The Batman
Matt Reeves delivers the perfect Vengeance two years into his tenure as Gotham's Dark Knight
First off the bat (see what I did there) it needs to be said that this is not a Super-Hero movie. It is a Detective film noir thriller.
In Robert Pattinson, we get a very different Bruce Wayne. Where Christian Bale and Ben Affleck embraced the macho side, Pattinson's Wayne is broken, suffering and very reminiscent of Kurt Cobain.
Reeves has stated that he was inspired by Cobain, and the film features Nirvana's song Something In The Way to brilliant effect. Dark and brooding, this is not a Bruce Wayne we've seen before and the movie is all the better for it.
Paul Dano is just perfect as villain The Riddler. His portrayal of the character reminded me of Kevin Spacey's performance in the film Se7en.There are thematic similarities aplenty, and the story line follows suit too.
Zoë Kravitz plays a charismatic, convincing Catwoman, the scenes with The Bat and The Cat are shot superbly, you can feel the brooding sexual tension between them. Colin Farrell’s perfect Penguin incarnation threatens to steal the film and may well have done if he had more screen time, hopefully we will see more from him further down the line.
Jeffrey Wright's Lieutenant Gordon is spot on as is Andy Serkis take on Alfred, both showing their acting nous. The casting was bang on for this film.
One thing that really stood out for me was the incredible score by Michael Giacchino. It elevates the movie, it has a terrific hint of mystery to it. And has that old feeling of classic detective thrillers. There's also what sounds like a nod to John Williams’ Imperial March when we see Batman in shot. Truly magnificent.
We also get a real good look at a proper, gritty Gotham City. Practically the whole film is set a night, we barely see sunrise. This allows for a true murky looking Gotham ( hats off to cinematographer Greig Fraser) just like the comic book adaptations.
The film might be just shy of three hours but I certainly didn't get bored, you're put in the head space of The Batman (literally at some points) as you try to solve the riddles within. Is this the best Batman adaptation? I'd need to watch it again to answer that, but I will say this, it is a thoroughly outstanding crime thriller and there's definitely more to come....
The Batman is in cinemas now, rated 15.
