the batman movie review reddit

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

Matt Reeves ’ “The Batman” isn’t a superhero movie. Not really. All the trappings are there: the Batmobile, the rugged suit, the gadgets courtesy of trusty butler Alfred. And of course, at the center, is the Caped Crusader himself: brooding, tormented, seeking his own brand of nighttime justice in a Gotham City that’s spiraling into squalor and decay.

But in Reeves’ confident hands, everything is breathtakingly alive and new. As director and co-writer, he’s taken what might seem like a familiar tale and made it epic, even operatic. His “ Batman ” is more akin to a gritty, ‘70s crime drama than a soaring and transporting blockbuster. With its kinetic, unpredictable action, it calls to mind films like “ The Warriors ” as well as one of the greatest of them all in the genre, “ The French Connection .” And with a series of high-profile murders driving the plot, it sometimes feels as if the Zodiac killer is terrorizing the citizens of Gotham.

And yet, despite these touchstones, this is unmistakably a Matt Reeves film. He accomplishes here what he did with his gripping entries in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise: created an electrifying, entertaining spectacle, but one that’s grounded in real, emotional stakes. This is a Batman movie that’s aware of its own place within pop culture, but not in winking, meta fashion; rather, it acknowledges the comic book character’s lore, only to examine it and reinvent it in a way that’s both substantial and daring. The script from Reeves and Peter Craig forces this hero to question his history as well as confront his purpose, and in doing so, creates an opening for us as viewers to challenge the narratives we cling to in our own lives.

And with Robert Pattinson taking over the role of Bruce Wayne, we have an actor who’s not just prepared but hungry to explore this figure’s weird, dark instincts. This is not the dashing heir to a fortune prowling about, kicking ass in a cool costume. This is Travis Bickle in the Batsuit, detached and disillusioned. He’s two years into his tenure as Batman, tracking criminals from on high in Wayne Tower—an inspired switch from the usual sprawl of Wayne Manor, suggesting an even greater isolation from society. “They think I’m hiding in the shadows,” he intones in an opening voiceover. “But I am the shadows.” In the harsh light of day, Pattinson gives us hungover indie rock star vibes. But at night, you can see the rush he gets from swooping in and executing his version of vengeance, even beneath the tactical gear and eye black.

As he’s shown in pretty much every role he's taken since “Twilight” made him a global superstar in 2008, working with singular auteurs from David Cronenberg to Claire Denis to the Safdie brothers, Pattinson is at his best when he’s playing characters who make you uncomfortable. Even more than Christian Bale in the role, Pattinson is so skilled at making his beautiful, angular features seem unsettling. So when he first spies on the impossibly sexy Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, slinking into her leather motorcycle gear and shimmying down the fire escape in her own pursuit of nocturnal justice, there’s an unmistakable flicker of a charge in his eyes: Ooh. She’s a freak like me.

Pattinson and Kravitz have insane chemistry with each other. She is his match, physically and emotionally, every step of the way. This is no flirty, purring Catwoman: She’s a fighter and a survivor with a loyal heart and a strong sense of what’s right. Following her lead role in Steven Soderbergh ’s high-tech thriller “Kimi,” Kravitz continues to reveal a fierce charisma and quiet strength.

She’s part of a murderer’s row of supporting performers, all of whom get meaty roles to play. Jeffrey Wright is the rare voice of idealism and decency as the eventual Commissioner Gordon. John Turturro is low-key chilling as crime boss Carmine Falcone. Andy Serkis —Caesar in Reeves’ “Apes” movies—brings a paternal wisdom and warmth as Alfred. Colin Farrell is completely unrecognizable as the sleazy, villainous Oswald Cobblepot, better known as The Penguin. And Paul Dano is flat-out terrifying as The Riddler, whose own drive for vengeance provides the story’s spine. He goes to extremes here in a way that’s reminiscent of his startling work in “ There Will Be Blood .” His derangement is so intense, you may find yourself unexpectedly laughing just to break the tension he creates. But there’s nothing amusing about his portrayal; Dano makes you feel as if you’re watching a man who’s truly, deeply disturbed.

This is not to say that “The Batman” is a downer; far from it. Despite the overlong running time of nearly three hours, this is a film that’s consistently viscerally gripping. The coolest Batmobile yet—a muscular vehicle that’s straight out of “ Mad Max: Fury Road ”—figures prominently in one of the movie’s most heart-pounding sequences. It’s an elaborate car chase and chain-reaction crash ending with an upside-down shot of fiery fury that literally had me applauding during my screening. During a fight at a thumping night club, punctuated by pulsating red lights, you can feel every punch and kick. (That’s one of the more compelling elements of seeing this superhero in his early days: He isn’t invincible.) And a shootout in a pitch-black hallway, illuminated only by the blasts of shotgun fire, is both harrowing and dazzling. Greatly magnifying the power of scenes like these is the score from veteran composer Michael Giacchino . Best known for his Pixar movie music, he does something totally different with “The Batman”: percussive and horn-heavy, it is massive and demanding, and you will feel it deep in your core.

Working with artists and craftspeople operating at the top of their game, Reeves has made a movie that manages to be ethereal yet weighty at the same time, substantial yet impressionistic. Cinematographer Greig Fraser pulls off the same sort of stunning magic trick he did with his Oscar-nominated work in Denis Villeneuve ’s “Dune”: Through pouring rain and neon lights, there’s both a gauziness and a heft to his imagery. His use of shadow and silhouette is masterful, and does so much to convey a sense of foreboding and tension. I could write an entire, separate essay on the film’s many uses of the color red to suggest energy, danger, even hope. And the costume design from the great Jacqueline Durran —with Dave Crossman and Glyn Dillon designing Pattinson’s rough-and-tumble Batsuit—put just the right finishing touch on the film’s cool, edgy vibe.

This is the most beautiful Batman movie you’ve ever seen—even if it’s not really a Batman movie at all.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

Accidental Texan

Amelia’s Children

Simon abrams.

Kaiya Shunyata

Peyton Robinson

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Matt zoller seitz, film credits.

The Batman (2022)

Rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.

176 minutes

Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman

Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle

Paul Dano as The Riddler

Jeffrey Wright as Lt. James Gordon

John Turturro as Carmine Falcone

Peter Sarsgaard as District Attorney Gil Colson

Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth

Colin Farrell as Oz / The Penguin

• Matt Reeves

Writer (Batman created by)

• Bill Finger
• Peter Craig

Cinematographer

• Greig Fraser

Costume Designer

• Jacqueline Durran
• William Hoy
• Tyler Nelson
• Michael Giacchino

Latest blog posts

The Zellner Brothers Take a Walk in the Woods with Sasquatch Sunset

The Scene That Clint Eastwood Cut to Make Unforgiven a Classic

Ape Shall Not Kill Ape: A Look at the Entire Apes Franchise

​Criterion Celebrates the Films That Forever Shifted Our Perception of Kristen Stewart​

Advertisement

Supported by

‘The Batman’ Review: Who’ll Stop the Wayne?

Robert Pattinson puts on the Batsuit and cats around with Zoë Kravitz in the latest attempt to reimagine the Caped Crusader.

• Share full article

By A.O. Scott

The darkness in “The Batman” is pervasive and literal. Gotham City in the week after Halloween, when this long chapter unfolds, sees about as much sunshine as northern Finland in mid-December. The ambience of urban demoralization extends to the light bulbs, which flicker weakly in the gloom. Bats, cats, penguins and other resident creatures are mostly nocturnal. The relentless rain isn’t the kind that washes the scum off the streets, but the kind that makes a bad mood worse.

The Batman — not just any Batman! — is less the enemy of this state of things than its avatar. On television in the 1960s , Batman was playful. Later, in the Keaton-Clooney-Kilmer era of the ’80s and ’90s, he was a bit of a playboy. In the 21st century, through Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy and after, onscreen incarnations of the character have been purged of any trace of joy, mischief or camp. We know him as a brooding avenger, though not an Avenger, which is a whole different brand of corporate I.P.

But a modern superhero is only as authentic as his latest identity crisis. Both the Batman (Robert Pattinson) and “The Batman” itself struggle with the vigilante legacy that has dominated the post-Nolan DC cinematic universe. “I am vengeance,” our hero intones as he swoops down to deal with some minor bad guys. He doesn’t seem happy about it. He’s grouchy and dyspeptic in his costume, and mopey and floppy in his Bruce Wayne mufti. Having fed on Gotham’s violence and cruelty for years, he now finds that the diet may not agree with him.

For nearly three hours, “The Batman,” directed by Matt Reeves from a script he wrote with Peter Craig, navigates a familiar environment of crime, corruption and demoralization in search of something different. Batman’s frustration arises most obviously from the intractability of Gotham’s dysfunction. Two years after the city’s biggest crime boss was brought down, the streets are still seething and the social fabric is full of holes. Drug addicts (known as “dropheads”) and gangs of hooligans roam the alleys and train platforms, while predatory gangsters and crooked politicians party in the V.I.P. rooms.

This isn’t only a bum deal for the citizens of Gotham. It’s a sign of imaginative exhaustion. Fourteen years after “The Dark Knight,” the franchise and its satellites (including “Joker”) have been mired in a stance of authoritarian self-pity that feels less like an allegorical response to the real world than a lazy aesthetic habit.

That’s where “The Batman” begins, but — thank goodness — it isn’t necessarily Reeves’s comfort zone. In his contributions to the “Planet of the Apes” cycle (he directed the second and third installments, “Dawn” and “War” ), he demonstrated an eye for ethical nuance and political complexity unusual in modern-day blockbuster filmmaking.

Glimmers of that humanism are visible in the murk (the low-light cinematography is by Greig Fraser), but for Reeves the path out of nihilism is through it. A masked serial killer (eventually revealed as Paul Dano) is stalking Gotham’s leaders — including the mayor and the district attorney (Peter Sarsgaard) — leaving behind encoded messages and greeting cards for Batman. His signature is a question mark, which even a casual comic-book fan knows is the sign of the Riddler.

Upholding a genre cliché, he sees himself less as Batman’s nemesis than as his secret sharer, using more extreme means to accomplish similar ends arising from parallel motives. The Riddler exposes the connections between Gotham’s power structure and its underworld, links that seem to have eluded the Caped Crusader and Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), his ally in the police department. The mythology of the Wayne family — in particular the martyrdom of young Bruce’s parents — is held up to revisionist scrutiny. What if we’re wrong about Batman? What if he’s wrong about himself?

These are potentially interesting questions, but it takes “The Batman” a very long time to arrive at them. Luckily, there are some diversions in the meantime, most notably the arrival of Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, also known as Selina Kyle. Like the Riddler, Catwoman is Batman’s self-appointed vigilante colleague, seeking payback on behalf of women who have been exploited, abused and killed by members of Gotham’s criminal and official elite. The prickly alliance that arises between these masked, pointy-eared cosplayers adds a much-needed element of romance with a just-perceptible hint of kink. Maybe there will be a place for fun in the DC universe.

But not just yet. Don’t get me wrong. There are things to enjoy here, in addition to Kravitz’s nimble work: John Turturro, hammy and slimy as a top mobster; Colin Farrell, almost unrecognizable as the oleaginous Penguin; Andy Serkis as Alfred; a crackerjack car chase; Michael Giacchino’s eerie score.

The problem isn’t just that the action pauses for long bouts of exposition, as long-past events are chewed over by one character after another. Or that Pattinson, in and out of the Batsuit, is almost as much of a cipher as any of the Riddler’s scribblings. It’s the ponderous seriousness that hangs over the movie like last week’s weather — the fog of white-savior grievance that has shrouded Gotham and the Batman for as long as many of us can remember.

“The Batman” tries to shake that off — or rather, as I’ve suggested, to work through it. Maybe it shouldn’t have been so difficult, and maybe the slog of this film will serve a therapeutic or liberatory end. Let’s hope. I can’t say I had a good time, but I did end up somewhere I didn’t expect to be: looking forward to the next chapter.

The Batman Rated PG-13. Grim and occasionally gruesome. Running time: 2 hours 55 minutes. In theaters.

A.O. Scott is a co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig have wound in and out of each other’s lives and careers for decades. Now they are both headlining an Apple TV+ comedy of wealth and status .

Nicholas Galitzine, known for playing princes and their modern equivalents, hopes his steamy new drama, “Mary & George,” will change how Hollywood sees him .

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth met while filming “Fargo” in 2017. Now married, they have reunited onscreen in “A Gentleman in Moscow.”

A reboot of “Gladiators,” the musclebound 1990s staple, has attracted millions of viewers in Britain. Is appointment television back ?

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Filed under:

The Batman needed a harder reboot

Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson, and a strong cast rely on execution for a familiar comic book movie

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: The Batman needed a harder reboot

Batman is back, and he is pissed as hell. The Batman , Matt Reeves’ moody reboot of the famous comic book hero, launches a new version of the Caped Crusader for the 2020s. Somewhere between the Snyderverse’ s failure to launch a solo franchise with Ben Affleck’s elder-statesman take, and the enduring appeal of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there’s a lot of room for something new. Unfortunately, Reeves’ new take has a lot in common with the old takes.

The Batman is full of moments most Bat-fans will have seen before, and not that long ago. At its most exhausting, it restages moments from the Nolan trilogy: A mobster tells Bruce Wayne the truth about how the world works, Batman fights his way through a nightclub in a fury or through a hallway illuminated only by gunfire, footage of the film’s villain terrorizing their next victim is broadcast over the evening news. Almost all of the characters, apart from the Riddler, are recognizable from previous Batman movies. The new layers on display here are easily derived from what came before. There is nothing particularly bold about The Batman . Its strength is in its execution.

A rain-slick mystery in the mode of David Fincher’s Seven , The Batman is a methodical hunt for the Riddler (Paul Dano) after his grotesque murder of Gotham City’s incumbent mayor in the leadup to the city’s elections. Batman (Robert Pattinson) has been operating in Gotham for two years, and has established both a street rep that keeps common crooks scared and a rock-solid partnership with police Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) that lets him in on crime scenes, even if most other cops hate it.

The case takes the pair on a tour through Gotham’s underworld, crossing paths with crime boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), striver Oz “The Penguin” Cobblepot (Colin Farrell), thief Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), and all of Gotham’s mobsters and elites, who have become codependent. Like its protagonist, The Batman is driven — while the hunt for the Riddler sprawls out in different directions, the film never deviates from it. Bruce Wayne rarely appears out of costume, wholly given to his mission and seeing little use for the life he was born into.

In building a story around the construction of Batman over his human alter ego or any people around him, The Batman becomes a movie of abstract ideas about cities, and where their denizens should place their faith when they know the game is rigged. These are compelling ideas to explore, particularly in this version of Gotham City — which is built to look like a dark-carnival rendition of 1970s and ’80s New York City transposed to the present day. Recognizable landmarks are given a grimy makeover, and theatrical gangs overrun the streets in a merging of fantasy and reality that ultimately adds up to a metaphor in search of a meaning.

If Batman is, as he repeatedly states, “vengeance,” then what is Gotham? The answer is pretty simple: It’s every city as portrayed by conservative commentators, a den of crime that needs Batman to clean it up, but maybe not the way he’s been doing it for the last couple years. Bruce Wayne’s arc is one where a young man who was molded by Gotham learns that perhaps it’s time for him to mold it in turn.

This also feels familiar: The arc of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was expressly about the idea that Batman was a necessary response, but also one with an expiration date. It’s about a guy who learns how to move from boogeyman to inspiration, and how the latter is a more effective vehicle for change.

The contours of how Reeves gets there is how he distinguishes The Batman . Like Heath Ledger’s Joker, the Riddler in this film is a cipher with a point to make: Gotham City’s vision of law and order is a lie fueled by corruption, and Batman’s journey to stop him, using the tools and means of his wealth, calls that wealth into question. In the world of The Batman , all money is dirty money, powering the ascent of dirty politicians and mobsters while also blinding the well-intentioned to the reality of their impact on the community. The tension between Batman and Catwoman does not just come from their positions on opposite sides of the law, but also Gotham City. He lives in a tower and sees the entire city, while she comes from the gutter and tells him he can’t see a damn thing.

The echoes of past Bat-films are made worse when the people telling the story are so good. Robert Pattinson is a great Batman, surly and serious, but not impenetrable. His Bruce is still open to learning, still capable of feeling, but isn’t invincible. He might not crack a smile in this film, but it’s conceivable that he could, once he achieves a better work-life balance. Zoë Kravitz also makes for a great Selina Kyle, even though the movie does little to establish Catwoman as a known presence the way it does Batman. As Batman’s de facto partner, Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon is perhaps too similarly steely, a great movie cop, but one who could lean a bit more into the fact that he’s a Gotham City cop, where a guy named “The Riddler” leaves birthday cards behind for Batman.

The film’s take on the Riddler may be the movie’s most divisive aspect. Much like Batman, Paul Dano is masked for most of the movie, a character who’s more in line with Jigsaw from the Saw franchise than the quizmaster of the comics. He’s a cruel constructor of death traps, out to impart some kind of moral lesson that won’t be revealed until the movie’s end. Unfortunately, he looks quite silly, somehow requiring more suspension of disbelief than the guy in pointy ears trying to catch him.

Fortunately, The Batman ’s detective-story structure means he’s mostly an offscreen puppetmaster, and as ridiculous as he appears, everything else in The Batman looks incredible, as ambitiously staged fight scenes unfold in a city draped in shadows and streetlamps. The film is only hard to parse during one of its most ambitious setpieces, a car chase that attempts to give its pursuit the physicality of a fistfight, with close shots and weighty collisions. It’s a failure of ambition in a movie that mostly has none, because the cinematic vision of what Batman can be has become terribly narrow.

The pieces were there to do something different. Director Matt Reeves established himself as a surprising blockbuster director with his Planet of the Apes sequels, two films that turned a rote franchise revival into meaningful, bold show-stoppers. His cast is headed up by popular actors with outsider appeal, and more than a decade of dark and grim Batman stories inspired by the same handful of comics have primed audiences for something different.

Instead, The Batman is frustratingly safe, a movie full of potential for more and settling for less. It preaches to the choir, reinforcing the same ideas trodden over and over again across five movies, multiple video games, and every comic book in the mold of Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s Batman: Year One . If those are your Batman touchstones, the film may very well speak to you. If, on the other hand, you’re curious as to whether Batman can speak to a different audience, it might be time to pack up the signal. No one’s coming to save you.

The Batman premieres in theaters on Friday, March 4.

The Joker 2 trailer introduces Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn to the hallucinatory stage

The people’s joker director wanted a trans villain on screen in an era of trans vilification, suicide squad: kill the justice league’s new joker is here, and players aren’t laughing.

Find anything you save across the site in your account

“The Batman,” Reviewed: Eh, It’s Fine

By Richard Brody

It’s cause for modest celebration that “ The Batman ” achieves, for much of its nearly three-hour running time, a baseline of artistry: it’s eminently sit-through-able. There’s a category of movie that used to be the Hollywood stock in trade, which a dear departed relative used to call “brain cleansers”—one kicks back, the time passes with some rooting interest, some excitement, some curiosity about what’s coming next. For its first two hours or so, “The Batman” largely fulfills the commitment to be engaging and clever; its deftly inventive director, Matt Reeves (who co-wrote the script with Peter Craig), conveys the impression of substance where it’s hardly to be found. The movie is good with an asterisk—an asterisk the size of the financial interests at stake in the franchise’s intellectual property. As free as Reeves may have been to make the film according to his lights, he displays an element of custodial, even fiduciary, responsibility. It may well win him favor with the studio, with the ticket-buying public, and with critics who calibrate their enthusiasm to box-office success, but it gets in the way of the kinds of transformative interpretations of the characters that would make the difference between a baseline movie and an authentically free and original one.

The Batman is a vigilante who works with the coöperation of the police, who project a bat-sign into the sky, with a bright light, as a call to him and a warning to evildoers who anticipate him swooping in. Yet, as he lands on a subway platform and lays low a gang of young miscreants, made up Joker-style, who are assaulting an Asian man, the victim is also struck with fear and pleads with the Batman not to hurt him. The Batman describes his uneasy role as an avenger—indeed, he says, as vengeance itself—in a voice-over that holds out hope that the superhero will be endowed with at least an average level of subjectivity and mental activity. No such luck: that voice-over might as well be a part of the explanatory press notes for all the insight it offers into the protagonist’s thoughts. Yet his haphazard thwarting of random street crime in the chaos of Gotham City gets sharply focussed on one criminal, the Riddler (Paul Dano), who, in the opening act of his crime spree, virtually summons him.

The Riddler gruesomely murders the mayor of Gotham and tapes to the victim’s body a greeting card for the Batman and other clues to his motives and to his next victim—to the conspiracy that he has discovered and the perpetrators he’s targeting. In taunting the Batman by dosing him with knowledge, the Riddler is also making him an unwilling but inextricable ally, both forcing him to join in the same fight and informing him of the underlying and overarching truth about Gotham, about the social order that the avenging masked man is dedicated to defending and preserving. The Riddler has learned that many of the city’s officials, particularly ones involved in law enforcement, have been on the take from gangsters (I’m avoiding spoilers here and throughout); decisions to prosecute are tainted by the self-dealing of politicians and police.

The Batman is drawn even further into the tangled conspiracy when he accidentally encounters another masked avenger, Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), who, as Selina Kyle, works in a night club run by a gangster named Oz, who is nicknamed the Penguin (Colin Farrell), and frequented by other criminals, such as a mobster named Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and corrupt officials. When her roommate and lover, Annika Koslov—whom the Riddler linked to the conspiracy—vanishes, the Batman helps her to investigate, and she helps him to untangle the web of corruption that the Riddler has discerned and capture the Riddler himself. Meanwhile, the Batman is working closely with a police detective named Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), who, in collaborating in the pursuit of the Riddler, is playing the dangerous game of unmasking corrupt colleagues and superiors.

The reason for dwelling on these details is pleasure. The intricacy of the movie’s intertwined plots has a plain and simple efficiency that undergirds the onscreen actions like an architectural framework, and Reeves adorns that framework with a vigorous variety of visual twists and dramatic tempi. The opening scene, in which the Riddler spies on the mayor before doing him in, involves a telescope that Reeves (working with the cinematographer Greig Fraser) mimics with a telephoto lens, while, on the soundtrack, the masked Riddler wheezes with a huffing eeriness out of David Lynch. The best gizmo in the Batman’s bag of high-tech tricks is a pair of contact lenses that are also video cameras beaming their signal to the devices of his choice. The movie’s design also offers a handful of piquant touches, from the infinitesimal points of Catwoman’s mask-ears to the cable zip line that the Batman discharges for rapid rescues and escapes. (The Batmobile, however, is definitively outshone by the vintage black Corvette in which Bruce Wayne, out of disguise, shows up at a funeral.)

There’s a car chase that, if not especially original, at least conveys its obvious patterns in images of taut precision and culminates in the film’s money shot, which brings it to a rooting conclusion with a strikingly clever and simple twist of visual logic. There’s a fight scene in a dark room at night where the only light comes from bursts of gunfire; there’s a jolt of superheroic vulnerability when the Batman makes a midair misstep in his flight suit. In a movie deprived of humor, one moment of it bursts out with a gleeful surprise, as the gargle-voiced Penguin cuts loose with a rant attacking the Batman’s linguistic skills. That’s as good as it gets, though; the laundry list of moments that pop hangs on the framework as if to conceal its essential emptiness.

The crucial marker of the movie’s faux earnestness is visual darkness—the movie is set largely at night (explained in part by the Batman’s own nocturnal habits), which furnishes the bland metaphor, or cliché, for grim doings. The sleek foreground of elaborate yet functional design doesn’t reverberate with symbolic power; it has no loose ends for the free play of imagination. Its coherence is impressive, overwhelming—and deadening. The energy of directorial intention doesn’t reach offscreen—it implies nothing beyond the action. (It’s the kind of enticing visual beauty, conveying above all the realm of power, that Kogonada questions in “ After Yang .”)

The emptiness below the movie’s surfaces reflects the emptiness of the characters it depicts; they’re reduced to a handful of traits and a backstory, defined solely by their function in the plot. Even though the title character bears two identities and lives a double life constructed of careful and elaborate ruses, “The Batman” makes shockingly little of Bruce Wayne. Robert Pattinson’s performance provides the only hint of substance: in both personae, he maintains a stone face throughout. The utterly repressed expression that he lends them could suggest anything from self-discipline to existential anguish, though I see it as a superhuman effort not to burst out laughing at the simulation of seriousness, of any personality at all. The movie’s solid dramatic architecture is essentially uninhabited—“The Batman” is a cinematic house populated only by phantoms with no trace of a complex mental life.

The indifference to characters as sentient beings rather than pawns in a plot emerges in a twist that’s a long-standing marker of action-film superficiality: apocalyptic chaos. Again avoiding spoilers, the Riddler doesn’t only target individual high-level miscreants in Gotham but decides that the entire city deserves to go down with them. (The possibilities, with its Biblical implications, are endless—and remain untapped.) When his monstrous scheme is unleashed, crowd scenes conjure mass destruction as a plot point, the staggering loss of life as a generic and inchoate jumble. Extras, whether live or digitally created, are anonymous collateral damage in a city that “The Batman” presents only as a stage for the clash of its protagonists. The movie’s inability to imagine its superheroes and supervillains with any meaningful psychological identity is of a piece with the failure to imagine ordinary people with any degree of individuality. Nothing that distracts from suspense or excitement, no details of personality to get in the way of superficial identification with flattened-out heroes, nothing that suggests a world of possibilities beyond the sealed-off borders of the screen, is allowed to seep through the movie’s solid and opaque surfaces. Its triumph of superficial pleasure is chillingly triumphalist.

New Yorker Favorites

Searching for the cause of a catastrophic plane crash .

The man who spent forty-two years at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool .

Gloria Steinem’s life on the feminist frontier .

Where the Amish go on vacation .

How Colonel Sanders built his Kentucky-fried fortune .

What does procrastination tell us about ourselves ?

Fiction by Patricia Highsmith: “The Trouble with Mrs. Blynn, the Trouble with the World”

Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker .

By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By David Remnick

By Rebecca Mead

By Amanda Petrusich

By Jason Adam Katzenstein

‘The Batman’ Review Roundup: An ‘Exhilarating,’ ‘Unforgettable’ and ‘Overlong’ Comic Book Film

By Zack Sharf

Digital News Director

• ‘Spider-Man’ Producer Admits ‘Neither Kevin Feige Nor I Knew Who’ Zendaya Was When Casting Her as MJ: We ‘Felt Really Stupid’ When We Found Out 8 hours ago
• John Cena on Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Fast & Furious’ Feud: ‘You Have Two Very Alpha, Driven People … There Can Only Be One’ 9 hours ago
• Kit Harington Says Jon Snow ‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff Is No Longer in Development: ‘It’s Off the Table. We Couldn’t Find the Right Story to Tell’ 11 hours ago

The review embargo for Matt Reeves ‘ “ The Batman ” has lifted, bringing with it a handful of raves and several mixed takes on the director’s very long and very dark interpretation of the Caped Crusader. The Warner Bros. comic book tentpole is set during Batman’s second year as a masked crime fighter and follows the vigilante as he tries to capture the Riddler, who sends Gotham City into chaos by exposing the corruption of its leaders.

Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne/Batman in “The Batman” opposite Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.

One thing critics agree on when it comes to “The Batman” is that there has never been a comic book movie like it before. Pattinson teased as much earlier this month when he said the film’s opening scene left him shocked.

“I watched a rough cut of the movie by myself. And the first shot is so jarring from any other Batman movie that it’s just kind of a totally different pace,” Pattinson said in an interview . “It was what Matt was saying from the first meeting I had with him: ‘I want to do a ’70s noir detective story, like “The Conversation.”‘ And I kind of assumed that meant the mood board or something, the look of it. But from the first shot, it’s, ‘Oh, this actually is a detective story.”

Read some highlights of what critics are saying below.

Variety’s  Peter Debruge:

In ways far more unsettling than most audiences might expect, “The Batman” channels the fears and frustrations of our current political climate, presenting a meaty, full-course crime saga that blends elements of the classic gangster film with cutting-edge commentary about challenges facing the modern world. It’s a hugely ambitious undertaking and one that’s strong enough to work even without Batman’s presence, not that it would have any reason to exist without him. But by incorporating the character and so many of the franchise’s trademarks — Catwoman (a slinky Zoë Kravitz), the Penguin (Colin Farrell, all but unrecognizable), loyal butler Alfred (Andy Serkis, fully analog) and an epic car chase involving the latest iteration of the Batmobile — Reeves electrifies the dense, ultra-dark proceedings with an added level of excitement that justifies the film’s relatively demanding running time.

Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri:

“The Batman” is dark, no doubt about it. Even darker than the already-dark Christopher Nolan-directed “Dark Knight” trilogy, whose success once set off several rounds of way-too-dark comic book adaptations and action spectacles. You might have thought Batman couldn’t get any darker, but you’d be wrong: Heath Ledger’s Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’ sewed a telephone into a guy’s abdomen in 2008 so that Paul Dano’s Riddler could then feed another guy’s abdomen to a cage full of rats in 2022. This is a Batman movie reimagined as a grisly serial killer film, only this time it’s not just the serial killer who looms in the shadows, watching his prey and waiting to pounce; the hero does, too. They could have called it ‘Zodiac$.’

Uproxx’s Mike Ryan:

Matt Reeves’s ‘The Batman,’ at least as far as superhero movies go, feels so old-fashioned that it has come all the way around to unique again. While watching ‘The Batman,’ it feels like it has more in common with gritty crime mysteries like ‘L.A. Confidential’ or ‘Se7en’ than, say, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ (A movie I like quite a bit, for the record.) ‘The Batman’ is a movie fully embracing its present and not looking forward to what everything might mean five movies down the line. At just under three hours in length, yes, it’s long, but it’s self-contained. And also rare for a Batman movie … Batman is actually the main character.

Rolling Stone’s David Fear:

Pattinson is an inspired choice to bring this haunted, emo-beast-mode version of the character to the screen, and while you can see him hitting certain beats that are now expected for the Caped Crusader — gotta growl them lines, gotta grimace a whole lot — there’s an undercurrent of pathos and vulnerability that he brings this moody-blues interpretation of Bruce/Batman. Even when he was the handsome face of a franchise juggernaut like ‘Twilight,’ the British actor specialized in portraying misfit souls…. His Batman is definitely a mood. He’s also a more moody, enraged, and volatile iteration of the DC Comics’ heavy hitter than previous incarnations, which — given that your competition includes Christian Bale and Ben Affleck — is no small feat.

Entertainment Weekly’s Leah Greenblatt:

Kravitz is feline and fiercely lovely, a girl with her own private pain and motivations; Dano feints and giggles, a simpering loon. (In a world where Heath Ledger’s Joker still exists on celluloid, alas, pretty much every kind of pulp villainy is bound to feel like pale imitation.) But it falls on Pattinson’s leather-cased Batman to be the hero we need, or deserve. With his doleful kohl-smudged eyes and trapezoidal jawline, he’s more like a tragic prince from Shakespeare; a lost soul bent like a bat out of hell on saving everyone but himself.

IndieWire’s David Ehrlich:

It was less than three years ago that Todd Phillips’ mid-budget but mega-successful “Joker” threateningly pointed toward a future in which superhero movies of all sizes would become so endemic to modern cinema that they no longer had to be superhero movies at all. With Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” — a sprawling, 176-minute latex procedural that often appears to have more in common with serial killer sagas like “Se7en” and “Zodiac” than it does anything in the Snyderverse or the MCU — that future has arrived with shuddering force, for better or worse. Mostly better.

Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson:

For the most part, Reeves’s approach is refreshing. The Gotham he’s created — out of bits of London and Chicago, with visual references to New York and other cities thrown in — is an aesthetic marvel. His amalgamated city churns with dangerous allure, a bracing mural of fluorescent orange and dusky purple. Reeves has populated this benighted place with a host of fine actors, among them Colin Farrell as the gangster known as the Penguin, Zoë Kravitz as a sultry and wounded Selina Kyle, Jeffrey Wright as principled cop Jim Gordon, Paul Dano as a dark-web Riddler, and a suavely sinister John Turturro as crime boss Carmine Falcone. The Batman has considered texture — it’s as pleasingly immersive as Nolan’s trilogy.

IGN’s Alex Stedman:

As for Dano, his Riddler is easily the best live-action Batman villain since Heath Ledger’s Joker. This is a far, far, far cry from the previous most famous Riddler performance by Jim Carrey, with Reeves putting a modern, murderous spin on the wordsmith that’s heavily influenced by the real-world Zodiac Killer. Dano sinks into this unhinged yet genius killer with terrifying realism. Seriously, Dano managed to give me chills with a single eye movement in one scene. The best Batman villains are the ones who challenge at least two of the three of his mind, morals, and body, and this Riddler puts the first two to the test. Whenever Pattinson and Dano face off, it’s impossible to look away.

The Playlist’s Robert Daniels:

Unforgettable images — the coned, fiery blue flames of the Batmobile, bodies thrashing, enveloped in shadows, the brailed scars crawling across Robert Pattinson’s muscled back — converge in Matt Reeves’ three-hour, noir-infused epic “The Batman.” Ever since Bob Kane and Bill Finger created him in 1939, the philanthropist playboy by day, Caped Crusader by night, has signified isolation, grief, trauma — vengeance. Over the decades, television and cinematic incarnations, projected through the personalities of the actors who’ve portrayed him, have amplified those traits through both campy and brooding means. But Pattinson’s Dark Knight, more vicious, more forlorn, and less worldly, hampered by his privilege rather than aided, is not only different from every version before him. Inspired and enthralling, this detective story veers far away from the current homogenous superhero landscape.

/Film’s Chris Evangelista:

Do we really need yet another “Batman” reboot? The answer, after watching Matt Reeves’ tremendous “The Batman,” is apparently a resounding yes. The story of the Dark Knight has been told and retold again so many times that you might think there’s nothing left to do with this character, and yet, Reeves and company have crafted a sprawling, ominous, dreamy epic; a mash-up of action-adventure, mystery, horror, noir, and even a little romance thrown in for good measure. There were multiple moments here where I had to stop and ask myself, “Wow, is this the best Batman movie?” It just might be.

The AV Club’s A.A. Dowd:

In ‘The Batman,’ Matt Reeves’ slick, overlong, majestically moody superhero spectacular, Robert Pattinson really puts the goth into Gotham City’s chief protector. His eyes slathered in mascara like Robert Smith (or The Crow, another nocturnal winged avenger), this version of the DC crime fighter zips around town on a motorcycle to the non-diegetic accompaniment of Nirvana’s album-closing downer “Something In The Way.” He also narrates the film in hushed voiceover that teeters, gargoyle-like, over the edge of self-parody. “They think I’m hiding in the shadows,” he whispers. “But I am the shadows.” These musings sound like diary entries — and it turns out that’s exactly what they are. At last: a Batman who journals!

CNN’s Brian Lowry:

While the seriousness is welcome, the level of darkness risks becoming oppressive in a manner that doesn’t leave much room for fun of any kind. If that’s hardly a negative for Batman-ologists, it threatens to blunt the film’s appeal among those who can’t identify the issue of Detective Comics in which he first appeared. Still, that’s a modest quibble compared to the main gripe that “The Batman” could easily lose 30 minutes without sacrificing much. Most of that flab comes during the final hour, which serves a purpose in terms of the character’s maturation but piles on at least one climax too many.

The Verge’s Charles Pulliam-Moore:

For every one of “The Batman’s” good ideas — like focusing on Batman and Gordon bonding over their shared fondness of actually doing detective work — there are at least two things holding it back. These include the fact that none of the Riddler’s riddles here are all that complicated, or that Pattinson and Wright don’t have all that much on-screen chemistry. In The Batman’s defense, the movie does want you to understand how profoundly lonely Bruce Wayne is and how difficult it is for him to relate to other people; the weird energy between him and Gordon may be a directorial choice. But even in Bruce’s more vulnerable moments with longtime Wayne family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), there’s an emotional inertness that feels intentional, but ultimately unsatisfying, given the intimacy the characters traditionally share.

More From Our Brands

The best shoes for wide feet that don’t compromise on style, a baby formula billionaire just dropped $27 million on this massive beverly hills estate, ncaa men’s final ratings can’t match women amid uconn routs, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, the rookie’s eric winter opens up about filming this week’s ‘raw’ #chenford scene: ‘tim has spiraled’, verify it's you, please log in.

‘The Batman’ Review: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, and a Complex Gotham Makes This the Best Bat-Movie Since ‘The Dark Knight’

Matt Reeves' 'The Batman' throws an excellent cast into the shadows of Gotham for one of Batman's best live-action outings.

In The Batman , director Matt Reeves shows the darkness and terror within Gotham City before he ever presents his title character. First, Reeves presents the murder, theft, vandalism, and assault that is rampant throughout the city. But out of these shadows comes Batman, played by Robert Pattinson , who uses fear to stop the crime of Gotham, a blunt solution to a complicated problem. When Batman fights crime, it’s equally blunt: a few quick punches to a gang—dressed in makeup that looks similar to such iconic criminals as Two-Face and Joker—before the group disperses. Batman hasn’t stopped the criminal element of Gotham, he’s simply delayed the crime for another night.

Through voiceover, we learn that for two years, Bruce Wayne has been hitting the streets of Gotham dressed as Batman, using fear as a tool, and crime has only risen. It’s been twenty years since his parents were murdered, and while he wants to stop the crime that led him to become an orphan, it certainly seems like Wayne’s attempts to combat the villainy of his city have only backfired. Batman might not be the solution he believes himself to be, but rather, the indirect cause of Gotham’s myriad problems. While we’ve seen plenty of Batman takes over the decades, never before has a live-action Batman quite dealt with the moral gray area that this superhero works in quite like The Batman . Reeves starts The Batman with the city, the corruption, the crime, and it becomes clear that what makes The Batman so different from other Batman movies is that this isn’t a Batman film—this is a Gotham film.

The Batman isn’t exactly introducing new ideas that we haven’t seen before in a Batman film, it’s simply focusing on components that have often been in the background of previous Batman films. Villains in the past might have used the duplicitous nature of Gotham’s finest as an excuse for their crimes, but with The Batman , this dishonesty and misconduct becomes a central piece of this puzzle, even more important to the story than Paul Dano ’s disturbing and unsettling Riddler.

RELATED: Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz on ‘The Batman’ and Why Pattinson Thinks Cinematographer Greig Fraser is a “Genius”

The Batman largely centralizes on the idea of Bruce Wayne being the “world’s greatest detective,” teaming the hero with Jeffrey Wright ’s James Gordon to solve a series of puzzles and murders from The Riddler that is terrorizing Gotham. This cop duo pairing and the horrific nature of The Riddler’s puzzles makes large swaths of The Batman a clear homage to David Fincher ’s Se7en . From The Riddler’s morbid clues left amongst the blood to teach Gotham a lesson, to The Riddler’s dingy apartment, Reeves’ take on the villain feels at times like an alternate take on Se7en ’s John Doe as well. Yet putting this type of darker mystery at the center of a Batman film does make this reverence not feel as egregious as, say, Joker ’s borrowing from The King of Comedy .

In this journey to take down The Riddler, Reeves—who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig —gives us a Batman who is still trying to figure out how to be The Dark Knight. Even more so than the origin story of Batman Begins , The Batman shows Bruce Wayne often struggling to be the hero he wants to be. Bruce is frequently clumsy or in over his head, and again, Pattinson plays him with a bluntness, as if he can’t seem to see the faults in his plans until it’s too late. More than any other Batman, Pattinson plays this character as part emo kid (we’re introduced to Bruce blasting Nirvana in his Batcave located under a bridge, as black eye makeup trails down his face), but also as a man who has been hurt by this city and wants to make sure what happened to him never happens to anyone again. It’s an illogical task, but this Bruce is willing to die to make the impossible possible.

As Batman, Pattinson focuses on the fear within the character, with an underlying seething anger he's ready to let loose at any moment. While The Batman doesn’t show us the death of his parents (thank god), we can see the wounds still coming to the surface, the pain that has been inflicted on him that has caused him to be this way. Pattinson is great at these types of performances, where what’s most important is what is left unsaid, and he uses this to excellent effect with this version of the character.

But The Batman nails the casting of all these classic characters, not just Pattinson’s stoic Batman or Dano’s uneasy Riddler. Wright makes for a perfect Gordon, a good cop surrounded by corruption, while Andy Serkis ’ take on Alfred Pennyworth beautifully marries the character’s unspoken past with a tremendous amount of love for Bruce. Colin Farrell steals every scene he has as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, an extraordinarily fun performance that leans heavily into a Robert De Niro impersonation at times. Even antagonists without some type of villain gimmick shine here due to the excellent casting, such as Peter Sarsgaard as the unscrupulous District Attorney Gil Colson, or John Turturro , who makes Carmine Falcone into the puppet master behind Gotham’s underworld.

Yet the standout amongst this fantastic cast is Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, who gets tied into Batman’s hunt for The Riddler. The chemistry between Pattinson and Kravitz is almost overwhelming, and their dynamic is the only time that Batman allows himself to lighten up a bit, which only makes both characters even more endearing. Kravitz plays Kyle as—like Bruce—another person hurt by Gotham, yet without the optimism that the city can change. Catwoman has always been an antihero to some extent, but through Kravitz’s performance, her take almost makes us realize she probably has the more grounded take on Gotham’s future. Catwoman has had its share of excellent takes in film, but Kravitz comes extremely close to being the best take on this character.

Again, what makes The Batman a unique take on this tried-and-true story is that focus on Gotham, the effect it has had on these characters, and the seeming impossibility to make an actual change in a world this torn apart. From the opening scene of The Riddler taking down a dishonorable politician named Don, homages to the levees breaking in New Orleans, to discussions about promises of renewal being a lie, it’s hard not to see the real-world parallels in The Batman and understand the almost overwhelming suffocation of this Gotham. But it’s Reeves’ focus on the world of Gotham that makes The Batman something truly distinctive in the world of live-action Batman films. Usually, Gotham is little more than a wicked city, churning out supervillains, but Reeves makes his Gotham into a living, breathing city, one where we can see the consequences of the deception and fraud at the top and how it hurts everyone underneath. While The Riddler’s tactics are clearly villainous, it’s easy to see why someone dealing with this unavoidable nightmare would want to purge the city of its sin.

But this way of showing a different angle on entertainment that is already well-established is what Reeves does so well. With Cloverfield , he took a city-destroying monster film and told a story from the perspective of those running away from the destruction. With Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes , he reinvestigated this franchise from the viewpoint of the apes in a grounded and surprisingly touching way. With The Batman , Reeves continues this trend by spending more time in the trenches of Gotham, showing the insurmountable challenge that Batman has ahead of him, and creating a richer version of this city than we usually get in these films.

At three hours long, The Batman flies by thanks to Reeves’ direction. He takes time to focus on the city, the heroes, the villains, and the legacy of Gotham that has led to this scenario. Reeves and Craig’s screenplay handles Gotham with care and consideration, a city ruled by men who lived in the murkiness of their situation, many of which had the best of intentions, yet became overtaken by reality. Reeves doesn’t rush by the structure of what makes Gotham the way it is, and still manages to make The Batman move at a clip.

The Batman is also just a gorgeous film, with cinematography by Greig Fraser ( Dune , Rogue One , Zero Dark Thirty ) that embraces the darkness, but never feels saturated by it, and a commanding, powerful score by Michael Giacchino , with a Batman theme that almost feels like it was birthed out of “The Imperial March.” Like its cast, Reeves has clearly found the best team to bring this version of Batman to life at every step.

But the biggest problem with The Batman is that despite all the Fincher inspiration and the phenomenal cast and crew, this still has to be a Batman film. Especially in the third act, The Batman can’t help but start to hit the notes one would expect from a superhero film. While the film’s major action set piece is expertly handled, it does feel somewhat tonally at odds with what the rest of the film has done. At the end of the day, The Batman is the beginning of a trilogy planned by Reeves, and is on track to be the source of at least two HBO Max spinoff series, and the end of The Batman is stuck setting up these future stories, for better or for worse. It should be expected that The Batman would be a part of a bigger whole, but especially in the final act, it’s hard not to sort of hope that The Batman could exist on its own terms, to take its own chances, and try to break the mold a bit more, especially considering what the film is doing up until that point.

Still, Reeves has made the best Batman film since The Dark Knight , with a captivating and rich world that reinvigorates characters we’ve already seen on screen over and over again. With The Batman , Reeves prioritizes the shadows of Gotham, setting up this city in a way we’ve never seen before onscreen, bringing life to the world around Batman. Instead of heroes and villains that live in black and white, Reeves has presented a city defined by the gray. The Batman doesn't redefine what we know about this character, but through Reeves' direction, we're shown a Batman story in a way we've never quite seen before. While most other Batman films focus on the hero that comes out of the darkness, Reeves has focused on the darkness that hero came out of, which makes all the difference.

The Batman opens in theaters on March 4.

Screen Rant

The batman: 10 best scenes, according to reddit.

The Batman is full of amazing scenes and action sequences, from start to finish. But which ones stood out for the users on Reddit?

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Batman (2022)

Matt Reeves'  The Batman is already widely regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time since its March 4th release. Not only was Robert Pattinson praised for providing one of the best performances for the famous DC Comic's character but Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano were also praised for providing a unique and original portrayal of Selina Kyle and The Riddler too.

Related:  The 10 Best Letterboxd Reviews For The Batman

The Batman is essentially a love letter to longtime fans of the character, filled with exciting moments and amazing performances from the main cast. Following watching the film, many fans took to Reddit and discussed their favorite scenes, with many standing out more than others.

Batman Escaping GCPD Building

Following an explosion that knocked him unconscious, Batman gets taken into GCPD headquarters by the police, where he eventually escapes after Jeffrey Wright's Detective Gordon assists him.

This scene is tense because every police officer except for Gordon is against Batman, yet he finds a way to slip out of their grasps and glide off the roof of the building. Reddit user KnightWing890  writes how they "love the shot of him zip-lining up in the center of the staircase," which is a classic escape tactic that Batman uses often. Although this scene won't get talked about enough by The Batman  fans, it is certainly one of the best in the entire film.

Catwoman Vs. Carmine Falcone

One of the more surprising relationships that were explored in  The Batman was between Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle/Catwoman and John Turturro's Carmine Falcone. In the final act of the film, Selina reveals to Batman that Falcone is her father and that she wants to kill him for all the pain he's caused in her life.

When she goes to kill him, she swiftly takes out his men and gets to him fairly easily, leading to an emotional confrontation. Both actors did a great job in the scene convincing comic book fans that they truly are the characters that they know and love. As  Reddit user igotl2k  summarized, Kravitz's character "felt like the character I have grown up reading the comics."

Alfred & Bruce Have A Heart-To-Heart

Despite not having a ton of screen time, Andy Serkis' Alfred Pennyworth is one of the best and most intelligent characters in  The Batman . After he is almost killed by one of The Riddler's bombs, Alfred is hospitalized and Bruce is by his bedside when he awakes.

Related:  7 Ways The Batman's Zoë Kravitz Is The Best Catwoman Yet

Alfred revealing the truth about Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths changed Bruce for the better, while also strengthening the relationship between the two. This was the most heartfelt scene in the film because it showed the human side of Bruce Wayne for the first time since he's always in Batman mode. As  Michael-53 on Reddit states, "the hospital scene gave me exactly what I wanted," and several fans would likely agree with them.

Batman & The Riddler Speak In Arkham Asylum

When The Riddler allows himself to get caught by the Gotham City police, it was clear that the main conflict was not over. When Batman goes to Arkham Asylum to speak with Riddler, it's an intense and eerie scene that shows just how damaged the villain is.

Paul Dano delivers one of the best performances in  The Batman as Riddler and this is the scene that cements that. Not only can the audience see Batman becoming increasingly more frustrated with the villain, but Dano does a great job in showing how The Riddler lacks any empathy or compassion for the residents of Gotham. As Reddit user, Vord_Loldemort_7 , writes "Him toying with Bruce in Arkham was amazing [...] He was a perfect Riddler."

The Batmobile Reveal/ Chasing The Penguin

When it was first revealed in trailers, many fans were critical of the film's adaptation of the Batmobile, as it's a much more toned-down version than what they're used to.

However, all those concerns were put to rest when the vehicle first appears on the screen as  this Reddit user  expresses their excitement, saying, "It revving and flashing in the pitch black like some horrific beast was a cool scene." Following its reveal was an exhilarating chase on the freeway after The Penguin, which shows the amount of power in the Batmobile. Hopefully, fans get to see more of the vehicle in future projects because it was truly a special moment.

The Gotham Square Garden Fight

The climax of the film takes place at Gotham Square Garden, where The Riddler's henchmen take over a political rally. What follows is a non-stop action-packed scene, with Batman risking his life to protect the people of Gotham.

Related:  10 Best Batmobile Scenes In The Batman Movies

For  Reddit user, thepolicearecomingyo , they believed "the city of Gotham was a character in the movie" itself as it played such a pivotal part in Batman's arc. Batman loves the city of Gotham and is willing to protect it at any cost, even if he has to take multiple bullets to accomplish it. His sheer will to keep fighting a seemingly endless number of Riddler henchmen is nothing short of electrifying.

The Riddler's Introduction

The Batman opens with Mayor Mitchell of Gotham City being brutally murdered by The Riddler while he's at home with his family. The scene sets the tone for the entire film and instantly shows the audience what type of criminal this version of The Riddler is.

As  Carpetfreak on Reddit writes "The Riddler killing the Mayor was the moment I knew this was going to be good." The Riddler is one of the best villains in Batman comic books  and this adaptation's introduction to the big screen is chilling.

Gil Colson Riddle Scene

When district attorney Gil Colson goes missing, Detective Gordon believes that the Riddler has killed him too given recent events in the city. However, when Colson crashes into the mayor's funeral with a bomb strapped to his neck, The Riddler gives him three riddles to save his own life. Riddler providing extremely difficult riddles is classic to the character and this scene is nerve-racking because one slip up and Colson's bomb goes off.

This was one of those scenes in movies that has fans on the very edge of your seat because you have no idea which direction it's going to go. Although he was a corrupt figure, even Reddit user BoredCrusader1899 said they were "rooting for Colson to get the riddles right." Fans also loved how the scene displays the intelligence of Batman, as he gets the answers to the riddles instantly while a scared Colson is losing it.

Citizens Of Gotham City Following Batman

In arguably the most impactful scene in the entire film, Batman walks out of Gotham Square Garden in the water after the big fight, with the citizens of Gotham City following him to safety. It's a scene that displays how he's become more than just the protector of Gotham City, but now the hero of the people.

This is the moment where he gains the trust of the people he's sworn to protect and when he realizes that hope is stronger than vengeance, with Reddit user Ronni_Nikoson  writing how they "loved the scene where he was carrying the wounded woman [and] she wouldn’t let go." Batman carrying the woman to safety as Nirvana music plays in the background  is a cool moment that closes out the story of the film in a satisfying way.

Batman & Detective Gordon Solving Crimes Together

While there were plenty of memorable scenes in  The Batman,  many viewers loved watching the bond between Detective Gordon and Batman as they solved crimes together.  The Batman nails home the notion that Batman is the world's greatest detective by showing him in action and showing the developing partnership between him and Gordon.

For Reddit user Alleywaydog , they feel that this "might be the best Batman/Gordon dynamic we've seen on screen." In past Batman films, fans haven't gotten the proper opportunity to see Batman and Gordon solve crimes together and figure things out as partners. Every scene with the duo solving Riddler clues or looking over evidence is amazing and hopefully, there's more where that came from in potential future installments.

Next:  10 Biggest Surprises In The Batman  

The 7 Best New Movies on Amazon Prime Video in March 2024

An Oscar winner, an action remake and two Michelle Pfeiffer films

If you’re looking for something new to watch on Amazon Prime Video this month, you’ve come to the right place. While Amazon can make it tricky to find what you’re looking for, we’ve thumbed through the entire list of what’s new on Prime Video in March to pick the best of the best. That includes a newly minted Oscar winner, a star-fronted action remake and two Michelle Pfeiffer movies that truly show off the actress’ range.

Check out our picks for the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video in March 2024 below.

“American Fiction”

The Oscar-winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, “American Fiction” is a sharp, funny story about an acclaimed Black novelist whose latest manuscript gets rejected for not being “Black enough.” Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) then decides to get back at them by writing what he thinks is a stereotypical “Black” story as a joke – only for publishers to fawn over his latest book. While a book he hates becomes a runaway success, Monk struggles with his own familial and romantic issues at home. This is a layered and tremendously entertaining film that marks the directorial debut of Emmy-winning “Watchmen” and “Succession” writer Cord Jefferson. – Adam Chitwood

“Road House”

Who knew that a glossy “Road House” remake would be this controversial? The new movie, which sees Jake Gyllenhaal fill in for Patrick Swayze as a former UFC fighter turned “cooler” at a dingy roadside bar in Florida, has besieged by scandal – between producer Joel Silver getting removed from the project, to director Doug Liman  publicly distancing himself  from the movie as a protest for Amazon’s lack of theatrical exhibition, to a recent lawsuit claiming that the movie utilized AI voice reproduction during the writers’ strike as a way of skirting copyright expiration. Honestly, none of this really matters, considering how cool the first trailer was, how tantalizing the supporting cast is (including Jessica Williams, Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen and Conor McGregor) and how well-regarded the original movie has become over the years. We cannot wait to visit “Road House,” controversy be damned. –  Drew Taylor

Five Nights at Freddy’s

The video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a movie that asks the age-old question: What if the Chuck E. Cheese or Showbiz Pizza was haunted by the spirit of dead children? Part of the fun of the movie is playing up the inherent creepiness of those jittery audio-animatronics that would play music while sugar-fueled kids play Skee-Ball. And this is especially true since Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, responsible for the characters in “The Dark Crystal” and the first “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (truly the height of Chuck E. Cheese’s) came up with the animatronic creatures for this movie. And there is a pretty involving mystery at its heart, too, as a beleaguered security guard (Josh Hutcherson) works to uncover the truth behind a series of disappearances somehow connected to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, the spooky decrepit pizza joint. Plus, this is one of those PG-13 horror movies that still has enough edge to delight every nightmare-seeker in your family. –  Drew Taylor

Batman Returns

Tim Burton’s 1992 sequel remains one of the best, boldest and sexiest Batman movies ever made – and it holds up tremendously well. “Batman Returns” is the superior follow-up to Burton’s 1989 hit, with Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Michelle Pfeiffer is phenomenal with her turn as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, with the character serving as a tempting mirror of Bruce Wayne’s own dichotomy and a more violent path towards vigilantism. There’s also Danny DeVito’s snarling Penguin, and perhaps most terrifying of all Christopher Walken’s soulless businessman Max Schreck. With a Christmas setting and Burton pushing the Gothic aesthetics to the extreme, this is one of the best Batman movies ever made. – Adam Chitwood

How to Train Your Dragon

A tremendous family film if there ever was one, 2010’s “How to Train Your Dragon” is an uplifting, deeply compassionate animated adventure. Jay Baruchel voices Hiccup, a Viking living in a village with his father who struggles to fit in. When he befriends a dragon – creatures thought by the Vikings to be violent and terrifying – Hiccup begins to see the world differently, and in turn convinces his friends and family to check their prejudices and consider the world from a different point of view. – Adam Chitwood

This Is the End

Released in 2013 at the height of the Judd Apatow brand of comedy, “This Is the End” marked the directorial debut of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who also wrote the script) as they tackled a truly wild vision for a comedy: what if these comedy stars played exaggerated versions of themselves who had to contend with an apocalypse? Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride and Jay Baruchel are the main anchors for this hilarious and surprisingly sweet comedy, which hosts a boatload of cameos from Rihanna to Emma Watson to Paul Rudd. – Adam Chitwood

What Lies Beneath

“What Lies Beneath” is both a product of its time and perfect for the current era’s obsession with true crime stories. Made by director Robert Zemeckis while the “Cast Away” production took a yearlong break for Tom Hanks to lose weigh, this thriller stars Harrison Ford as a successful doctor whose wife, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, begins to believe their Vermont home is haunted by a ghost. Marital strife ensues and this Hitchockian thriller builds to a truly brilliant sequence in the third act involving a bath tub. – Adam Chitwood

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Henry Cavill Is A Perfect Fit For This Superman Replacement In James Gunn's DC Universe Art

• Henry Cavill could potentially play Apollo in the DC Universe.
• The Authority movie in the DCU is expected to be violent and R-rated, focusing on extreme characters.
• The casting process for The Authority will begin once a finalized script is in place.

Henry Cavill ditches Superman for a new DC Universe hero in striking fan art. Cavill gave life to the Man of Steel in the DCEU; however, the role has since been recast for James Gunn's DCU, with David Corenswet set to play Clark Kent in the 2025 Superman reboot . While Cavill is out as Superman, Gunn previously mentioned that the actor could come back to DC in another role, and there is the perfect Superman replacement for him.

On Reddit, user Select-Control8320 shared what Cavill could look like as The Authority 's Apollo in the DCU .

Cavill looks great as the DC anti-hero, wearing a gold and white costume. Apollo is commonly referred to as an extreme version of Superman, with the character never holding back when he is on the field. Apollo is one of the most famous members of DC Comics' The Authority , and the character will likely be part of the team's announced DCU movie .

Recasting Henry Cavill As 10 Villains For James Gunn's DC Universe

What we know about the authority in the dcu, one member of the team has been cast.

There has not been a lot of information shared about the upcoming The Authority movie. Given how the team is known for not being afraid to get bloody in order to save the world, the movie should be a violent R-rated endeavor. The Authority 's two most famous characters are Apollo and Midnighter. The duo, who are lovers, are extremely violent versions of Superman and Batman.

DC has already cast the first member of the DCU's The Authority . Before the team fully debuts in its announced movie, María Gabriela de Faría will appear as The Engineer in Gunn's Superman . The character has been described in reports as an antagonist in the movie. While The Engineer is the only member of the team who has been cast, a couple of other The Authority players are rumored to show up in 2025's Superman .

Recently, Gunn shared an update on the status of The Authority . According to the DCU's creative chief, the franchise's projects will only start their casting process when there is a finalized script, which is not the case for The Authority at the moment. With no script or director attached to it, The Authority will likely take some time to arrive, though if the movie ends up casting Henry Cavill as Apollo, the wait would be rewarded in the end.

DC Universe

The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Source: Select-Control8320 /Reddit

Key Release Dates

Superman (2025), the batman part ii.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Bong joon ho unveils irreverent first trailer for robert pattinson starrer ‘mickey 17’.

The sci-fi feature centers on a man who is dies (over and over and over).

By Aaron Couch

Aaron Couch

Film Editor

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

The many facets of Robert Pattinson were on display in the first trailer for Mickey 17 , the upcoming film from Bong Joon Ho that delves into human printing, identity and space colonization.

Bong made his first trip to CinemaCon to show off the trailer, with Bong saying it’s the story of “a simple man who ultimately ends up saving the world.”

Related Stories

Kevin costner hopes 'horizon: an american saga' can be binged in theaters someday, george miller, anya taylor-joy and chris hemsworth debut high-octane 'furiosa' footage at cinemacon.

“The number is the number of times he dies. I killed him ten times more,” Bong said to laughs from the crowd. “It’s a sci-fi movie, but it’s a human story.”

The trailer, which was not released outside the room, was set to Frank Sinatra, which added levity to some rather violent scenes, such as Mickey losing a hand and being dumped alive into liquid metal (with his consent).

Mickey 17 has been the subject of much curiosity, given that it is Bong’s followup to the best picture-winning Parasite , yet has taken quite awhile for a first look to emerge. Post-production delays pushed the film off a March 2024 release date to Jan. 31, 2025, a date that turned heads given that this does not position Oscar-winner Bong’s latest as an awards contender. The film also stars Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, Naomie Ackie and Toni Collette.

Pattinson, who is a Warners partner as the star of The Batman and its upcoming sequel, called Bong’s script “one of the funniest, bizarre sci-fi scripts I’ve ever read in my life.”

Pattinson essentially plays two characters — Mickey 17 and Mickey 18, and while they are genetically identical, Pattinson gave them different characteristics. Mickey 17, he says, is beaten down by life but is happy to be part of a team, while 18 is more like “playing an evil brother” who is “out of control.”

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘joker 2’ trailer unites joaquin phoenix and lady gaga in song, tim burton says gathering ‘beetlejuice’ team for sequel “was like a weird family reunion”, kevin costner hopes ‘horizon: an american saga’ can be binged in theaters someday, george miller, anya taylor-joy and chris hemsworth debut high-octane ‘furiosa’ footage at cinemacon, ‘the crow’ delays release to late summer, ‘saw xi’ moves to 2025.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Original Movies, Meet the Resistance: ‘Monkey Man’ and ‘The First Omen’ Underwhelm Box Office

Tom brueggemann.

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on LinkedIn
• Show more sharing options
• Submit to Reddit
• Post to Tumblr
• Print This Page
• Share on WhatsApp

Exhibitor convention CinemaCon starts tomorrow in Las Vegas, and it would be great to kick off with happy box office news. That’s not the case with surprisingly weak results for two fresh titles, “Monkey Man” (Universal) and “The First Omen” (Disney) . They brought the weekend total lower than expected and suggested an already-weak April could slide toward a worst-case scenario.

“ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ” (Warner Bros.) repeated as #1 in its second week, more than tripling the take for #2, Dev Patel’s “ Monkey Man .” The franchise’s 60 percent drop isn’t bad, given an opening weekend that included Good Friday and the Easter holidays. It’s grossed $135 million U.S./Canada in 10 days.

“Monkey Man” and “Omen” had better-than-average reviews for genre titles, and Patel’s movie came off of a strong SXSW debut. However, both came in below projections that suggested each had a chance of grossing $13 million or more. The Cinemascore for “Monkey” was B+ (mediocre) and “Omen” a C (bad); neither showed much momentum to suggest significant improvement ahead.

What makes this particularly disappointing is both films were rescued from streaming debuts. “Monkey” began as a Netflix project, with Jason Blum pushing Universal to take it on. “Omen” was one of the many 20th Century Fox legacy prospects Disney acquired with the studio. The hope was the $30 million budget might lead to IP.

Other than Searchlight’s “Poor Things,” this was Disney’s first new release since “Wish” last November. Many outlets credit 20th Century as the distributor, a distinction that inadvertently elevates an awkward reality: Disney can nurture sequels and brands, but has a very hard time with anything beyond the tried and true.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” (Sony) at #3 is best among the other three March sequels. After three weekends it’s at $89 million, with foreign at $49 million (some key territories still to open). “Kung Fu Panda 4” (Universal) is #5, down only 24 percent with $166 million domestic so far; “Dune: Part Two” (WB) is #6 and $265 million domestic.

Two new films joined the top 10. Fathom’s “Someone Like You,” based on a best-selling romance novel, is #7 with $3 million in 1,800 theaters. Sony Picture Classics’ “Wicked Little Letters” with Maggie Smith in its second week expanded to 1,002 theaters. The distributor reports a gross of $1,557,000, which includes a much bigger Sunday estimate than anticipated by rival distributors, so its #8 position could be high.

New platform releases this week were led by two titles in four New York/Los Angeles theaters.”The Beast” (Janus/Sideshow) grossed $48,000, while “Housekeeping for Beginners” (Focus) is close at $45,000. Both European productions premiered at Venice, with a nearly identical level of strong reviews. Both expand to other big cities next week. In a single Manhattan location, “The People’s Joker” (Altered Innocence), a renegade comedy take on the “Batman” character did $16,272 in a delayed release after it was initially shown once at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival.

Among intriguing recent wider releases, Neon’s “Immaculate” is again in the Top 10, with $14 million so far. IFC’s “Late Night with the Devil” added another million for $8.5 million total. A24’s “Love Lies Bleeding” is at $7.8 million.

1. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros.) Week 2; last weekend #1

$31,700,000 (-60%) in 3,948 (+47) theaters; PTA (per theater average): $8,029; Cumulative: $135,038,000

2. Monkey Man (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 72; Est. budget: $10 million

$10,150,000 in 3,029 theaters; PTA: $3,351; Cumulative: $10,100,000

$9,000,000 (-42%) in 3,835 (-510) theaters; PTA: $2,347; Cumulative: $88,864,000

4. The First Omen (Disney) NEW – Cinemascore: C; Metacritic: 64; Est. budget: $30 million

$8,363,000 in 3,375 theaters; PTA: $2,478; Cumulative: $8,363,000

5. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) Week 5; Last weekend #4

$7,850,000 (-24%) in 3,398 (-184) theaters; PTA: $2,310; Cumulative: $166,050,000

6. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.) Week 5; Last weekend #3

$7,200,000 (-37%) in 2,836 (-300) theaters; PTA: $2,539; Cumulative: $264,859,000

7. Someone Like You (Fathom) NEW

$3,002,000 in 1,800 theaters; PTA: $1,668; Cumulative: $3,002,000

8. Wicked Little Letters (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2; Last weekend #26

$1,557,000 (+2,031%) in 1,002 theaters (+997); PTA: $1,554; Cumulative: $1,653,000

9. Arthur the King (Lionsgate) Week 3; Last weekend #6

$1,540,000 (-38%) in 1,724 (-821) theaters; PTA: $904; Cumulative: $22,206,000

10. Immaculate (Neon) Week 3; Last weekend #5

$1,405,000 (-57%) in 1,706 (-656) theaters; PTA: $824; Cumulative: $14,146,000

Other specialized titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded.

The Beast (Janus/Sideshow) NEW – Metacritic: 84; Festivals include: Venice, Toronto, New York 2023

$48,000 in 4 theaters; PTA: $12,000

Housekeeping for Beginners (Focus) NEW – Metacritic: 85; Festivals include: Venice 2023

$45,000 in 4 theaters; PTA: $11,250

The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence) NEW – Metacritic: 80; Festivals include: Toronto 2022

$16,272 in 1 theater; PTA: $16,272

La Chimera (Neon) Week 2

$80,321 in 18 (+15) theaters; PTA: $4,462; Cumulative: $151,232

$1,114,000 in 1,159 (-283) theaters; Cumulative: $8,451,000

Femme (Utopia) Week 3

$64,843 in 104 (+10) theaters; Cumulative: $125,082

Limbo (Music Box) Week 3

$4.515 in 11 (+4) theaters; Cumulative: $27,537

One Life (Bleecker Street) Week 4

$269,063 in 260 (-318) theaters; Cumulative: $5,123,000

Love Lies Bleeding (A24) Week 5

$288,201 in 264 (-594) theaters; Cumulative: $7,830,000 Cabrini (Angel) Week 5 1345

Problemista (A24) Week 6

$163,580 in 195 (-184) theaters; Cumulative: $2,260,000

Perfect Days (Neon) Week 9

$60,000 in 63 (+1) theaters; Cumulative: $3,519,000

The Taste of Things (IFC) Week 9

$10,892 in 17 (-24) theaters; Cumulative: $2,655,000

Most Popular

You may also like.