THE BATMAN: PG-13 – 2 hrs 55 mins

This review is brought to you by Kathy Kaiser

DIRECTOR/WRITER: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Peter Craig, Bill Finger (Batman Created by)

STARRING: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan

The long wait is finally over, as we get to venture back into the dark and cruel world of Gotham City, with a whole new cast of Actors, ready to take on the iconic world of Batman, as they step into quite a few of the iconic characters, that we all know and love.

Suffice to say that this Bat loving movie critic has been enamored with this character, and those depicting him for quite some time, as since 1989, when the film BATMAN revealed not only Michael Keaton’s iconic performance, but the role that I hold all the characters in the DC universe to, Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker, became etched in my memory. And even though a couple other actors along the way have tried to dethrone Keaton as the ultimate Caped Crusader, including Val Kilmer and George Clooney, no one seemed to steal the role from Keaton in my mind, until Christian Bale decided to inhabit the suit, with his dark persona and smooth moves as Bruce Wayne, totally masterminding this iconic role, taking it to the next level. I was also presently surprised when Ben Affleck decided to done the black suit and cape too, as his performances in Batman vs Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League were formidable along the way too…

And now, as Pattinson steps into this iconic roles of Bruce Wayne/Batman, the relationships throughout this time are mostly forged and cemented before anyone takes the screen, making Matt Reeves take on this comic book legend, a little less characteristic and in depth, than I felt it should be…

And as this younger, and more intuitive depiction of Batman unfolds, it seems that the evils of the past have come back to roost, pinning friend against foe, as the evil villans throughout this one keep us on our toes, all while a few sparks starts flying too, between our favorite bat and his new prowling about the City friend, Cat Woman (Zoe Kravitz).

But as Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and his favorite crime-fighter soon find, the crazy behind Batman’s nemesis this time around, is as they say, super narly, as the riddles just seem keep coming, right along with quite a few dead bodies too…

Now, as this long ago tale comes to fruition for the big screen once again, will Batman and Lt. James Gordon be able to save Gotham from the Riddler’s (Paul Dano) grasp, or will his psychotic vengeance he has for the leaders of Gotham never end???

I give THE BATMAN a rating of 3.5 out of 5: As excited as I was to finally see Pattinson in all his glory as BATMAN, ripping away my loathing of him in the Twilight series, knowing he was such a better actor, than those films allowed him to be, I may have set myself up for having way too high of expectations for his depiction in this role, when it was all said and done. I mean, Matt Reeves deciding to take us back to a younger Batman character, still trying to find his way in life, and what he wants to accomplish as the Caped Crusader is noteworthy, don’t get me wrong, but I just felt the whole way through that we are missing a lot of character development in every direction, that those not privy to my decades of Batman lore, were totally due. I hoped along the way too, that even though we get quite a few of our favorite characters from the BATMAN world right from the start, Cat Woman deserved a lot more screen time throughout this movie, especially from the trailers they were putting out. I was also saddened that I didn’t feel as much chemistry between the Bat and the Cat, oozing off the screen as I had hoped for either, but I did remind myself along the way, that we are just in the beginnings of this relationship, which I am praying will heat-up with more screen time for Zoe Kravitz, as the sequels of this new franchise unfold. But, as we peruse rest of the casting this time around, they did manage to nail them all, including an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and the yet to be fully exposed take on the Joker (played by Barry Keoghan). I really think that all these actors are ready to hold their own in the world of Batman in their respective roles, but Danny DeVito, Jim Carrey, or Jared Leto’s performances for that matter, couldn’t be removed from memory, from Reeves new film. The bottom line in all of this is that Reeves THE BATMAN just didn’t reach the pinnacle of what it could be – or should be for that matter – in the world of DC royalty that Batman should inhabit. But, with that said, I am in hopes that as Reeves storylines and direction unfolds in the films that follow THE BATMAN, I can embrace his storytelling, and the nuances he adds to these characters, a lot more than I was able to do with this film…

3.5/5