Vengeance. Regret. Hopefulness. Joy. Light in the bleak darkness of a city that feeds on it’s own corruption. That light constantly being dampened by an unending tirade of horror, but nevertheless a constant at the end of the road. The Batman is the best DC movie, the best Batman movie, and one of the best superhero movies I have ever seen, not just because it is able to effectively tell this expansive story in 3 hours without ever feeling bloated or overly long, but also because it never failed to make me smile. I was a little worried it might be overly serious, or uncompromising in it’s view of itself, but The Batman is funny and completely knows how to have fun.

Pretty much everyone brings their fucking A game. I think MAYBE this might be my favorite Paul Dano performance, and I fucking love Paul Dano. But this off the wall unhingedness is such a satisfying angle for the Riddler to have, and it’s so much fun to watch. As the horror subsides as the clues are pieced together, this maniacal and horrifying figure turns into this sad pathetic child indoctrinated into these ideas by the failure of the bourgeoisie. A perfect foil for Batman in this movie, and in my opinion the perfect opening antagonist for a newer Batman and for a newer series of Batman films. I love the way Paul Dano acts in contrast to Pattinson. Both have this undying rage overflowing from them, but Dano remains cold and calculating for most of the runtime, while there are many moments Pattinson just lets loose to the point that he is on the very brink of snapping.

Kravitz is amazing. She is the moment. She is an icon. She excels at everything she does and she is the best Catwoman we have seen. Honestly, probably the same for Jeffrey Wright. Fucking love the dynamic of Gordon and Batman in this one, and seeing them work as such a close team this early is so refreshing. Farrell is completely transformed as the Penguin, and the movie sets up a lot of interesting threads for future endeavors to follow. He is really great in this, funny and engaging while also having a relatively convincing performance as crime boss that could potentially pose a huge threat to the caped crusader. And surprisingly enough I really liked Serkis as Alfred. I have liked Serkis in a lot of things, but I just couldn’t envision as Pennyworth, even if they were diving more into the ex-MI6 style of Pennyworth. But I really enjoyed his performance. Offers a lot of insight into his character and the relationship between him and this Batman. That later scene between the two of them is excellent. Pretty much everywhere I look, on every single aspect of the movie, this is the best Batman movie. The best Batman, in his actions, in his personality, even in his gait. The best Bruce Wayne by a large margin. Sad, lonely, and fucking weird, but never lacking in empathy and constantly learning and using that learned knowledge for good. The best Gotham. Dripping with ambience, completely disgusting, and with corruption that is so palpable it's as if you could grab it right off of any of the decrepit walls of the ruined city.

And I fucking love the focus on Detective work. It works so well and I am so mad that it has taken this fucking long to let the world’s greatest detective actually do detective work. And I love the way he fucks up. He stumbles over his own preconceived notions and over things he is just unaccustomed to. His wealth and privileged upbringing are constantly a pitfall for his life, both in his detective work and in his relationships with others. It will be really interesting to see this detective work evolve over the subsequent films.
Oh don’t worry, this movies soundtrack also fucking rocks. That main theme is the Batman theme that will be remembered. It’s so fucking iconic and fits perfectly with the characterization that Reeves goes for in the film. Giacchino is usually great, but the score for this film takes it to a whole other level. Completely blows everything he has done before out of the water. And that isn’t even to say those weren’t good, because I find him to be a pretty consistently great composer. But holy fucking shit The Batman’s score is so fucking good.

Just incredible stuff.