In “The Batman,” Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, is in the midst of his second year fighting crime in Gotham City. During the film, Batman comes across two other animal-themed characters, the thieving Catwoman, played by Zoë Kravitz and the mobster Penguin, played by Colin Farrel. However, Batman’s primary conflict is with the Riddler, played by Paul Dano, a scheming psychopath who commits a string of PG-13 murders that Batman needs to solve.

“The Batman” is a slick film—literally. It’s raining more often than not. To elaborate on the film’s style, there is heavy use of shallow focus, wherein large parts of the shot are blurred out in order to draw attention to a subject, which is normally Batman. It is nice to see a modern blockbuster remember what a functioning camera can do. This effect also reinforces the film’s focus on Batman, with the film rarely breaking away from his subjective perspective. The viewer even gets “knocked out” along with Batman at certain points in the film. 

Speaking of getting knocked out, that is exactly how it felt after this movie’s three-hour runtime. The story is convoluted and bloated with one uninteresting plot twist after another. The music is repetitive. The fight scenes are competent, yet nothing spectacular. At least Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of Batman gets a little character development, although it comes so late in the film that it feels like an afterthought. Only Paul Dano’s “committed” (to put it mildly) performance as a man child version of the Riddler stands out in any capacity. “AHHH! THIS IS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!,” said the Riddler.

Rating: 2/5