*Spoiler Warning*

Brendan’s Take

“The Batman”, starring Robert Pattinson, is a cinematic masterpiece. While the fight scenes lack the quippy-ness and comedic style of most superhero films, mostly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, this movie is not supposed to be comedic. This film is meant to show off the dark and edgy side of Batman that we don’t typically see in movies. 

“The Batman” takes place during Bruce Wayne’s second year going through Gotham City as the Batman, giving out justice like candy on Halloween. The movie takes a lot of twists and turns with the story throughout its two hour and 56 minute run time. The main villain, the Riddler, played by Paul Dano, is a very interesting villain who makes both you and the audience as well as Batman guessing as to what his next move is going to be. He makes the riddles that he leaves ambiguous enough to throw you off of the trail that he keeps you on. The first big reveal at the end of his crime spree, blowing up the city’s outer wall, flooding the city, makes the second reveal, him amassing an army over the internet to try to assassinate the newly elected mayor of the city, all that more dramatic. 

The secondhand villains, Carmine Falcone and the Penguin, played by John Turturro and Colin Farrell respectively, make for amazing side threats that still have a great impact on the story. The twist that Carmine Falcone is actually Catwoman’s, played by Zoë Kravitz, father makes the fight scene between the two of them feel extremely personal. The Penguin on his own feels like a threat because of the power that he and Falcone hold over the city’s police department. While their importance to the overarching story may be smaller than the rest, they still feel like they have some sort of leeway to how the story will end.

Overall, this movie is a masterpiece, the greatest Batman movie other than the Dark Knight. It has an amazing soundtrack, amazing villains and an overall interesting story that keeps watchers invested in what’s going on throughout the entire thing. It truly is an amazing movie.

Ben’s Take

Though the visuals were on point for “The Batman,” the entire plot was an absolute trainwreck. I do not consider myself a superfan of DC comics, but I know enough to understand everything when a new movie comes out. I could follow along, but felt more like a chore than being an intriguing movie. The three hour runtime is one of my main complaints, as this causes for there to be a separation between plots. From the city of Gotham being run by Falcone secretly and him being a developing villain throughout to the Riddler causing chaos, it seemed like the plot of “The Batman” was meant to fit two movies into one. If the focus would have been on one of the two topics only and dived into it deeper, the movie would have had a much less overwhelming feel. 

Other than two contrasting plots, the randomness of the last hour of the movie is what really causes me to have such a strong negative opinion. With the fight scene with Falcone’s crew, it seemed to be that this movie was wrapping up and would have therefore been an acceptable ending. However, there is a second closing fight scene with random Riddler supporters who are trying to destroy everyone in the stadium that was protecting the citizens from the outside floods (also caused by the Riddler). Gotham flooding was not the problem, but the fact that a good conclusion to the movie occurred before this is what really hurt its effect on the audience. 

Robert Pattinson as Batman was not the best fit either. Though he was acceptable as the vigilante hero, his Bruce Wayne acting was not that impressive. It felt that he was emotionless and more bland than necessary. Wayne notably is known for hiding his emotions, but Pattinson made him seem more boring than strong. This trend was broken a few times, yet it was still a factor that brought down the appeal of the movie in my opinion. 

“The Batman” was understandably given decent reviews for its excellent picture and decently good acting. However, the main issue of too much going on and too many plots to solve is what stuck with me the most. I look forward to seeing the franchise move in a new direction, but this movie was a disaster to watch.