"The Batman" a monumental reinvention that's distinctly weighty and gripping

The Batman (2022)

As much as we have seen the dark and brooding side of DC Comics on film before, calling “The Batman” a superhero movie almost doesn’t even seem correct. It’s nihilistic, disturbing, and sometimes even as vicious as a hard PG-13 horror movie. This new iteration of the Caped Crusader from writer-director Matt Reeves (2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes”) is just as weighty, if never oppressive, as Christopher Nolan’s gritty trilogy but with a fresh look and feel. As every “Batman” film (even Joel Schumacher’s garish “Batman & Robin”) has showcased a distinct shift in filmmaker with its tone and color palette, Reeves’ mature stamp on this property feels particularly monumental.

Wisely not a broken record and recounting Bruce Wayne’s origin story—no alleyway stickup or pearls strewn on the ground this time—“The Batman” is fully formed and lived-in without too many introductions. Two years into his vigilantism as The Batman, reclusive Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) continues his mission to decimate the rising crime rate in the perpetually rainy Gotham City. The city wishes Bruce would do more with his inheritance and philanthropical clout, but little do they know he is the one being summoned by the Bat-Signal as Gotham’s protector. After the murder of Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones) on Halloween night, Bruce aids in an investigation with Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). At the crime scene, the killer (Paul Dano) has left a riddle addressed to The Batman, and he’s not done. It seems this architect of doomsday anarchy is targeting a “rat,” and the clues point to a mob-owned nightclub full of corrupt political figures, where Batman will have to team up with an insider, cocktail waitress Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), who has a score of her own to settle.

“The Batman” is a lot of movie, but it’s lean and enthralling, even at a daunting 176 minutes that seem to fly. Writer-director Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig expertly plot their mystery without ever striking as convoluted or overstuffed, while upping the narrative stakes and being purposefully relevant in commenting on the sins of the fathers and political corruption. Just as much of a crime drama at its core as Nolan’s films, Reeves’ envisioning is even more of a crime procedural inside a mob world, like “Se7en” crossed with “The Crow.” 

Looking like a goth rocker rather than a slick playboy, Robert Pattinson brings fully felt rage and a damaged inner life to Bruce Wayne. In the suit as Batman, he is commanding but also thankfully still human and not humorless. As the actor has long proven after a certain wildly popular YA series put him on the map, Pattison can convey more with a little than some actors do with too much; when he introduces himself to a gang as vengeance incarnate, we believe him. But even a rubber suit can’t fully mask this Batman’s pain, trauma, and doubt. If anyone could put an exciting new spin on the role that is still, to this date, owned by Michelle Pfeiffer in “Batman Returns,” Zoë Kravitz is a terrific choice as cat burglar Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Carrying her weight to be Pattinson’s match, she’s slinky and sexy in motorcycle leather, but also soulful and loyal. Unless it’s really a character actor relishing the chance to play a pivotal Batman villain, a completely unrecognizable Colin Farrell disappears under seamless prosthetic make-up as nightclub proprietor Oz/The Penguin, and he goes big without being bigger than the world of the film. There is no small part in an ensemble that includes talent like Jeffrey Wright, as the law-abiding James Gordon; Andy Serkis, now getting his chance to play Bruce’s father figure Alfred Pennyworth; and John Turturro, registering a low-key menace as mob boss Carmine Falcone.

Holding all of the danger, though, is Paul Dano’s unnerving Riddler (his buddies call him Edward Ashton). This Riddler is decidedly not as giggly and sparkly as Jim Carrey’s previous interpretation, but more of a sadistic serial killer with more in common to the Zodiac Killer and Jigsaw from the “Saw” movies. Making the role entirely his own, Dano chillingly essays another creepy character who’s human but too brilliant for his own good and truly terrifying. 

This is one of those special rarities where every creative department is operating at its highest level possible to bring a filmmaker’s vision to life. Just to name a few, Greig Fraser’s cinematography is often impressionistic and breathtaking with his use of light and shadow, and Michael Giacchino’s varied musical score—at once portentous and operatic with horror sensibilities—is indelible, as is the recurring use of Nirvana’s haunting “Something in the Way.” The opening scene is a masterful gripper of hold-your-breath tension, as we wait for the killer to strike. A hostage situation at a funeral is nerve-jangling and dangerous. The way a shootout in a pitch-black hallway is staged, illuminated only by gunfire, is absolutely thrilling, as is a nighttime car chase and crash that recalls the kind of fluidity cinematographer Fraser brought to Reeves’ “Let the Right One In” remake (2010’s “Let Me In”). While the Dark Knight has evolved from "holy" one-liners to Tim Burton gothic horror and Batsuit nipples to gravelly pipes, "The Batman" feels like a vital, adult-minded reinvention that can exist on its own. It's quite a marvel.

Grade: A -

Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing “The Batman” (176 min.) in theaters on March 4, 2022.