The Batman2022

95/100 Matt Reeves delivers a new and fresh take on Batman in live action, with Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader. While controversial to some, I really loved this movie. The film has a fresh take on Batman, and its one I feel the character needs. The Christopher Nolan movies didn't try for it, but nevertheless fed into the stereotype of Batman being police brutality personified, which makes it nice that this movie offers a different take. Here, the Batman is forced to confront the meaning of his mission throughout the movie, and his gradual shift of desires from vengeance to hope is done really well and is an interesting statement on Batman. I also liked how Batman actually doesn't kill anyone in this movie. It's a bare minimum, but it's rare and I was glad to see it here. The action is also just great, better than most others. There's not a lot of it, but what there is is fantastic. I particularly liked the opening scene with Batman fighting the Nostalgia Critic and his goons, as well as the Batmobile chase with the Penguin early on, especially that moment with the Batmobile bursting forth from the flames. Awesome. The acting here is also really solid. Pattinson had a tough act to follow, being the first solo Batman after Bale, but he pulls it off. The character of Bruce Wayne is really clever, and I like how he hasn't quite nailed either role yet, not really helping the city as either Bruce Wayne or Batman, and Pattinson nails the act with some soulful personality. As always, Batman is surrounded by a colourful cast. Andy Serkis as Alfred is in more of a minor role than usual for the character, but is still good, and Jeffrey Wright is amazing as Gordon, making a good "buddy cop" pair with Pattinson. Zoe Kravitz is a great Catwoman as well (and a bi icon to boot), much more scrappy than Anne Hathaway. Catwoman is used exactly as she should be, coming into the movie to disrupt the plot as fits her needs and leaving. I'm left wanting a spinoff with her in Bludhaven. Paul Dano is, of course, brilliant as the Riddler. He's not fun like Carrey or Gorshin, but instead he feels like a real serial killer, menacing at times. It's a nice version, though not my favourite and kind of my least favourite part of the movie. One weird thing I want to briefly rant about is that this may be my favourite Batmobile. It's not even flashy or anything and I know nothing about cars, but the muscle car in the front with the fins in the back is just great and looks really cool, plus as I mentioned, it's part of my favourite action scene. If I have one complaint, it's that the movie's too long. It's almost three hours long, and there's some stuff, like Selina's backstory, where I feel it works for the characters, but not for the story and could probably have been cut. Some characters, like the Penguin and especially the Joker cameo teasing next movie, also feel like they could have been cut for runtime. Overall, I really liked this movie. I'm excited to see where Matt Reeves takes this universe next, and it makes for a solid adaptation of the Batman mythos overall. Superb in almost every way possible.