“The Batman” directed by Matt Reeves, released March 4, 2022,  is the eighth installment of the Batman franchise.

The plot is based off of Batman, played by Robert Pattison, fighting for the citizens against mobsters and corrupt politicians. 

The beginning of the movie starts with the murder of the mayor by an unknown vigilante. This leads to the killing of several more individuals. Halfway through the film, we find out that this vigilante is the long time classic villain, The Riddler, played by Paul Dano.

The Riddler commits numerous violent crimes and leaves Batman a clue at each crime scene in the form of a card with a riddle written inside. The Riddler is portrayed as a more violent psychopath compared to his other appearances in the franchise.

While investigating these crime scenes, Batman with the help of Alfred, his butler played by Andy Serkis, is able to track down certain individuals who are involved in corrupt business of different crime organizations. 

One of these individuals is a woman named Selina Kyle, who is better known as Catwoman, played by Zoe Cravitz. Catwoman, while still affiliated with crime, is seeking her own revenge for the death of her friend and wants revenge for the wrong-doings that were imposed on her. 

Through much dialogue Batman and Catwoman form an alliance and together they work to solve crime. 

There were many great things present in the film. Director Matt Reeves creates a story about crime and uses the dark atmosphere to his advantage. The connection between Batman and Catwoman was well done and led to some intense moments.

The action presented within the movie was great. The car chase scene especially was the best part in my opinion. 

Matt Reeves additionally hinted towards another future film that involves The Joker.

The movie as a whole was great; however,  in some areas it lacked. In the scenes where Batman was not present wearing his suit, his hair was very messy and looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower, compared to the traditional short combed hair in the other films that made it seem off putting. The last thing that lacked was the Batmobile. The Batmobile in this film did not have enough wow factor to it. It was plain looking.

Robert Pattison played his role very well, but his image as The Batman could have been better and maybe another actor could have fulfilled more of the role. Looking back at Pattison’s prior films like Twilight, there seems to be a disconnect in character.

Overall, I would give this movie a grade of four out of five rating because while it was a tremendous movie with loads of great action and great character dynamics a few things just fell short to my liking.