Reeves puts class back in the Batman mythos and Pattinson's Batman is genius Everyone is going to ask, "is this the best Batman film?" And people have asked me how it stacks up against the Nolan trilogy. Well, you can't compare one film to 3 films but in comparison to Batman Begins, I'll start by saying that The Batman is superior in many ways. It may lack the hero's journey element, but instead, focuses on philosophy and the duality of Batman.
The Batman is very psychological. The Riddler is even more manipulative and insane than the Joker in The Dark Knight. There's a lot of philosophy in it regarding trauma, pain, fear and how those dark emotions affect actions and behavior. My only wish is that we got more Paul Dano in this film. My favorite parts of the film were when Riddler and Batman would engage in psychoanalysis. Batman's villains were always darker versions of himself, and Riddler spends lots of time comparing himself to Batman, and almost seems to love him, in a weird, stalker-like way.
Pattinson's version of Batman was written very well but can barely be considered cool. Nobody would want to be this Batman. He trusts nobody, not even Alfred. He's closed off from his emotions and guarded. And I think Pattinson did a great job, making this Batman it's own, even though he wasn't the gruffest Batman like Bale's was and Affleck's. This Batman had the genius intelligence of Keaton's Batman but magnified by 10. Pattinson's Batman is the smartest Batman by far.
Catwoman was played brilliantly by Kravitz. She's such an amazing actor and I was so happy that she had her own character driven story arc in the movie, as did many other characters, from Alfred, to Carmine Falcone, who was played brilliantly by John Turturro. The Penguin as well as Alfred didn't have much screen time but I thought Colin Farrell put a ton of energy into the performance, as did Serkis, who had a very great, emotional scene in this film.
I would absolutely watch this film all over again the very same day despite being 3 hours long. Yes, it could've been 15-20 minutes shorter but I never had an issue remaining glued to the screen. I would even look forward to the rumored 4 hour cut. While this isn't a perfect film, due to the lack of the "hero's journey," element, a lack of action scenes, and the lack of emotion serving the plot, The Batman still manages to captivate for its complex character studies, and the amazing, visual, cinematic prowess of Matt Reeves.