[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Batman (2022)

A very good return to form for Batman following the misfire of casting Ben Affleck in the role. Here Robert Pattinson plays Trent Reznor, i mean Bruce Wayne and the Batman attempting to track down the murderous Riddler who is targeting Gotham's elite citizens.

The Batman is dark, very dark both in look and content with the story and characters seemingly set in the same universe as the tv series Gotham and the comic book stories The Long Halloween and Year One. I liked Pattinson he seemed ideal for the role as did seedy Paul Dano as Riddler all decked out in his winter combat mask , very much a crazed terrorist rather than the question mark emblazoned green suited villain of the past. Meanwhile Colin Farrell was totally unrecognizable as Penguin, working away in the background of Carmine Falcone's (John Turturro) crime empire.

Aiding Batman, in a fashion, were Selina Kyle (Zoe Saldana) and the every reliable James Gordon (The ever reliable Jeffrey Wright) whilst Andy Serkis played Alfred in much the same way as Sean Pertwee did in the Gotham series.

The film, directed by Matt Reeves is the moodiest example of a screen Dark Knight to date, there's barely a chink of light to be seen, and i don't just mean due to the low lighting style. Parts of the film are fascinating, others exhilarating. However at three hours it is too long. The first hour went quite quickly but the half hour that followed sagged somewhat until the ante was upped once more as we arrived at a thrilling finale.

This is a million miles away from the planet chucking, universe hopping nonsense that Marvel subject us to every couple of months. It's grim, merciless and grounded in a grief stricken seedy reality echoing Film Noir rather than a Disney cartoon. I liked it.

Only thing I disagree on is Ben Afflecks casting in the Zach Snyder films. He suits the version of the character portrayed in those films.