DC of Warner Bros recently released a new movie for their most popular superhero, Batman. By March 4th, The Batman was released and become the second-highest-grossing film since the COVID-19 onset. Unlike other Batman movies, director Matt Reeves decided to take a different approach; it was not another traditional backstory. The movie is almost three hours long, which is approximately the length of other DC movies.
I was excited about this movie for a few reasons: Batman is my favorite DC superhero, and there has not been a Batman movie that I have not enjoyed. I like some Batman movies over others, but overall I think the Batman franchise has been really great, and only seems to be getting better over time.
They made a big decision when it came to casting: originally Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in 2020, before the pandemic, but because the movie kept getting delayed, he decided he was no longer going to do it. So, instead, Robert Pattinson was cast, which created a lot of backlash. Even I was hesitant about their casting decision, not because I think he is a horrible actor, I just think it is harder for an actor to expand their career once they are known for something like Pattinson who starred in Twilight and Harry Potter.
But with all that in mind, I gave the movie a chance. I saw it on a Tuesday night and was honestly excited, even though my expectations were kind of low going into it.
As soon as the movie started, I was intrigued. I think that this was one of the best Batman movies, besides The Dark Knight, which came out in 2008. I felt that it gave a new look into the characters that we really have not seen before.
Usually, directors and screenwriters focus on the backstory of Batman and his relationship with the Joker, and hardly anyone else. But this time it was different. We got to see a side of Gotham that we really have not been able to see. It focused mostly on politics and how it is affecting the “new” villain—the Riddler. I think that they did a good job not just focusing on one specific plot, as he was working on multiple different things in the movie that were all interconnected to each other.
In the past, DC would make a Batman movie that would just focus on one specific issue and it would get kind of boring halfway through, while this movie was focused on a few different things. Catwoman had a pretty impactful but also discreet relationship in the movie. I thought that because she was shown in the trailer so much that she would be in the movie more, but really she was not seen much.
I am definitely excited to see what they do with the next movie; I know there will—very likely—be another movie because there are usually a few movies set when a new person is cast as a character.
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