Film Review: “The Batman” (2022)

A near-perfect crime noir. (Spoiler-free)

From Micheal Keaton to George Clooney to Ben Affleck, each iteration of Batman has brought something to the table. Whether it’s in the form of camp (Val Kilmer, Adam West), a grounded crime thriller (Christian Bale), or a vintage gothic aesthetic (Keaton), We’ve seen many sides of the bat. This time taking up the cowl is Edward Cullen himself, Robert Pattinson. While many in the past greeted him with chagrin due to his association with the heavily maligned “Twilight” franchise, Pattinson has proven himself outside of that franchise with films such as “Tenet” and “The Lighthouse”. So, when it was announced that he would be the next caped crusader, I was actually very interested to see what he could do with the iconic role.

Another factor into why my expectations for “The Batman” remained sky-high was the film’s choice of director, Matt Reeves. Reeves has a fairly solid filmography that started off with the 2008 found-footage hit “Cloverfield”. He has since gone on to achieve great success with both the 2011 horror remake “Let Me In” and the two sequels to the most recent “Planet of the Apes” trilogy. In a matter of fact, it was his work on both “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” that really put him on the map for me as far as directors to watch out for. With…