The Batman takes place in Gotham City, home of all the Batman stories. A crazy killer named Riddler (Paul Dano) kills liars like political figures and reveals how corrupt they are. Riddler likes to leave trails of clues behind which forces Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson), a single millionaire, to become a detective to find out who the Riddler is. As you know Batman is Bruce Wayne's secret identity. Along the way, Batman visits old friends like Penguin (Colin Farrell) and meets new ones like Selina or Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz).
The graphics are amazing looking, although the CGI is not as good compared to other films. I was a little disappointed with the Batmobile because it just looks like a sports car with a powerful engine. Very different from the other Batmobiles in the past movies. Robert Pattinson's transformation into Batman is impressive. We see a muscular Robert Pattinson with impressive fighting skills. Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as Penguin. It was fun to watch Zoe Kravitz portraying Catwoman. She resembles Halle Berry when she portrayed Catwoman for the movie of the same name. Her fighting skills are impressive and catch the audience's attention. The gruesome way the Riddler kills his victims makes this a very dark Batman movie--very different from the other Batman films. My favorite part is when Batman uses the hook to walk down a building, kind of like he did in the older films or the 1960's show instead of going down.
The moral of this movie is that not everyone can be good. Bruce finds out the dark side of the Wayne family after Riddler exposes his family--and not only his family but other people such as cops, too.
I give The Batman 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ages 13 to 18, plus adults. Watch the movie in theatres on March 4, 2022.
Ethan P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 13
Out of the deep dark depths of Gotham City comes the newest addition to one of the best-known franchises. The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson is thrilling, chilling, and jam-packed with action. We all know and love Batman, but this stellar cast will show you a deeper, darker side of him and other characters who have been loved, and hated, for generations.
The Batman is an exciting addition to the DC Universe, but does not follow the original Dark Knight trilogy. This new film follows beloved hero, Batman, as he tracks down a series of murders of Gotham's most powerful people. He is given clues written in cryptic codes that he has to decipher, all while the deviously smart (and insane) Riddler (Paul Dano) is killing off important people one by one. From a history of lies, in a corrupt city, and in a battle over the true meaning of justice comes the new DC film that will get in your mind and stay there.
From the moment the lights of the theater dimmed and the movie started, I was hooked. I have never been a fan of movies that waste time getting to the meat of the story, and The Batman wastes no time. This film is full of suspense, and the music is one of the major components that contributes to that. In intense situations, atmosphere is everything, and the music by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino creates the perfect amount of eeriness and tension. Robert Pattinson's acting is also incredible. This Batman speaks very little, but his body language and facial expressions speak volumes. I was extremely impressed by how real and broken Pattison makes his character seem, and I have never seen this protagonist reach depths like this in other Batman stories. The one thing in this movie I would have liked to see more of is the story behind Batman's technology. He seems to have a million gadgets, but the audience doesn't know exactly what they are or where they came from.
The message of this film is that vengeance won't change the past, but helping others can change the future. A big part of this film is about justice and what that means. In the end, we see that justice isn't about killing or hurting others. Justice is about taking what is wrong and fixing it by doing the right thing. Justice does not equal bloody revenge.
I give The Batman 5 out of 5 stars, and I recommend it to ages 13 to 17, plus adults. You can see The Batman in theatres on March 4, 2022.
By Allison B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 15
The Batman is everything you're expecting from another adventure with the caped crusader at the center and unlike any Batman movie we've seen yet. It retools the whole world of Gotham City and looks at its spread of criminals, villains, and masked vigilantes through a whole new lens, as well as at the character of Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting counterpart.
The Batman sees a younger and slightly more naive Bruce Wayne in only his second year as Batman (Robert Pattinson). Bruce is being stretched thin--he can't be everywhere at once and certain aspects of life in Gotham have only gotten worse in the time since Batman arrived on the scene. A string of murders of Gotham's most powerful and high profile figures--whose murders bear a striking resemblance to the manner in which Bruce lost his own parents decades before, a flashpoint that haunts him still decades later. These brutal, connected killings send the city into disarray perpetrated by a masked serial killer named The Riddler (Paul Dano) who runs rampant, leaving clues at his crime scenes. Wayne befriends a burglar named Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), who's looking for her missing friend, and, with a morally upstanding cop, they try to track down the elusive Riddler and keep his catastrophic plan from running its course.
Director Matt Reeves and the sensibilities he brings to the table feel well suited to this film. What I didn't expect is this movie's hyper-effective use of shadows--it makes sense for the character, but, oh man, the night isn't just The Batman's central setting: it's Batman's domain. It's the shadows that have given him his hold over the whole city. Criminals see the Bat signal and look into a pitch-black alley not knowing who's gonna walk out and whether or not they'll be dealt the whupping of the century. And with Pattinson's Batman, there is terror in those moments of uncertainty and he's the one we're rooting for. And Pattinson has made this character his own. This Bruce Wayne is divorced from notions of charisma or the qualities of the billionaire playboy that he usually has to pretend to be--he's moody, antisocial, and passive like he's more out of place without the cowl on than with it. He spends a lot of this movie fully in the suit, and it's a credit to Pattinson that he can "mask act", even when not even a quarter of his face is visible. Pattinson's eyes give us a window into Bruce's internal journey.
The Batman shows its admiration for the world and characters of Batman's universe in the skill with which it brings them to life--original, but familiar. Matt Reeves has made a tense, sorrowful, borderline disturbing modern noir about Batman needing to alter his work-life balance. Plus we have an enthralling mystery driven by an ever-expanding web of corruption. This is Batman at its finest, and I hope this is not the last we see of this Batman.
The message of the film is to not let rage consume you. Batman has never been a pacifist, regardless of the iteration of the character, but this Batman has moments of real brutality with the criminals he fights. He has to learn that, as Batman, he has to restrain himself from doing things that would make him no different from his villainous adversaries and to instead be the Batman Gotham needs.
I give The Batman 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 17 for tense sequences, language and shocking, but not graphic, violence. The Batman flies into theaters on March 4, 2022.
I give The Batman 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 17 for tense sequences, language and shocking, but not graphic, violence. The Batman flies into theaters on March 4, 2022.
By Benjamin P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 16
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