*Spoilers*

Currently, “The Batman” has been the top-grossing film in 2022, raising over 300 million dollars in the span of one month. “The Batman” showed great dedication when referring to the past and the plans for the future. 

While planning the movie, Matt Reeves wanted to aim for a noir-based style. “It’s a propulsive spectacle, it’s a horror movie, but it’s also a very intricate detective story,” he said. Exactly how Reeves described it, “The Batman” had its own dark flair. 

Vernon Hills student Victor Diaz said, “Matt Reeves did an amazing job trying to do a noir detective style film. The darkness throughout the film and each clue The Riddler had for Batman was clever.”

Based on “Batman: The Golden Age” comic, Bruce Wayne, the main character does not demonstrate his typical playboy persona, but rather he seems to be very secluded. He is never visited by anyone nor holds his massive parties as we see in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, “Batman v Superman,” and the animated series “Batman-Year One”. Getting rid of Bruce Wayne’s rich playboy persona showed fans he didn’t express himself as just a billionaire, but rather he’s incredibly anti-social and engrossed in his Batman persona. 

Cloverdale student Eddie Cruz said, “I thought it was cool seeing Bruce [Wayne] in that way. I haven’t really seen him like that other than in the Arkham series.”

Robert Pattinson who plays Bruce Wayne/Batman said, “When you think about Bruce Wayne, you kind of think he’s a playboy, and then that’s how he disguises himself, so no one knows he’s Batman. As soon as you take that away, it made the character almost make more sense.”

Reeves speaks about the movies which inspired the style type of “The Batman.”  Reeves explains director Christopher Nolan, and his hit Batman movie “The Dark Knight” had pursued his dream to make a comic-based Batman movie. After watching “Good Time,”  starring Robert Pattinson, Reeves knew who he needed to play Batman. The easter eggs in Batman were very prominent to fans but also greatly hidden to first watchers. Easter eggs such as Tim Drake, the Gotham Gazette, and Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge were demonstrated throughout the film. Matt Reeves also incorporated a lot from the comics such as “Batman: The Long Halloween #9,” “Batman: Ego and Other Tales,” “Batman: Year One,” and Batman”: “The Dark Knight Returns.” Along with comics, Reeves took inspiration from the 1966 animated series, “Batman.”

Junior Mia Romo said, “I think it was pretty sick to see such a nerdy, weak person having so much control over so many powerful and wealthy people.”

The main villain of “The Batman” is The Riddler, Edward Nashton. At first, we do not get his full identity; The Riddler works in the shadows. His ill intentions are what irks people the most, killing famous politicians and mayors. His motive is to clean out Gotham City from its filth, which explains his murders affiliated with those who work dirty in the city. The Riddler worked to expose all those who abused their power or unfairly worked with criminals. Though in the end, his final plan included flooding the entire city killing many. The outcome of this plan conveyed the Riddler turning out to be like the people he was trying to get rid of.  

“The Batman” is a stupendous film. Reeves pulled off the best performance and succeeded in making the movie comically accurate. Many people, including me, have enjoyed this film from the beginning to the end. Fans have been searching to find clues and understand the meaning behind every character’s actions while simultaneously on Reeves’ interesting connections to literature and religion.