The Batman (2022)
Gothic
(this review has no spoilers)This was an excellent gothic-style rendition of Batman. Most of the movie is set at night in the rain, frequently to choral funeral music. Gotham City is polluted, run-down and crime-ridden - full of empty warehouses, construction sites and cops snorting coke in nightclub basements.
Robert Pattinson (who I'm not normally a fan of) plays a grim, brooding Batman - stomping around the city in his black jackboots and robust zip-up wingsuit cape. When he's fought enough crime for the night he returns to his lair - a bat-infested cavern beneath the stone skyscraper of his father's empire, now crumbling from financial neglect. This Batman's technology is minimal and efficient - a turbocharged muscle car for the Batmobile, a retro modified Ducati and various grappling hooks and anchors on strings fired from the arm of his suit.
Despite being 3 hours long this movie did not get boring - in fact I've watched it twice now and was captivated both times. This is because the movie is broken into 10 engaging quests - one for each mystery issued by the movie's villain, the Riddler.
Overall I can't fault this movie. True, Batman does unrealistically survive an impact that really should have broken every bone in his body, but hey it's a superhero movie - we all know it's not trying to be realistic, so I won't deduct any stars there. Zoe Kravitz (Catwoman) and Paul Dano (The Riddler) are very well cast. And the plot is sufficiently complicated to entertain an intelligent viewer.
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