By Seth Lukas Hynes
The Batman
Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano
Rated M
The Batman is an outstanding character-driven superhero film that revitalises the title character and his rogues gallery.
The masked vigilante Batman (Robert Pattinson), aka Bruce Wayne, must stop the Riddler (Paul Dano), a terrorist and serial killer who deals in puzzles, with the help of acrobatic burglar Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz).
Pattinson does a great job of humanising Batman: his take on the character is gruff and intimidating but lets his vulnerability and compassion peek through at the right moments. Kravitz is sultry and wilful as Selina, and Colin Farrell offers some slimy levity as the Penguin.
Beyond beating up bad guys, this film’s Batman helps and protects people, and the Riddler is a rarely-seen yet scary antagonist worlds apart from Jim Carrey’s campy Riddler in Batman Forever.
The Batman has gloomy yet lavish cinematography from Greig Fraser and a grand score from Michael Giacchino, and the action feels tense and grounded while still concussively brutal.
The plot has a riveting escalation through the Riddler’s vendetta. We feel both informed and powerless as the Riddler’s clues fall into place and more targets die, and his scheme culminates in an enthralling climax of disaster, perseverance and hope. Selina’s tragic connection to the mob forms a compelling sub-plot, through which she and Batman grow closer.
Andy Serkis leaves little impression as Alfred, Batman/Bruce’s butler and mentor, and The Batman has a problem with excessive spoken exposition: the dark revelations about the Wayne family are very verbose (and resolved a little too quickly). Joker from 2019 more organically shows the corruption and poverty in Gotham.
Despite its over-reliance on spoken exposition, The Batman is a character-rich, deeply suspenseful thriller with a refreshing spin on its hero and villain, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
