Film Review: “The Batman” (2022)

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

Chris Salazar

--

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 these films, it’s been proven that Matt Reeves can in fact carry a franchise with installments that can consistently improve upon their predecessors. My only concern for “The Batman”, however, is how can one make a better film than the 2008 classic, “The Dark Knight”. A film that I myself consider just about perfect.

While it may not reach the heights of “The Dark Knight”, “The Batman” comes pretty damn close. Robert Pattinson kicks ass as the caped crusader and delivers a raw and vulnerable performance. While we know both Bruce Wayne and Batman to have suffered trauma, rarely does an on-screen adaptation give Batman as much humanity as this film has. Thankfully, we don’t get to see Bruce’s parents get killed off on-screen but, that doesn’t mean that this film isn’t a quasi-origin story. As far as Pattinson as Bruce, he also does fairly well in that department, even if I prefer Bale’s version of Bruce Wayne.

--

--

Chris Salazar

28 | Fiction Writer | usually writes about anything but, mostly about film