With all the hype and controversy that surrounded this movie, The Batman which was written and directed by Matt Reeves finally released in theaters on March 4th. 

The movie stars Robert Pattison as Bruce Wayne who doubles as the Dark Knight during his second year of defending Gotham City. He is aided by Police Lieutenant James Gordon played by Jeffery Wright, his trusty butler/father figure Alfred Pennyworth played by Andy Serkins, and Selina Kyle otherwise known as Catwoman played by Zoe Kravtiz. 

The antagonist of the movie is the Riddler played by Paul Dano and fellow corrupt Gotham Politician and also flashy club owner the Penguin played by Colin Farrell. With the cast and characters introduced, time to dive into the movie itself and my personal feelings about it.

Disclaimer: these are all my personal opinions. The Batman gives us a younger, darker, and more on edge version of Bruce Wayne and Batman than any other adaptation of Batman we have gotten so far. He is angrier, more aggressive, and is considered a symbol of fear and darkness. When the bat signal lights up it is a warning to the criminals and corrupt organizations of Gotham City. 

This adaptation of Batman is way different than all the others, because Director Matt Reeves planned to bring a more realistic view on the character. As Batman goes through his journey in this film all his actions are justifiable and done for one reason only and that is to stop the Riddler. He is so determined to the point where he does not care what happens to him all he wants to do is stop the Riddler. 

Robert Pattison does an amazing job portraying the character proving all the people who doubted him. when he was first cast wrong. Some could argue that he is the best Batman ever put to screen.

 The film has a premise that is Inspired by Se7en and Zodiac with Batman doing a lot of detective work to figure out the Riddler’s puzzles. The Film also had a pitch-perfect cast with the all characters’ interactions being incredibly written and incredibly acted, the dialogue between characters feels genuine with amazing chemistry that is shown to perfection by the cast who all did an amazing job in their respective roles. 

Some of the performances that stood out to me was Zoe Kravitz who is the perfect match for Batman as Catwomen she gives him a run for his money, Jeffery Wright as James Gordon you can feel the connection he has with Batman, Paul Dano as riddler was portrayed as a character who had a purpose for what he was doing even though he did them in bad ways and I enjoyed that take on it and one of my favorite highlight performances in Andy Serkins as Alfred Pennyworth who displays a lot of emotional depth despite his limited screen time. 

This film does so many things flawlessly and one of the things it does best is storytelling whether it is the dialogue between characters it is all done near perfection where you just get thrown into the story itself and you feel like you are a part of the story. 

This movie has a beautiful story that is executed incredibly but apart from that it also has amazing attention to detail with things like set designs and costume designs and especially the cinematography with almost every shot in the movie is so visually appealing especially the shots of Gotham City and we have to give props to the city of Chicago for making such a realistic Gotham City. 

The action scenes were done really well. Reeves helms his fight scenes with many wide shots with practical stunt work, and Batman displays both power and vulnerability in these scenes. There is also a car chase that shows off this version of the Batmobile which is a muscle car and Michael Giacchino’s musical score enhances every scene and I am telling you when you walk out of the theater you will feel like putting on a cowl and saying the iconic line “I AM VENGEANCE”. 

This movie is everyone a Batman story should be, It keeps you interested and makes its three-hour run time so worth it. But this is an interpretation that is a lot more mature and realistic may not be for everyone but it is a must-see cinematic experience filled with emotions, action, symbolism, and more. This film is some of the most superb filmmaking we’ve seen from a superhero genre and I’m all for it.