The Stream: At nearly 3 hours, it’s too long for covering some of the same territory as previous versions

The Big Screen: Pattinson is a convincing Batman, and Kravitz makes a good impression as Selina Kyle

The Final Bill: Dark, moody and intense just like Batman should be.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Matt Reeves, Peter Craig, Bill Finger (Batman created by)
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours 49 minutes
Production Companies: Warner Bros., 6th & Idaho Productions, DC Comics
Platform: In theaters March 4, 2022
Notable Trailers: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Jurassic World Dominion, Nope, Elvis, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Everything Everywhere All at Once

It’s here, Streamers!! Yes, the most anticipated movie of 2022 has already premiered, and it’s only March 4th. The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader, has opened in theaters. It’s almost 3 hours long and it’s very dark, but isn’t that what we want from our Batman movies? Well, here’s how it went down and whether expectations were met.

The Batman places Bruce Wayne’s alter ego in a gritty and troubled Gotham overrun by crime and corruption as he tries to clean up the city single-handedly. At the beginning of the movie, Batman has been crimefighting for only 2 years when a masked madman calling himself the Riddler begins murdering high ranking officials in Gotham. Batman has to figure out the Riddler’s riddles *ugh* in order to protect the city and reckon with his own masked identity. Matt Reeves directs this moody and intense version of the Batman saga, which leans more into the darkness of The Dark Knight trilogy rather than whatever Zack Snyder was doing with Batman. In fact, the Riddler plot feels like a nod to David Fincher’s Seven, which isn’t a bad thing.

There’s a lot to like about The Batman. If you had questions about Robert Pattinson in this role, he’s pretty believable. Bruce Wayne has a lot of bottled-up emotion that explodes through Batman, and Pattinson portrays that very well. He has a reckless sensibility that a masked vigilante may have and he pulls off the physicality of Batman. I was convinced. The actions sequences are plenty and brutal. The spectacle of it all fills out the 3-hour runtime which helps the movie to feel as if it’s not lagging. Zoe Kravitz, who plays Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, has great chemistry with Pattinson. She has a strong screen presence, and it may be the best role I’ve seen Kravitz play.

My biggest complaint has to be the 3-hour runtime. Why do movies have to be this long? Can’t these people tell their story within a reasonable 2-hours? I guess for The Batman I’ll give it an extra 20 minutes. Since this movie is populated with villains that we’ve seen before like the Riddler and Penguin and Catwoman, it feels like a retread even if the intricacies of the story are different. While The Batman does feel long, it also is well-edited such that it’s not boring. Also, the neo-noir, mystery aspect keeps you invested in how it all is going to turn out.

Ultimately, The Batman met expectation, which were set pretty high. Robert Pattinson is a good and convincing Batman. The film is dark and intense as Batman should be and the spectacle of it all holds your attention throughout. Grab a big box of popcorn and head to the theater.