Review: The Batman

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves' "The Batman" feels like a breath of fresh air, not because it's all that original, but because it borrows from more inspired source material (David Fincher movies) than what you'd typically expect (other comic book movies). Clocking in at nearly three hours, the film is a gloomy - but captivating - detective movie that just happens to feature an anti-hero wearing tights and a cape.

The era in which "The Batman" is set is a bit nebulous - Nirvana's "Something in the Way" keeps reappearing on the soundtrack - but the story takes place in the early days of Batman's vigilanteism. Thankfully, we don't have to suffer through yet another version of his parents being gunned down in an alleyway. 

Instead, the film borrows tone, style and even some plot points from Fincher's films, most notably "Seven" and "Zodiac." Like those films, "The Batman" features the search for a particularly cruel serial killer known as The Riddler (Paul Dano, whose face isn't seen until late in the film) who is targeting some of Gotham City's top officials, threatening to expose their lies and their involvement in a high profile case that was swept under the rug.

Of course, Batman (Robert Pattinson, doing the broody thing well), is on the case along with Lt. Gordon (Jefrey Wright), despite the rest of the police force seemingly being against the partnership. Meanwhile, Batman's path crosses with that of Selena Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), a young woman who works at a seedy club, has a vigilante streak of her own and harbors some secrets as well. She, of course, is Catwoman, and her character occasionally threatens to overshadow Bruce Wayne.

Other villains abound, from underworld figure Carmine Falcone (John Turturro in a frightening performance) or Oz (Collin Farrell), who is also known as The Penguin. Among the central mysteries is how these other villains figure into the mystery surrounding The Riddler, who is creepy but occasionally comes close to venturing into campy "Saw" territory.

One element for which I was thankful while watching "The Batman" is that, unlike so many other comic book movies, it doesn't do too much of the so-called "world-building" that constantly references other comic book movies that are on the assembly line and waiting to be sold for mass consumption. There's only one scene - it's cheesy and probably the worst scene in the movie - late in the picture in which The Riddler has a conversation with another Batman nemesis, but otherwise, "The Batman" is a story that stands on its own.

There have been numerous Batman movies and some of them have been good - I enjoyed Tim Burton's contributions and at least the first two films in Christopher Nolan's trilogy are solid - but rewatching the same story over and over can get a little tedious. So, it's refreshing that "The Batman" takes a different route. Although it leans heavily on the Fincher influence, that's much preferred to the typical comic book movie storylines that get regurgitated about 10 times per year these days. 

The film is incredibly dark for a mainstream Hollywood movie, and unrepentantly grim. The Riddler storyline - and the manner in which he dispatches his victims - often plays like a horror movie. And there's even a subplot toward the film's end involving a new mayor's swearing-in that has relevance regarding our current moment, which is fraught with anti-democratic threats.

Overall, "The Batman" is pretty solid. While Pattinson's character is among the less emotive Bruce Waynes, it seems as if the filmmakers intended it to be this way, rather than it merely being a trait brought to the proceedings by the leading man. The set pieces are good as far as these things go, and for a genre that is known for aiming to give its fans exactly what they want most of the time, it's fairly suspenseful and contains some surprises. Although I wouldn't say we need to rush out yet another Batman movie any time soon, this one gets the job done.