“I’m vengeance” (The Batman). With these words, the sacrificial hero from the Dark Knight trilogy was no more. The Batman movie showed a broken, angry Bruce Wayne. There was no big-spending, fun-loving, romantic man, Wayne was constantly bitter and was Batman to his core. While I prefer the more heroic Wayne from the Dark Knight trilogy, this darker take on Batman was interesting. He took out his anger on the criminals of Gotham, barely restraining himself from killing them. 

The costumes were done very well in this movie. Case in point: the Batsuit. The black cape with the leather mask and bulletproof armor gave Batman a menacing appearance. The way that the cape worked for gliding was very realistic. My favorite part about the suit was the batarang kept on his chest as an insignia. Batman used it as a knife in the movie and simply pulled it off his chest. The Riddler’s costume was also well done. The mask that covered his entire face except for eyes gave him a terrifying look. 

The villains in this movie were diabolical and portrayed evil well. The scenes of the Riddler stalking and killing people gave this movie a horror feel at certain parts. The opening scene with the murder of the mayor is the perfect example with the Riddler patiently watching and waiting in the mayor’s apartment for the perfect moment to kill him. The Penguin and Falcone were also great villains, showing the greed and corruption of the city. The whole connection between Batman and the Riddler was interesting, both wanted to bring justice to Gotham. The Riddler was vengeful to the corrupt city officials and brought a perversion of justice.

The truly amazing thing about this movie was the lighting and cinematography. Gotham City looked incredible. I was a big fan of the darker colors used with only orange and red mostly lighting the scenes. The car chase scene with Batman and the Penguin is the perfect example of this: the rain poured down and the whole scene was illuminated by orange headlights and fire. Another scene that showed the incredible cinematography was when Batman fought some henchmen and was only seen through the light of gunfire. 

Overall, this movie was very well done. I would go so far as to say that it was a cinematographic masterpiece. The character development of Batman, the evil of the Riddler, and the filming techniques used made this movie stand its ground compared to the Dark Knight trilogy.