Movie Review – The Batman (2022)

The Dark Knight is back and this time with a new actor, and director along with a whole new exciting story. 

When The Batman was announced and the trailers were released, I was not excited at all. My initial thought was “They need to stop making Batman movies, and there are too many.” This movie just wasn’t all that interesting to me, but I was still going to see it and see what all the hype for it was. 

When I saw this movie, I walked in with low expectations. Walking out of the theater I was very impressed with the outcome overall. I have had nothing but positive things to say about it.

This movie was filled with the right amount of story and action. With a total runtime of 2 hours and 56 minutes, it manages to cover a lot of ground that could lose some people. The director, Matt Reeves, does an excellent job bringing Gotham City and all the characters to life for this wild ride.   

The Batman character has been played by 10 different actors over the many years he has been portrayed. Each actor who has played the character has brought something new each time they have played the character, which makes it unique in their own way. 

Robert Pattison has taken the character under his wing for this Batman storyline. The thing I liked the most about his portrayal of the character was we got to see Batman be the true detective he is. In the comics, Batman is labeled as the world’s greatest detective. That has not been shown before in live action movies. 

Paul Dano brings The Riddler into a very different light than I have seen it done before. The Riddler I know is from Batman Forever (1995) and was played by Jim Carrey. Carrey’s take on the character was kind of light hearted and over the top. This portrayal of the character is darker than Carrey’s. Dano does an excellent job with the character and showing a different side. 

The supporting cast of this movie is overall amazing as well. They all do an excellent job showing how dark Gotham City can be at certain times and drawing you into the story. 

The musical score was absolutely one of the best parts of the whole movie. It was written by Michael Giacchino. He is known for works on The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Zootopia (2016), and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). His score for this movie definitely also gives it a different feel to the movie as well. From the new Batman theme, to The Riddler’s theme. It all feels eerie and helps bring the characters to life. 

If you are a fan of Batman as a character and the movies this is the movie for you. It is filled with little easter eggs and call backs to the comics fans will want to catch on a rewatch of the film. 

The Batman is available on Digital and able to be streamed on HBO Max.