The Batman Review

Dark Knight was a hard act to follow, Nolan raised the bar so high that any successor to the cape and cowl was almost certainly doomed to live in its shadow. However Matt Reeves achieved the impossible with his excellent Batman adaptation, he both managed to match the high standard of quality Nolan achieved, while also shattering the mold and creating something groundbreaking. He did this by making the Batman a compelling mystery, like the recent Sherlock Holmes mysteries. This is no mean feat, because entertainment media is replete with crime mysteries in the form of forensic procedural shows, and these types of media have been done to death. However The Batman breathes new life into crime mysteries, not with any single mindblowing revelation, but with the ramifications of the revelations, the power of the synergy between the different parts of the story, the different layers of the mystery. The Batman is a brilliant conspiracy mystery that draws you into its dense web of intrigue and doesn't let you go, each new revelation is brilliantly executed. Pattinson is brilliant as the tortured hero, his obsession with solving crime bordering on pathological. Andy Serkis is superb as the sidekick Alfred, who makes Bruce confront the demons of his past when he almost loses him. Zoe Kravitz plays the capricious and sultry Catwoman masterfully, and Colin Farell is mesmerizing as the deviously charming Penguin. John Turturo is great as the mephistophelean Falcone, and Paul Dano is brilliant as the orchestrator of the drama, who seeks to expose the secrets that lie at the rotten heart of the city of Gotham. While the mystery doesnt have anything mindblowing like the matrix, the power of the revelation comes from how it ties the rest of the story together while deepening the narrative. The action is fantastic and my only nit pick is the occasional uneveness of the pacing. A crime thriller masterpiece.