THE BATMAN

Cert 15

176 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, violence

"Go and see The Batman!" proclaimed our future son-in-law.

"In my opinion it's the best one that's ever been made and I must say Robert Pattinson might be my new favourite Batman.

"Honestly, I am buzzed after watching it and a film hasn't had that impact in a long time."

The Batman has taken more money at the UK box office than any other releases in 2022 so far and has been met with plenty of similar acclaim.

I'm afraid neither Mrs W nor I concur.

In our opinion, we have now moved a thousand miles from when Batman began on screen to a point where he barely speaks.

Meanwhile, the movie is literally so dark, it is very difficult to see what is going on.

But, worst of all, the movie is stretched to a bum-numbing three hours. 

Sure, I thought Pattinson was a mark up from Ben Affleck but that wouldn't be difficult and well ahead of Val Kilmer and George Clooney.

But I found the plot so uninteresting that I have to admit I succumbed to micro sleeps two or three times.

During, Matt Reeves' movie, Pattinson plays a tormented vigilante before he becomes Gotham City's anointed saviour.

The Batman goes around beating up robbers and thugs and the only police officer who appears to appreciate him is the commissioner (Jeffrey Wright).

Others see him as a 'freak' and are outraged when he is brought in to help investigate the elaborate killing of Gotham's mayor.

This sparks a series of attacks on the elite and they are all accompanied by a riddle left for the caped crusader.

Meanwhile, Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) has her own reasons for wanting to bump off those at the top.

The Batman is blessed with a heavyweight cast with John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Paul Dano and Peter Sarsgaard heading the support.

But the loudest shout-out should be for Colin Farrell who is completely unrecognisable as The Penguin.

Fans praise the more detective-style approach of The Batman, the lower key Bruce Wayne and that the film is set in his younger years.

Perhaps my heart is made of stone but none of the above grabbed me enough to give it high marks.

Sure, it is well-photographed and the chase and disaster scenes jump out but it just didn't have enough to elicit the same emotional pull as for Miss W's fella.