Taking its cue from "Joker" and, to a lesser extent, from "Se7en", "The Batman" is the darkest Batman movie yet, literally. In an almost perpetually raid-sodden Gotham you have to peer through the murk just to see what's happening and a hearing aid might come in handy if you want to hear what's being whispered. Most of the usual suspects are here; Zoe Kravitz is Catwoman, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell, in a fat suit, is the Penguin and the great Paul Dano, effortlessly walking away with the film, is the Riddler. Robert Pattinson is the Batman; he's the strong, silent type and boy, is he grim.
Matt Reeves' film is aimed at the bigger kids. This is a Batman movie that years ago would have been given an 'X' certificate, meaning no-one under the age of 16 would have been admitted to the theatre and frankly, I can't imagine a younger audience taking to this. If, in the past, the Batman movies have only been a skip and a jump away from film noir this is the most noirish yet, (it's what Guillermo del Toro's "Nightmare Alley" should have been but wasn't).
Of course, whether it will appeal to the usual fan-base is another matter. I have a feeling this is a movie for the critics and die-hard fans rather than the general public. It's certainly imaginative but at 3 hours it's also overlong and some of the backstory is already overly familiar. On the plus side, it is brilliantly designed, photographed and directed and at its best it does put the other Batman movies in the shade. I just hope that when the inevitable follow-up comes along they will try to keep it shorter.
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