For those of a similar age to me Batman will always be sinonumous with Adam West and Michael Keaton. The Riddler will always be Jim Carey and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, but despite this upbringing, I like the dark (like Grim Future, Grimdark ‘dark’) versions of DC.

And so since the turn of the millenium, it has been getting darker, and darker and leaving the sunshine and happiness to Marvel – and it’s great fun.

So with the release of The Batman (2022) I popped to the cinema to see it on the big screen.

The movie sees another re-set of the Batman story that everyone knows well, with the Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman making an appearance alongside Batman/Bruce Wayne.

With his parent’s dead and only Alfred to look after him Bruce Wayne grows up to become the vigillante in defense of Gotham… and Gotham is in a bad place. The Mayor is murdered on the eve of the election and his murderer has left a note for the Batman… as a riddle!

And so the darkness of Gotham comes to the fore, as Batman works with Lt. Gordon to solve the riddles and stop the person behind it causing yet more mayhem in the city.

First thing to say, is that this is long… 3 hours long! I’m glad I went to the cinema to see it to avoid all the distractions that normally interupt when watching films at home; plus the big screen showed it in it’s best light! If you like the DC universe, and more particularly Batman, then there’s lot of like here, with great fighting, thugs being beaten, and the seedy underbelly of Gotham being exposed – all whilst racing against the Riddler.

But it still delivers on all the backstory and, whilst this is very different from the Batman of the 60s (West) and 90s (Keaton) it is never-the-less unmistakably Gotham & Batman… and makes you glad you don’t live there!

— Declan