The Batman review by Fabio Agius

For those of you who know me well, they know that I am a huge Batman fan. In the past, there was a new Batman movie adaptation every few years. In 1989, fans were treated to something special – the groundbreaking collaboration between Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, revolutionizing how comic book stories could be told more seriously and dramatically.

However, after the success of Batman (The Movie), Warner Brothers over-produced several movies in the franchise, with the much-maligned Batman & Robin being one of the worst ever. On top of that, The Dark Knight Rises received contentious reviews from fans, with some loving it and others hating it (I was in the latter camp).

Last year we had a revival of the IP with a new Batman movie, The Batman. Being a bit sceptical, I watched this movie trying to ignore the previous mess done by Warner Brothers on this IP. I was pleasantly surprised! Although the movie is far from a masterpiece, it delivers all the elements a Batman movie should have. The film recreated a new younger version of Bruce Wayne (aka Bat-man) portrayed brilliantly by Robert Pattinson, who was in my bad books because of Twilight but later proved himself a good actor. The scenarios were realistically dark, maybe too dark at times, but they emphasized the “dark knight’s” journey. The gadgets, the Batmobile, and the villains (especially Penguin’s makeup) were brilliant! I wasn’t so keen about the “mild” love interest between Batman and Catwoman, but it worked pretty fine in this movie. Something that annoyed me slightly was the pacing of some scenes, where it took forever for Batman to enter the scene or grab something. It was more annoying rather than suspenseful.

Overall, I recommend The Batman, which is quite entertaining, especially for comic book and detective/crime story fans. Furthermore, I was really pleased to watch it on GO TV, the ONLY platform in Malta where this movie is available.

Interested to watch more of Fabio’s movie reviews? Take a look at what he thinks of House of the Dragon, Absentia, Freaky or Ghostbusters all available On Demand.

Fabio is a comic artist and co-founder of Wicked Comics the organisers of the Malta Comic-Con. Apart from being an avid comic collector, he has a passion for cinema and movies. He reviews movies and series on various social media platforms on a regular basis.