The Batman, the dark knight vigilante of vengeance, and by day he is the well-respected Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Industries. He is a man with a secret life of fighting criminals with his fists fueled by his ever-raging anger. The popular DC character has returned with a new reboot movie that shows a much more broodier, darker side to Batman through the portrayal of his character, the action scenes, and broken shell of Bruce Wayne depicted in the film. This is the sixth Batman franchise reboot and there are some differences from the other films in the past that makes this film stand out the most, and connects more to audiences. There is a controversial moment that happens in the film, and conservative audiences are criticizing the film for being too “woke.” The film was directed by Matt Reeves who made the Rise of Planet of the Apes trilogy, Robert Pattinson as The Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as Lieutenant Gordon, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth. 

“Fear is a tool. When that light hits the sky, it’s not just a call. It’s a warning. For them,” the Batman says in the film. This dialogue describes The Batman character as a tortured man who has no heart in the film. The film is about Bruce Wayne who is stuck as The Batman by going through Gotham’s underworld of crime with a sadistic killer on the loose leaving behind a trail of riddle and following the murderous trail of The Riddler. The evidence from the clues gets closer to The Batman, he must work with new relationships, unmask the villain, bring justice to the corruption and abuse of power within Gotham. 

What truly made this film a lot different from the other films is that it feels more grounded, personal, and more human. It feels more like a crime detective movie as if it was inspired by the film “Zodiac,” and “Seven”. The grounded feeling of the film is that the film is keeping it more realistic through a tormented, broken Batman who goes about his life solving crimes, stopping bad guys while dealing with the emotional damage of his past. The broody side of Batman is what fans have been waiting for for many years and majority of fans wished the film was rated R due to the dark action scenes The cinematography throughout the film made it visually stunning and gave the impression that Gotham is a place that is damaged, dangerous yet beautiful with many colorful shots in the background. Batman’s character development  from the beginning of the film to the end changes significantly. Batman narrating in this film changes the story by explaining that what he does is important to him. The Riddler as the villain was menacing with every scene leading the audience down the sociopathic wormhole that gave you goosebumps and a shiver down your spine. Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman was more interesting as a character due to her being vulnerable, being more three dimensional and has a lot of chemistry with Robert Pattinson Batman. They both were amazing together as a couple due to their chemistry together.

There was still some controversy in the film with conservatives calling out the movie as “woke” online for three reasons. They were freaking over that Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon are black actors and actresses. They were also freaking over that Catwoman was bisexual in the film when she was looking for her friend she was calling her “baby.” There was a scene with Catwoman complaining to Batman about Gotham, she called out the Gotham politicians as “white privileged assholes.” In the opening scenes we have a gang of criminals about to beat up a southern Asian man, and that is what is being seen as controversy at the moment with the film.