Review for The Batman

When it was first announced that The Batman was greenlit, I was super excited. Batman is my favorite superhero, and no matter how many Batman movies are made, I will always keep watching. However, my judgement/opinion became skeptical about the movie when the casting was first announced.

When they announced that Robert Pattinson would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman, I had my doubts. I had doubts because I only see Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen from Twilight, and we all know how that turned out. However, when the movie came out and I went to see the premiere in the theatre, my jaw dropped at his performance. It was captivating and enrapturing and, also dare I say, sexy. Before this movie came out, my favorite Batman actor was Christian Bale, but now it's Robert Pattinson. He captured Bruce Wayne perfectly as he embodied the emo-ness and reclusiveness of the character. It was like I was watching Bruce Wayne right from the comics. I felt ashamed of the doubts and judgement that I had for Robert Pattinson. He fully embraced the role and really proved himself that he can be someone other than the sparkling vampire we all know from Twilight. I now have a new found respect for the actor and will never doubt his acting abilities again.

Moving on from Bruce Wayne, we go to his counterpart/love interest in the movie, Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. I absolutely love Zoe Kravitz, so I had no doubt in my mind that she would be an excellent Catwoman. She was thrilling, seductive, sassy, a badass, and knew what she was doing. You do not want to mess with a woman like her, that's for damn sure. She also fully embraced the character and learned her fighting moves/flexibility like a cat. It was fun to watch another version of Catwoman on the big screen.

Another casting choice that I had my doubts on was for the actor that played Alfred Pennyworth, Andy Serkis. The only reason why I had my doubts about him was because of his role in Marvel's Black Panther. He played one of the villains and did an amazing job of making me hate his character, so I couldn't exactly imagine him playing the sweet and wholesome Alfred Pennyworth who is like a father figure to Bruce Wayne. But, as soon as I saw his performance in the movie, my mind did a complete 180 once again. I loved his performance on Alfred because he was calming, sassy, and knew how to talk to Bruce Wayne because they have an interesting relationship. I was deeply saddened when Alfred was caught in the line of fire and had to be taken to the hospital. There was no way they would kill of Alfred like that. He is a very important character in the Batman universe. There is no Bruce Wayne/Batman without Alfred Pennyworth.

The next casting choice I had opinions on is the actor that played The Riddler, Paul Dino. I think he did an amazing job as the character, the only opinion I had about him is the choice in costume. Now, I know that's not the actor's fault, but it just didn't fully represent The Riddler properly. In the comics, The Riddler likes to wear a bright green suit with a purple tie and gloves, a matching green hat, and sometimes uses a cane in the shape of a question mark, which is his signature symbol. In the movie, he wears a gimp looking dark green mask and a long matching dark green coat with what looks to be a spray painted question mark on the front. I guess they were going for a much darker version of The Riddler because he was actually quite terrifying throughout the whole movie. I liked that they still kept the random riddles throughout the movie, since that's why he is named The Riddler. So yeah, the only issue I had with this character is the costume, otherwise it was a pretty decent performance by the actor.

Last, but certainly not least, we have The Penguin. The actor that plays him is Colin Farrell. Now, I knew that he would be playing The Penguin, but when I first saw him in the movie, I certainly did not recognize him at all. They did an amazing job with the makeup and the costume. He was comedic and almost reminding me of The Godfather. He certainly brought the comedic part to the movie because we all need a little break from all the heavy duty action sequences. His little scene with the "El Rata Alada" riddle was hysterical because as a Latina woman, I could not stop laughing. Who knew The Penguin was an expert on Spanish grammar.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie very much. The cast did a fantastic job with the characters they were given and I was definitely blow away by everyone's performance. I guess the moral of this story is: don't judge a book by it's cover because it can definitely surprise you if you give it a chance. I certainly need to work on that because they proved me wrong and totally turned my mind a complete 180. As of now, I have seen the movie at least 5 times since it also came out on HBO Max. My final words to you before I part, is if you haven't watched the movie, go watch it and always give actors a chance before making your opinions on them.