First of all, let's all agree that Pattinson is a good actor. However, this does not mean that every good actor can impersonate any fictional character. Some fictional characters require certain traits that need to be present in the actors that portray them. Batman is one of the darkest, toughest, meanest, manliest, scariest, most well-built, most brutal, most deeply voiced, smartest, best strategy making characters that have ever been created. In other words, Batman is the ultimate human male (without superpowers). Such features are simply not present in Pattinson, genetically speaking. On the contrary, his genetic features are somewhat feminine. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it simply is the opposite of the character's profile. No matter how tough he may try to sound, how much muscles he puts on and how much steroids he ends up injecting in his system, he simply does not fit the profile. To put things into perspective, let's ask a question. Can Pattinson portray the Punisher? The answer is a simple and plain "NO!" Why? Because he simply doesn't look tough enough! Batman is the punisher on cosmic steroids. He's way tougher, smarter, stronger, and darker. The reason people sometimes overlook this fact is because of Batman's moral code. So if Pattinson can't even portray the Punisher, how the heck do you cast him as the Goddamn Batman?!!
Even though the movie was trying too hard to convince the viewers that this Batman was intimidating, well, "spoiler alert", he's not! Not even a little bit. In some scenes, you actually feel sorry for the character, which is such a shame. Of course, the main reason behind this is that the guy who's playing the character isn't. Not only did Batman lack brawn in the movie, he also lacked brains! Everybody's talking about how this movie perfectly portrays Batman as "the world's greatest detective". Sorry guys, but if this is what "the world's greatest detective" looks like to you, you should definitely read more Batman comics and maybe some Agatha Christie books too. I mean, seriously, the guy had no clue what a carpet tucker was! How the heck are people even comparing the detective work in this movie to Se7en? What was presented here wasn't even the ABCs of detective work. It was pathetic, and Batman was slightly less of an idiot than the cops around him. His suit overall was not good. He literally looked flat in it. I liked the fact that it's bullet proof, but that's about it. The cowl is the worst thing about it. It's cheap, too revealing, and makes Batman's head look like an Easter egg! I really liked the camera lenses though; that was a brilliant addition. The adrenaline shot was a good idea too. It makes total sense, and I can't remember it ever being used on the silver screen. The batmobile was another thumbs up. But wait, I have to talk about the stupid point of Batman using the front door! I mean, seriously, what the hell was Reeves even thinking? Batman is the world's greatest ninja. If he wanted to get into someplace he wasn't welcome, he'd sneak in, get whatever he needed and leave without anyone ever noticing!
Believe it or not, Catwoman's casting in this flick was a much better choice than Batman's! Zoe almost fits the character's full profile. She's agile, flexible, mysterious, seductive, with sharp exotic features. Maybe a bit too exotic, but that isn't really an issue. The real issue with her is that she's too small and thin, which makes her look too fragile against her foes, making her fight scenes seem unrealistic to the viewers. But I guess they had to cast a tiny actress for the role, especially since the dude who's playing Batman is a whimp.
Colin Farrell as the Penguin. Wow! Just wow! This guy took the character to a completely new level. I think it's safe to say that this is my favorite Penguin adaptation ever. Maybe even better than the comics! Farrell's acting is so good, it makes you forget that he's actually playing the character. Turturro's Falcone was spot on too. They both looked like they came straight outta The Godfather!
I don't usually like it when they change anything about a comic book character, such as their ethnicity, simply because I like the live-action representation of the character to be as close to the comics as possible. But in Wright's case, I'm actually glad they did. He simply nailed the character.
Now let's talk about the movie. The cinematography was really good and I really liked the film's noir theme. The score was amazing too, which added more depth to the movie's theme. Reeve's direction was good, but had its flaws. The script was very basic and lacked layers of depth. Paul Dano as The Riddler and Andy Serkis as Alfred were decent, but nothing special. The movie's runtime was way too long (it should've ended at least 30 minutes earlier). And then there's the ending.. that stupid motorcycle race between Batman and Catwoman looked like something out of a cheap Indian movie. Not even cartoons do that anymore!