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Rated The Batman 6/10

Overall a solid Batman movie. I almost went up a full star, but didn't for reasons below. First the positives. I think Pattinson does well in the roll. He looks good in the mask and when he's out of the mask his features give Bruce Wayne a suitably Hapsburgian appearance. I like this Gotham City; the inside of every building looks 200 years old while the streets look post-industrial. Casting overall is decent, Jeffrey Wright steals any scene and I like that they make Gordon & Batman more like full partners compared to other depictions. I liked the various Bat-tools and Bat-gadgets, especially this iteration of the Batmobile. And I really like that despite this being the newest entry in (presumably) a series of movies, we don't dwell on any long flash backs to Batman's origin. References to his parents' murders are woven into the plot, but we don't spend any time with flashbacks to Young Bruce weeping over the slain bodies in Crime Alley. Batman is a culturally established character at this point, so I think most people will be able to fill in from the various other depictions of his origins. Unfortunately this storytelling efficiency isn't found everywhere because the main issue is that this movie is so long. I don't mind a three hour movie if its some sort of big historical epic, but kinda tougher when it's a superhero flick. It feels like the movie has 3-4 endings. A main example of the bloat is the various subplots that connect multiple characters' backstories to each other. Some of these origin connections are interesting new takes on long standing Bat-lore. However they add up to a lot of screen time.

#movie

Published 2026-03-09 00:33 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere