Film Review

The Batman (2022)

When a sadistic serial killer begins murdering key political figures, Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption…

Matt Reeves directed the excellent Cloverfield (2008), but J.J Abrams’ name was evoked more often for the marketing, meaning Reeves had to cement his own reputation with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), which capped a sci-fi trilogy few expected to work so brilliantly. And now he’s been handed the keys to the Batmobile, which feels like a mixed blessing. Audiences aren’t exactly hungering for more Batman, as Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) was released only last year and Christopher Nolan already pivoted away from the camp excesses of Batman & Robin (1997) with his Dark Knight trilogy. Is there anything left to say about an orphaned multi-millionaire who dresses as a bat to fight crime? Has society moved on enough for a fresh take to become apparent? Or is The Batman something of a reheated meal?

The Batman again drops us into the familiar Gotham City, with a few tweaks and hybridisation of past styles. The…