First Take: The Batman - he is 15-rated vengeance

Spoiler free as usual. Because we’ll be doing a special podcast for all that.

SYNOPSIS: When the Riddler, a sadistic serial killer, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement.

Superhero films. A difficult genre to master - and a topic discussed at length on one of our Ripped Ticket podcasts in the midst of the first lockdown. But one topic discussed that day was the upcoming Matt Reeves-directed Batman film. We knew it would be good thanks to the involvement of a man who turned Planet of the Apes back into a Hollywood titan, but what we didn’t expect was a proper adult superhero film that blends classic film noir styling with the comic book aspects we expect from DC.

On a technical level it’s hard to find many faults- what Reeves has done is effectively taken elements of the prolific Long Halloween and Dark Victory comics and implemented them (with a bit of help from co-writer Peter Craig) into a 2 hour 56 minute film that doesn’t feel overly long. It has that simple 3 act structure, making it easy to follow for those who haven’t experienced a Batman film of this nature, but where this film comes alive is the action, something which has arguably earned this film a 15 certificate. Sure, it may be PG-13 over in the states, but context is everything when it comes to our ratings over here, make no mistake, this is a dark film in every sense of the word, so the BBFC made the right call here. On cinematography duties is one of this weekend’s BAFTA nominees Greig Fraser, who nails the look and feel of this one, and as is tradition on a Matt Reeves film, Michael Giacchino provides the music (and some of the best puns for a soundtrack album).

As for the cast, if you ever doubted Robert Pattinson as an actor following those Twilight films, think again - he was a very inspired choice for the role, and while we see him as Batman more than Bruce, this is a performance you can easily build a new shared universe around, and with a supporting cast that includes Zoe Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard and Colin Farrell, on starpower alone this is enough to get even the most casual cinemagoer interested. This is a strong comic book film, and god, is it good to see DC actually making some fantastic movies again - it looks like they’re doing things their way again compared to copying Marvel beat for beat, and with a packed slate ahead over the next few years, Warner might be (finally) on to the winning formula.

THE VERDICT

It’s not often that a superhero film made for adults comes along, but Matt Reeves has simply knocked it out of the park and made what could be the new Batman Begins for this generation - we have a talented actor in the role, the stories are good, and the universe that will inevitably bleed through film and onto HBO Max is cooking along nicely. See it big, see it loud - because while it is a long film, it’s one made for the big screen.

RATING: 5/5