From the very first minutes, Matt Reeves' The Batman impresses with its visual language and the ability to create an atmosphere of horror, be it by the Riddler or the Batman himself. This is what makes up for the emotional shortcomings and numerous minor glitches that prevent the creation of a new masterpiece, but it is still a damn good piece of cinema.

The movie begins as befits a real thriller giving you a clear message of the tone of the film. It even has a wonderful reference to the horror classic, Halloween. We get to know the terrifying modus operandi of Riddler, and then we quickly jump to Batman, who has been operating in the city for 2 years and has become such an urban legend that some petty criminals give up any activity at the mere sight of darkness and the bat signal, in a brilliant sequence that... would have fared better without Bruce's poorly written narration. Adding narration is not a bad thing in itself, especially considering Bruce's diary that he keeps in the film or treating it as a reference to comic books or film noir. But these lines are so full of "edgy" clichés that it feels a bit like a self-parody or a text written for a fan film.

The Batman then goes into the fight scenes and they work very nicely. The protagonist comes out of the shadows like a Terminator, taking his heavy steps to scare his opponents and create an advantage for himself. The choreography itself is more realistic than the exaggerated one from Snyder films, but the costume also allows the stuntman a lot more freedom than what we saw in The Dark Knight trilogy and his movements are much smoother. Certainly some people will not be impressed by the indestructability of the Batman's costume, which can take on a series of bullets as if it was made of Vibranium, but I did not mind it that much given the convention of the unstoppable machine that Reeves adopted. A Terminator or a silent killer from Slashers who will get his victim regardless of any resistance. Speaking of killers, Bruce has a no-kill rule here… but I don't know how he got it or why he adopted it.

For a three-hour movie, the length of which is felt in the third act, the characters are roughly written. Why isn't Bruce killing when he's so detached from reality and filled with vengeance? The only suggestion for this is the desire to honor the Hippocratic Oath made by his father, but this is only this particular viewer's guess, not part of the character's characterization in any way. Who is James Gordon when he is not dealing with the Riddler case and why did he start working with Batman? This is also unknown and Gordon remains a very one-dimensional character. Perhaps he should be given a role a little less serious which would add the film some much needed elements of humor and give Gordon some more depth. This role could also have been assigned to Alfred, but we didn't get that either because he is here for maybe 5 minutes of screen time. I know humor is a taboo subject for some Batman fans, but we're not talking about Marvel's comedy convention, but rather about adding a bit of humanity through human features like a smile or a bit of humor. Such moments were also in such gloomy films as Seven or Zodiac, which served as the main inspiration for the film, so I do not know why they could not be added here. What's more, communicating key personal information about the characters, their goals and connections also serves to create the emotional bond between the viewer and the characters, which was missing with many of them (not with Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin mind you) throughout the film, and it was something that in Batman Begins was clearly spelled out and communicated in the first 30 minutes of the film. This makes me believe that Matt Reeves is an ineffective filmmaker. His slow style suits the tension in crime scenes, but it didn't translate into creating emotional connections.

However, you cannot deny him the lack of effectiveness, because the film is brilliant in this respect. Together with Greig Fraser, they created very captivating frames in which the gloomy and dark Gotham is full of mystery and fitting this character. You see class problems and corruption tearing apart this city, and Gotham is once again one of the characters in the film. In addition to this, the action scenes are very well shot and edited and come out very naturally, not like being thrown into the script at the request of the studio. What was missing, was maybe a stronger musical stamp on the film, because the score we got is servicable, but not very memorable and it doesn't create an additional emotional layer.

When it comes to the plot and social commentary, they are extremely fascinating in the first two acts, just to wipe it all away at the end. I don't want to give any spoilers, but suffice to say that the only bold decision in this movie is reversed in a very lopsided way in one conversation between Bruce and Alfred, while the villain's final plan does not gel together with the logic of his previous actions. Likewise, the final status quo in this movie's Gotham seems quite different from what Batman's monologue suggests, which sees the city needing the Caped Crusader less than before, as opposed to his billionaire alter ego of Bruce Wayne.

But what worked throughout the film is the hero's journey, because the film is structured in such a way that our "hero" learns something new about himself in small steps during the course of the film, and the ending offers him additional enlightenment that clearly shows him the path to follow. Becoming Batman in the first part of Nolan's trilogy took Bruce half a movie, after which he was practically a full-fledged hero. Here, this transformation has been woven into the movie's finale, and it works very well, creating hope for yet another approach in the next movie and a character with whom hopefully it will be easier to bond emotionally.

When it comes to a potential next movie, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I liked this film very much overal, and I would like to come back to this Gotham. On the other hand, I don't know if it wouldn't be better to just rewatch this movie because Matt Reeves created a beautiful world that painted itself into a corner. I don't see any place for unrealistic characters in it, and any realistic villain left for Reeves to tackle will risk repeating itself. There's a reason why we never saw a sequel to "Seven"... because what for? To make a copy of the serial killer plot? Because what else remains? Copying the plot of Nolan's films? This was also done already. Matt Reeves has my trust, but also a real puzzle to crack ahead of him.

Fortunately, he also has an extremely talented cast as everyone has proven themselves in their respective roles as much as they could. Pattinson may be my favorite Batman, but his Bruce Wayne still needs work. Paul Dano as the Riddler and Colin Farrell as the Penguin steal the movie in every scene they are in. I would love to see his Penguin series now whereas before the movie I didn't really feel like it. Zoe Kravitz is also very good as Catwoman, although she doesn't have as memorable scenes as her two main predecessors. Jeffrey Wright did well enough with the material he got. John Turturro is fine as Carmine Falcone, though he is not terrifying enough when he is on screen. Andy Serkis couldn't do much, but I don't blame him either. There is one more character, and this one was terrible, as well as the whole scene they were in. It was more like a scene from that terrible Gotham series rather than a cinematic serious movie.

As a crime movie, The Batman has a sufficiently engaging plot, in which we discover the next parts of the Riddler plan with great commitment alongside a more detective than ever Batman. Matt Reeves gives us a new take on this character that, while it needs some work, is still fresh enough to congratulate him and thank him for bringing Batman back on the right track after nearly 10 lean years filled with disappointment. May the next decade be as successful as this film.

8/10