TL;DR: Finally a Batman movie that showcases him as a detective. Nolan's version was close but not good enough. Loved it. (Also, Robert Pattison once again proves he is a good actor)
The movie is not perfect, for sure. I’d still rank The Dark Knight over this movie because it drew many cinematic references and parallel to TDK. Though a plus is that Batman is more a detective than a fighter-vigilante in this movie, so it's refreshing to see.
I liked the fact that they cast Black actors for James Gordon and Selina Kyle. There is nothing wrong with them being White or Black actors but it is another testament that there are important and instrumental roles in such an iconic franchise that is not restricted to any ethnicity. It is unlikely to see Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne portrayed by Black actors for several reasons, though. A Black Alfred would bring connotations of slavery. A Black Bruce would be unrealistic because the Waynes are a multi-generationally rich family and USA is not known to have such families to be of Black ethnicity (because, you know).
Plot-wise, I think it is cool to see the Riddler to be serious and dark. Different with other depiction in animated series or previous movies. It is plenty obvious that the character was inspired by the Zodiac Killer. And in this movie, they did away with the spandex version of his costume. But you can also see elements of influence from Heath Ledger's Joker. The whole theme of corruption in Gotham is also a standard from the comics origins and the earlier TDK franchise.
Though I think the Batman lacked a lot of the gadget-y display. He had the grappling gun, he had a giant Batarang on his chest, he had adrenaline shots, but nothing fancy. I guess it makes him more of a private detective/investigator but I expected more high-tech gadgets at his disposal. Detective skills wise, sure it's his second year of being Batman but he was supposed to be one of the smartest person in the world in the DC universe so it's a tad disappointing that he couldn't quickly decipher Riddler's ciphers.
And this movie lacked Lucius Fox -- though I think it'll be hard to cast one ever since we saw Morgan Freeman's portrayal.
I would like to see his bipolar personas though. That Bruce Wayne is a womanising socialite and Batman a mysterious vigilante. It's easier to deduce Batman is Bruce Wayne in this movie's depiction, actually. If I was Riddler/Falcone/Gordon/Real/Selina, I would find out who Batman was pretty quickly.
Also, Pattison's portrayal is great, he looked more like a vampire here than his portrayal of Edward in Twilight (yes, I know the director wanted him to look like a drug addict). He pulled off the reclusive character with a vengeance very well. I think, together with his Tenet performance, this makes him a great actor.
I give The Batman 4 stars.
