As an avid fan of DC and Marvel, I’m always willing and honestly can’t wait to watch the next move in the series.
I know many people are on the Michael Keaton or Heath Ledger train here, but the thing is this. It’s okay to be on more trains than 1. I personally think that it was a great story and a great way of turning Batman into what he originally was, a detective.
To not spoil anything, The Batman doesn’t have him saving the world or even the city, just solving a crime and stopping a monster of a man. And that man is the Riddler, and the fact that they based it off the Zodiac killer made it even scarier as that person could actually exist! The Batman as a character was flawed, driven by anger and vengeance and did not have the polish of a later Batman in terms of mercy or gadgets.
The story takes place during year 2 of his crusade as the Batman and it is clear that he is still new into it. He is referred to as a Vigilante, no mention of the Dark Knight yet. He didn’t put any notorious criminals behind bars yet. He was focused on small time thugs, which was great.
In a nutshell, it was gritty, visceral, and dark. Robert Pattinson did a great job and I was surprised at how much I liked his portrayal. I also loved how the director finally actually highlighted the use of eye makeup that other Batmans always used, but never showed without the mask on.
My overall verdict, 5 out of 5 on this one. You will leave the theater happy. It was entertaining, the story was intriguing and didn’t have such huge twists that you didn’t comprehend what was happening, and just the right touch of humor here and there.