'The Batman' review: Masterful take on Batman that is more 'Dark' than 'Knight'

'The Batman' is a serious but stellar character- and story-driven film that is not just the Batman movie we deserved, but also the Batman movie we needed. – Photos: Warner Bros Malaysis

In hindsight, it is probably a good thing that Ben Affleck decided to give up the Batman mantle and forgo directing this solo movie altogether. Otherwise, Matt Reeves wouldn’t have made The Batman in his stead, and we would have been deprived of a seminal Batman movie that (hopefully) banishes all memory that Batfleck ever existed.

Set in Year Two of his vigilante career (can you even call it a career?), Robert Pattinson plays a Batman that is rawer and more crude than all the other Batmans we have seen on the big screen previously. Even his Bat logo that looks like he scratched it on a napkin while half-awake (though we find out it does serve a purpose, of sorts).