The perfect noir nightmare, Matt Reeve’s The Batman serves up the darkest take on our pointy-eared hero yet – and that’s a good thing! For fans of the long running comic books, just think of this as Batman’s Year One and The Long Halloween come to life. For movie fans, it’s a little like Saw meets Se7en. That is to say, it’s less superhero “punchy punchy / bang bang” and more psychological torment. But that’s what is great about this film, it doubles down on Batman’s darkness while (finally) highlighting his detective skills. It also delves into the theme of vengeance with laser precision, all the while looking at the dangers of political corruption and abuse of power. But the narrative depth is only one of the reasons it all works so well - the performances are another. For those that snickered at Robert Pattinson’s casting as the Caped Crusader will be left eating crow, as the actor continues his post-Twilight acting career with another stellar outing. This is a young Bruce Wayne (only 2 years on the “job”) and in such, still has a lot of pain to work through. Pattinson delivers all the requisite brooding, while also adding excellent nuances to the role. The acting praise doesn’t stop there though, as Zoë Kravitz completely owns the role of Catwoman. She literally steals just about every scene she’s in. Kravitz's pitch perfect portrayal combines sultry seductiveness with raw emotion. It’s truly something! Speaking of which, Colin Farrell is truly a sight to behold as Oswald Cobblepot, the devious Penguin. Farrell is absolutely unrecognizable. And it's not just his look, either. The man's speech and mannerisms also take on equally impressive transformations. John Tuturro, Andy Serkis, and Paul Dano additionally offer up interesting takes on their respective characters. In short – everyone nails it! That also goes for the film’s production design team. It’s rainy. It’s dark. It’s seedy. It’s everything you want in your Gotham City. Likewise, the film’s score is a nice big chef’s kiss. Yep, there was clearly plenty of tender love and care paid to all the production crafts. Trust me, this is not just a great Batman movie, it's a great movie – period.