‘The Batman’ Review & Live-Action Ranking

 \Me and The Bat? We go back a ways.

The Kenner Batman from the Super Powers Collection was one of the first action figures I ever owned. 1992’s Batman Returns was the first PG-13 movie I saw in theaters. Batman: The Animated Series remains high on my list of greatest TV shows of all time, whether animated or otherwise. Hell, I’ve been Batman on Halloween more than any other character. Even though I tend to favor the Marvel side of things on the superhero front these days, The Caped Crusader is and always will be close to my heart.

So, yeah, I was hyped for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, simply because it’s, well, more Batman. Did we need a darker, grittier take on a character that’s only gotten darker and grittier on-screen since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy? Nah, probably not. Personally, I’d be down for some Batman: The Brave & The Bold-style surrealism when the next reboot inevitably rolls around, but I digress.

Misgivings about yet another “realistic” take on the Batman mythos aside, I thoroughly enjoyed The Batman which, for nearly three tension-filled hours, offers a surprisingly fresh take on The Dark Knight and his rogues gallery.

The Batman is dark. Really dark. This film is closer to Se7en or Silence of the Lambs than it is to a typical superhero movie, thanks in large part to a genuinely unsettling Riddler played by the creepy-when-he’s-not-overdoing-it Paul Dano. Fortunately for Gotham City, The Batman is on the case … and he’s not alone. Robert Pattinson plays a tired, strung-out Bruce Wayne who hasn’t gotten the hang of the whole nocturnal vigilante quite yet, and he’s joined by Zoë Kravitz’s phenomenal Selina Kyle. Pattinson and Kravitz are a lot of fun to watch, and give us one of the best superhero pseudo-romances in recent memory. Kravitz shines even brighter than Pattinson – she deserves her own spin-off and soon – but anyone doubting whether the Twilight alum is worthy to wear the cowl will likely be silenced fairly early in the film.

Unlike many other on-screen adaptations of The Caped Crusader, The Batman spends the bulk of its screentime showcasing the crimefighter as The World’s Greatest Detective. He’s investigating crime scenes alongside Lieutenant Jim Gordon (the incredibly game Jeffrey Wright), he’s analyzing The Riddler’s labyrinthine clues and he’s chasing down and interrogating Gotham scum (and throwing hands if the conversation demands it). It’s satisfying seeing a young, inexperienced Batman working to figure things out – both in his own life and the eerie Riddler case – and the story that pulls from DC Comics source material like The Long Halloween, Hush and even Zero Year gives Bats plenty to contend with.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Colin Farrell’s Penguin (“Ozzie” to some) is a pure delight, both in terms of performance and practical makeup. Calling Farrell’s Penguin a transformation would be an understatement, and I hope we see more of him in the sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, there’s a scene tacked onto the end of the film in which a future villain makes a brief appearance. Although it wouldn’t quite be a Batman series without this character, I don’t think we needed to see or hear them yet.

There have been a lot of live-action Batman films (counting Batman v Superman in this case but excluding the team-up Justice League film), so how does The Batman stack up? Here’s my new live-action Batman movie ranking to make you want to either nod approvingly or chuck a Batarang at my head. 

1. Batman Returns
2. The Dark Knight
3. Batman (1989)
4. Batman Begins
5. The Batman
6. Batman Forever
7. Batman (1966)
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Batman & Robin
10. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice