - I hate that name). While the scourge of Gotham's new ride isn't as sick as the Tumbler, it outshines most of Bruce's past four-wheelers. Director Matt Reeves followed in the footsteps of both Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder in stripping most of the cheesiness associated with the character away. In fact, the only instances of goofiness that remain belong to Selina, the bat himself and a completely unnecessary tease at the end of the film. When the hell will filmmakers learn that we don't need to be beat over the head with an entire cat motif. Catwoman is a cat burglar and a woman. We get it. She doesn't need to wear cat ears, drink milk, make references to having 9 lives or own a herd of house cats. Robert Pattinson is NOT the best Bruce Wayne -- that title still belongs to Christian Bale, nor is he the best Batman -- that's Ben Affleck for my money. But he's by no means the worst fit for the role. But it is weird for Alfred to look more muscular than his boss. How does he fight, you ask? He doesn't top the warehouse brawl in BvS but he does have better hands than anyone who's strapped on the cowl outside of Affleck.
Make no mistake, The Batman truly is a mystery thriller. And even for a movie belonging to that genre, there are revelations galore. Just for starters, no film has ever delved so deeply into either Martha Wayne or Selina Kyle's backgrounds. And where does it rank in relation to the overall Batman filmography? I'd say The Batman is the caped crusader's 5th best cinematic adventure. There you have it - my spoiler-free rundown what so far is the best movie of the year. And it may turn out to be the biggest film of 2022 when it's all said and done. We'll just have to wait and see.
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