The Batman: Bold and brooding reboot triumphs

Since Christopher Nolan's monumental Batman trilogy, we have seen various attempts to reimagine and incorporate the titular character into all sorts of work, from the Justice League films to the Gotham TV show.

In February 2017 Matt Reeves was brought in to replace Ben Affleck and reboot the franchise, focussing on a younger, grittier character removed from the “DC Extended Universe”.

Like Todd Phillips who brought us a dazzling new interpretation of the Joker, Reeves handles The Batman with a fresh approach removed from your usual superhero clichés, creating his own unique vision of a dark tormented character embroiled in a criminal underworld.

The film begins by showing us a number of crimes unfolding from a serial killer The Riddler who is targeting high profile figures involved in the city's justice system. The Batman is dragged in to a high-stakes game of cat and mouse through cryptic messages sent to him.

What unfolds is reminiscent of dark broody mystery thrillers such as David Fincher's Seven or Zodiac, Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs or Fritz Lang's classic masterpiece M. Like these inspirations, the film paints its environment as a shadowy hell that our heroes must navigate, digging through conspiracies and secrets to reach the truth.

Robert Pattinson gives us a nuanced and disillusioned Bruce Wayne, bringing a quiet depth to his reclusive character. The film's casting deserves much praise with each actor bringing alive their character in a memorable way as the film carefully balances an ensemble cast. Paul Dano, John Turturro and an unrecognisable Colin Farrell each add to the disturbing darkness that haunts Gotham.

The star of the show is undoubtedly Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle (Catwoman) who generates incredible chemistry with Pattinson. Her character brings sexiness and physicality to her role, giving charisma and magnetism to every scene that she's in.

Whilst not being the full on fight-fest of many contemporary superhero films, The Batman still delivers in tension and excitement with a number of superb set-pieces such as a fire-filled car chase. The craftsmanship on show is elevated by a superb score from Michael Giacchino which should be of no surprise given his fantastic work on many films and TV shows such as Lost.

Like many films of its kind I find that often the thrill of the hunt is better than the reveal and unfortunately The Batman reverts slightly back to numbers to wrap certain plot points up nicely, but Reeves manages to leave enough open to tease us nicely for future entries into the series.

If you're expecting your usual superhero fare or a continuation of Nolan's vision you might be disappointed, but for me Reeves strikes the right balance in creating a world that's suspenseful, intriguing and exciting. Count me in for what's next.