'The Batman': at last, a good bit of bat again

Batman is going back to square one with Robert Pattinson in bat armour and Matt Reeves at the helm. He is very happy. A godless Gotham at night is his biotope.

A bit of bat always tastes good. When Christopher Nolan prepared it with Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as Joker, it was delicious. For the past ten years, it has tasted more like a hamburger from some fast-food joint left under the heat lamp for too long. Ben Affleck's efforts as the gruff superhero were not great, but the character also didn't do justice to the bombast served up by Zack Snyder in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.

Arguing with Superman or protecting the world from an invasion of alien demons with Wonder Woman and Aquaman just isn't Batman's cup of tea. He has spent eighty years doing the same thing: watch over Gotham City at night and prevent the baddies, corrupt rulers and rabid underworld figures from plunging Gotham even deeper into ruin. By using his fists, but also by investigating.

Nocturnal animal
The Batman, the new Batman movie, is a reminder of why the superhero once passed for the world's best detective. Director Matt Reeves, who hit it big time with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was given permission to detach Batman from the DC Extended Universe, the troubled attempt to emulate the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His attempt is closer to the Taxi Driver atmosphere of Todd Phillips' Joker where Joaquin Phoenix played the iconic villain than to the great violence of Justice League.

After brilliant collaborations with writers such as David Cronenberg, Claire Denis, James Gray and the Safdie brothers, Robert Pattinson gives Batman & Bruce Wayne a hint of the vampire's torment from his Twilight period. His Batman is also a nocturnal animal. He must hunt in the rain for a sadistic serial killer who leaves riddles behind. Actor Paul Dano claims that his inspiration for the Riddler came from the Zodiac Killer. Through social media, the creep has a mob, fed up with “the lies”, after him.

In addition, early versions of Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis) and the uncorrupted agent James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) also get a bit of the limelight. The primitive Batmobile, too, suggests that we are still in the early days of Batman's career as a crime fighter.

It does not live up to the incredibly high standard of Christopher Nolan's thrilling Batman trilogy. The action scenes are less stunning, the plot not tight enough. But it has been ten years since Batman has been this good. Operation back to basics has thus been successful.

THE BATMAN
US, dir.: Matt Reeves, act.: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell