Gotham City’s masked vigilante has been one of the most notable symbols of pop culture for the better part of 80 years. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, has seen his fair share of revivals, and each one has met with a pang of resistance when they first get announced. Understandable, given how entwined we all are to our idea of the perfect caped crusader, whereas we seemed to have missed the exciting opportunity for more Batman stories in our lives. Matt Reeves has been working tirelessly behind the scenes through re-writes, re-casting, and multiple setbacks, and his hard labour has all cumulated for Warners Bros. brand new film, ‘The Batman’.

Robert Paterson headlines as the Batman, an unexpected pick for the role on a surface level, but in practice is a dominating screen presence. I will cover more on his performance in a moment, as this was only the tip of the iceberg of outstanding casting choices. Zoë Kravitz plays the double life of Selina Kyle and the notoriously crafty Catwoman, while Colin Ferrell is a modern-day chameleon with a gritty rendition of Penguin.

Jim Gordon returns as a weathered veteran of the crime industry and a stoic performance by Jeffery Wright, and butler/wingman to Batman, Alfred is covered by the talented Andy Serkis. The main antagonist of the film comes from Paul Dano, with a spine-tingling and down-right fear-inducing Riddler. His antics as an active serial killer set the stage for Batman and his detective skill set, with additional help from his fragile connection to the police force.

Dark, rundown, and a hint of gothic influences have been explored to full effect to craft the grungiest and most crime-infested Gotham City on the big screen to date. The set design was an astonishing accomplishment of creating a time bubble by utilising elements from an older generation while keeping a modern touch.

The architecture of the city was built on old bones, slowly built upon to create claustrophobic alleyways with old industrial estates turned into nightclubs. It was the perfect playground for the Batman to hunt in the night. Through stylistic and heavily focused cinematography, the viewer is always placed right in the action with unsettling and borderline horror theme aesthetics for the most intense experience ever in a Batman film.

It was clear the decision was made early on to skip over the very beginning of Bruce Wayne’s journey but a smart decision to place him early enough in his Batman journey that it wasn’t too abrupt of an introduction. A murder most foul of Gotham’s elite showcases Batman’s extremely brittle truce with the police of Gotham as he is escorted to the crime scene by Jim Gordon.

Batman’s presence alone makes others uncomfortable as his demeanour is hard to ascertain his true motivation. It reflected well with his suit being a work-in-progress build that is more akin to a brawler in armour than the refined and gadget-heavy version we are used to. While being ahead of the curve by nature, as an intelligent and motivated individual, Bruce’s young and throw caution to wind attitude makes for a vengeful and brutal character.

While Batman still has his signature, no-kill policy, he certainly is not opposed to rendering those who cross him into a nasty beaten pulp. His brash and almost reckless abandonment only grows stronger as he falls further behind a sadistic Riddler and he scrambles to maintain control. These same factors carry over to Bruce Wayne himself, he has yet to craft the image of playboy philanthropist and seems to resent that half of him, as if it is holding him back from being the Batman. A great parallel was formed by his loose partnership with Selina Kyle, a woman who had been leading a double life successfully and is able to use both sides of her repertoire to service her own goals of revenge.

A special mention must be given to Michael Giacchinno for the amazing musical score of the film. Whether it was the grandiose and heart-pumping backdrop to an explosive and death-defying car chase, noir mystery of a crime scene, or unsettling and downright disturbing themes for the Riddler, he had an answer for every scene. This was paired with some awe-inspiring sound design in general, which added to the jump scare elements of the film and made an award-winning combination.

The Batman is a cinematic achievement coming in at around 3 hours of run time. A significant amount of work went into the writing and crafting of the world to incorporate the multiple storylines that meet up for the climactic conclusion. Being able to rotate the Penguin, Riddler, Catwomen, and the iconic Carmine Falcone without stepping on each other’s toes and setting up dynamics set pieces for each character was an achievement that didn’t go unnoticed. A grand foundation has been set not only for the Batman himself, but also for this new edition of Gotham and its host of enticing villains.

Written by: Shane Fletcher