By Molly Gawthrop, Staff Writer
Batman: Hero or Villain? The main character, Bruce Wayne, claims Batman blurs the lines of good and evil. Unlike traditional superheroes, Batman stays a borderline villain but has seemingly good intentions.
Set in Gotham City, The Batman begins on a journey fighting greed and fraud to uncover a cryptic assassin, the Riddler.
A murderer is on the loose and targets government officials. Batman is initially addressed by the unnamed subject, so he decides to take matters into his own hands. He follows a woman at a club back to her house and discovers that she is Catwoman. Her goal differs from Batman’s; he wants to find the killer while Catwoman wants to avenge her innocent friend.
Batman is a superhero movie with a dark twist. Starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, the expectations of this film were high. I have been a fan of Pattinson since his Twilight days, and I knew that casting him as Batman was an excellent choice.
The overwhelming reviews for The Batman have been very positive so far with an 85% review on Rotten Tomatoes. Senior Mariana, exclaimed, “Yes, I liked it very much. From the very first scenes, it caught my attention.”
When asked if she would personally recommend the film to others, Mariana Harutyunyan says, “I liked the actors’ flawless play. Robert Pattinson, who is playing Batman, is my favorite character.” Robert Pattinson, known for roles in Harry Potter and Twilight, took on a new persona for this role. He was almost unrecognizable as Batman and was a very strong actor.
Senior Daniella Del Cid saw Batman on its debut weekend. She was a fan of the movie because of the “cinematography, the acting, and the effects,” and she would recommend it to anyone considering going to see the film in theaters, “unless you get confused easily because [she] did get confused.”
The overall plot was well assembled, but it took a long time to come together. It felt tedious to watch, but I do recommend The Batman to anyone who likes traditional superhero movies since it was a nice change from the traditional plot.
The theme was gloomy and made use of dark shades. The costumes were intentionally dark which reflects the tone of the movie. Batman is quiet and isolated and the movie portrays this feeling. In Mariana’s words, the film is, “gritty, mysterious, intense and very aesthetically and beautifully demonstrated.”
Director Matt Reeves is known for his WB series Felicity and went to new lengths with this production of The Batman, going from drama to action, and television to film.
The movie, at almost three hours long, is definitely a commitment, but I found that as the movie went on, so did the action and intensity. The ending was much darker than I anticipated, and it was very different from Spiderman: No Way Home, the last superhero movie I saw in theaters.
I do think some moments felt drawn out. The plot took a long time to make sense, but overall the ending was very satisfying to see how the puzzle fit together. I do think this movie was worth watching, especially if you have a long attention span.
This Batman movie brought new elements to the original Batman. They took risks and balanced action and mystery.