The theater is full of hushed conversations and bristling with excitement for the new “The Batman”, a film surrounded by fanfare, as the preceding trailers play. When the lights begin to dim and the haunting chords of Ave Maria begin to ring out, the room goes silent and grows , heavy with anticipation. 

Throughout the “The Batman” (2022) movie, the anticipation only builds as you see the elite in Gotham begin to be killed by a man named the Riddler, who seems to be targeting the Batman specifically. The man leaves him cards and riddles, almost daring Batman to find him, laughing in his face as he fumbles through political corruption and dead ends. 

            While the movie is called “The Batman”, Robert Pattinson’s character refers to himself only as Vengeance for the majority of the film. “The Batman” (2022) is an origin story of sorts. While it doesn’t show Bruce Wayne’s parents being assassinated or his childhood, rather the film shows a transformation from his vengeful career into his heroic one, a. His transformation from Vengeance to Batman.

“The Batman” features an all-star cast with jaw-dropping performances, with Robert Pattinson, playing Bruce Wayne, is  the star of the show. He is brooding and gloomy, obsessed with fulfilling his family legacy of helping the helpless in his own way, and stalking the streets, and helping those who need it. Zoe Kravitz looks absolutely stunning as Catwoman, but more impressively, her performance is emotional, swinging from desperation to save a friend to vengeful and angry with grace and heart. 

The performance that stood out to me the most, however, is Paul Danos as the Riddler. He plays the unhinged maniac perfectly, leaving an uncomfortable atmosphere in every scene he is in. He leaves the audience terrified and on edge for the duration of the movie, never letting the audience fully relax, as they sit in their seats with their skin crawling. 

As the movie progresses, a secondary plot emerges of a drug lord and of the corruption in Gotham, leading to the villain’s motive seeming righteous, but carrying out his goal brutally. The film is as much horror as it is a mystery or superhero film. With brutal, disturbing and horrifying scenes, it is well-deserving of an PG-13 rating. 

The film slows down at points, but you’re hooked and uneasy for the duration of the film.Pieces of the puzzle slowly reveal themselves and the atmosphere created by director Matt Reeves keeps your eyes glued to the screen. 

Completely devoid of humor and lacking anything that falls outside the realm of gloom and grit, it is truly a return to form of the “Batman”, reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy of the 2000s with wonderful cinematography and set design and a score perfectly fitting the tone. 

The movie’s downfall, however, is the extensive run-time. Spanning nearly three hours, it becomes difficult to sit still after what should’ve been the climax. The movie does not end when it seems the conflict is resolved, continuing another 30 minutes to clean up loose ends in character development. As I sat in the theater, all I could think for that last half hour was how unnecessary it seemed. 

Despite this, the last half hour still provides great moments of character development and sets up for a perfect conclusion, with an ending that leaves you anticipating a sequel with an iconic antagonist. 

Overall “The Batman” is gritty, gripping, gloomy and a film well- deserving the hype that has surrounded its release since the first trailer dropped. With stand-out performances, a thrilling mystery and an ending that will leave you with chills of both fear and anticipation.