By: Brandon Kennedy, Staff Writer
It’s here. The big one. The Batman. So far, it’s the best movie of the year and possibly the greatest film in its series. While films like Batman Begins were an attempt to weave a more realistic story for the Batman universe, painting a stark contrast against Tim Burton’s more comic book version of Batman; personally, I feel like this combines the best of both worlds. You get a more realistic version of Batman combined with a stylized look for all to see. At times I felt like I was watching a continuation of Chris Nolan’s work, while at another point Tim Burton’s. It was an enthralling experience for me.
One thing I should stress about The Batman is that originally it was supposed to take place in the fan-named, DC Extended Universe. However, rewrites, as well as director changes, resulted in the finished film taking place in an “Earth Two” like setting. Essentially, the film doesn’t and won’t reference any events taking place in other DC films. Like for example, The Suicide Squad, which came out a long while ago, isn’t mentioned at all in the film. It’s sort of like Joker in the way that it takes place in its own sandbox and is telling its own story.
Something that should be mentioned about the film is that the acting is superb at every point throughout the story. It really feels like you’re watching a quality Batman movie. As someone who’s seen every Batman movie they’ve made, I’ve got to say I do prefer the more Tim Burton-like, gothic, styling taking place in the world they’ve created here.
The lighting is another thing they got right. You don’t understand how important lighting is until you’ve seen a poorly lit scene in a film, something that I have seen in my film review experience. One example is Legendary’s Godzilla, which takes place exclusively in the dark at most points.
I should mention that the actors like Robert Pattinson, who you may remember from the Harry Potter series, Twilight, and Remember Me, may not have been fans’ top choice for the character of Batman. He and the other actors of the film, however, do a damn fine job at portraying their characters. Other actors in the film include Andy Serkis, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, and Jeffrey Wright. They all do a terrific job in the movie. The ensemble all together, from the main characters to the supporting cast, was great.
Something that I also want to comment on is the length of the film. It was a good length for a feature-length comic book movie, much like Avengers: Endgame. It didn’t feel too short and didn’t feel too long.
The best thing I’ve got to say about the movie is that the story was well done. It had several twists and turns, as well as Batman using his great detective skills to solve the mysteries surrounding the Riddler and Gotham City corruption in general. If they didn’t have this I don’t think the movie would’ve broken new ground and done its own thing in comparison to past Batman films. It was terrific and I highly recommend you watch this movie either in the theater or when it comes out on Blu-ray, you’ll love it.