Review copy provided by Warner Brothers.
The world’s greatest detective is back and this time he is doing detective work. It’s strange to think that after many incarnations of this beloved character it took so long for the detective side of the character to be front and centre. Similar to films like Seven The Batman is a story about Batman trying to solve the crimes being committed by the Riddler. The film spans a massive 2 hour and 56 minute runtime. The film is simply too long, the film can really drag at times, and I wish the film was closer to 2 hours than 3. Also, the crimes that are committed feel watered down and not gruesome enough. They tell you that these crimes are horrific and shocking but personally I was never truly shocked by the crimes. I feel that it was held back by trying to go for a PG-13 rating in America and I’m shocked it got a 15 rating in the UK. There are many positives though, the film is just gorgeous from the opening shot and it’s the best-looking superhero film in a long time. The cast is amazing, Robert Patterson does a great job and Colin Farrell is unrecognisable. There’re many scenes that are truly gripping. But at the end of the day, the film is simply way to long. Rewatching this film was more of a slog than a joy and I hate saying that as there is a lot to love about this film.
In terms of this 4k release The Batman is excellent to be honest. While it will not be a 4K reference disc to show off how good your 4K OLED is (I still feel that status goes to The Matrix Resurrections) the film wasn’t trying to be a reference disc. There was a lot of stylistic choices that were made to make it look like a 70’s noir film which are amazing. The film is dark and the opposite of colourful and there’s so much grain that you would think the film was shot on film. But even with that in mind, everything is clearly visible and the way the blacks look are simply sublime and nothing is too hard to see due to the blacks looking similar. If you want to see a blu-ray which perfectly captures a directors vision the 4K is the best way to experience The Batman.
THE BATMAN AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL DOWNLOAD NOW
ALSO COMING TO 4K UHD, BLU-RAY, DVD AND VOD ON 13th JUNE
Written By Robert Drever.