The Batman was released in 2022 to critical acclaim, with the Matt Reeves reboot being praised for its shift in style from previous Batman movies. The franchise has struggled to reach the heights of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and fans and critics alike were largely scathing of Batman vs Superman and Justice League, which saw Ben Affleck play the caped crusader.
It wasn't so much the performance of Ben Affleck, who played the character well, that came in for criticism. It was the overall style and tone of the movies that didn't live up to previous entries in the series. The Batman Part 2 is due for release in 2025, with Matt Reeves returning to direct the much anticipated sequel. Robert Pattinson will return as the tortured vigilante, with Andy Serkis and Jeffrey Wright confirmed to return as Alfred and James Gordon respectively. The upcoming sequel is under pressure to fix one big problem from the first movie, and only time will tell whether The Batman 2 plot will succeed in doing so.
The Batman has a distinct style and a dark vibe
The Batman has a distinct style that sets it apart from every other Batman movie ever made. Of course, the nature of the story and characters mean that all the movies have a dark vibe to them, but Matt Reeves's iteration of the character has a very different feel to it. The overall movie has a darker vibe that is more akin to David Fincher's back catalog of classic movies.
The relationship between Batman and James Gordon is different from previous movies as well, as they feel like more of a detective team up, similar to Somerset and Mills in Seven. The Batman feels less like a fun blockbuster outing and more like a grungy dark noir piece. As soon as the audience hears Nirvana's Something in the Way, they know they are in for a different kind of movie.
The Batman's plot is all over the place
With a running time of nearly three hours, The Batman feels overly long, and the plot veers in one direction, only to take a sharp U-turn into something completely different, making the whole film feel like a very jarring experience. Here's a rallying cry to the creative team behind the upcoming sequel: Don't exceed two hours for the next movie as the fans will simply not tolerate it.
The plot of the movie may feel different from every previous Batman movie, and it is, and at first glance, it may feel like it's a terrifically original movie, but it's not. It's a very basic detective story that has been told many times over, and done better by auteurs well-versed in the crime genre. There are corrupt baddies, like The Penguin, (whose tv series will tie in to the next movie,) who need to be brought to justice by the moral hero, Batman. But this particular villain and others in the movie aren't a match for the mobsters and other hoodlums in a great Scorsese feature, for instance.
It feels like everything is a cliché, and the plot follows too many of these different characters and is all over the place. The movie succeeds when focusing on Paul Dano's terrific iteration of The Riddler, and should've primarily focused on him, saving other villains for another murder mystery sequel.
Robert Pattinson's Batman is kind of a bad detective
Another big glaring issue with movie is that Robert Pattinson's version of the caped crusader is not a particularly good detective. For years, fans have been crying out for a more detective-focused Batman, as opposed to the swashbuckling action hero seen in previous entries.
This movie does portray Batman as more of an investigator, partnering with James Gordon on big cases. Unfortunately, the good cop bad cop routine veers in favor of Gordon being the good cop and Batman being the latter. Bad cop in the sense that, yes, he is more violent and forthright, but also not a very effective detective.
The Riddler taunts and teases Batman throughout the movie, but it feels like he actually doesn't solve any of his riddles, and tends to stumble upon the answers, leaving the big work to other characters. For example, it's a uniformed cop who informs Batman of the carpet tool which is of great significance in uncovering the Riddler's ultimate masterplan. Batman is too late to stop the majority of The Riddler's end game, and Gotham becomes flooded, and with most of his targets dead, The Riddler simply hands himself in. So what does Batman actually do to solve the crime? Nothing.
In fairness, Bruce Wayne's alter ego does save the mayor-elect from getting assassinated, but it's more a case of his armored suit that saves the day, rather than his genius mind. The upcoming DC movie sequel must address these issues and make Batman a better detective, who solves the crime before it's too late.