The Cat and the Bat in the Dark City (The Batman 2022 Movie Review)
The prospect of bringing a new Batman movie into the franchise is always an exciting thing. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that Batman has been one of the best-executed movie franchises as far as DC superheroes are concerned. At one point, Batman had the best-loved superhero movie franchise overall; this was before the Avengers, of course. But these days, the Batman front has been pretty silent overall. Alex Baldwin had always seemed like a last-minute choice to me. It is probably more of a reaction to Robert Downey Jr. being Ironman and not a good choice in and of itself. Batman is a much different hero from Iron Man. But in an ensemble cast, their roles could seem the same even if they are very different.
The lead players in the new The Batman are Bruce Wayne/Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright). The latter investigates the murders of prominent Gotham Officials by a serial killer named Riddler (Paul Dano). These three actors/characters are the leading players in this movie. Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) barely plays a role in the film, and while she could certainly be considered to be a headliner. The previous actors have her screen time and participation in the story feeling like a minimal role.
