Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” soared into theaters on March 4th and earned a hefty $128 million  in the North American box office. It is receiving a lot of positivity and currently has a very high 88 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Robert Pattinson as Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle, and Paul Dano as The Riddler.

The film is a captivating, gritty crime noir that centers on Batman as a skillful detective that is on a mission to find and incarcerate the biggest threat Gotham has seen, The Riddler. Edward Nashton, better known as The Riddler, is on his own mission to brutally expose the truth behind the politics of Gotham. Bruce Wayne has only been Batman for two years and The Riddler quickly makes his mark as the most challenging villain this Batman has faced. 

The main characters in this film are very well written with depth that adds to the story. Specifically, Batman, Selina Kyle, Jim Gordon, and The Riddler, all have emotions, ideas and actions that feel real and natural. These character’s intentions throughout the film are captivating and develop as the story progresses. It is worth noting that Bruce Wayne is not the primary focus of this film. Luckily this doesn’t affect the story as it is meant to focus primarily on Batman.

Although all characters are well written, secondary characters don’t have the same depth as the main characters. A few secondary characters include Oz, better known as The Penguin, Bruce Wayne, and Alfred Pennyworth. These characters, although not as fleshed out, are still worth looking forward to and help propel the story forward. 

These characters wouldn’t be who they are without the performances of the film’s grand cast. Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, and Paul Dano, all deliver outstanding performances in the film. Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth don’t have as big of an impact with their performances as the rest of the cast. With that being said, no performance in this film falls flat and ensures that the audience stays immersed in the experience.

Colin Farrell, as Oz, is in his own league for the well rounded performance he delivers even with the prosthetic makeup applied to him. The makeup completely changes his appearance to give him a multitude of imperfections. These imperfections add to the character and his origin into eventually becoming the infamous kingpin, The Penguin. 

The film’s Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) is very impressive with it feeling seamless and not taking the audience out of the experience. Matt Reeves’ ability to mix practical stunts and CGI allows for the film’s action scenes to feel intense and grounded in reality. 

The cinematography is another of the film’s strong points. The various uses of different camera angles, point-of-view shots and lighting help set the tone for certain scenes and the movie as a whole. This also has resulted in the most accurate representation of Gotham City that we have seen in live action films. The city truly feels miserable with no chance of salvation.