After 10 years since the conclusion of the Nolanverse bat flicks, with The Dark Knight Rises being the third and final installment of Christian Bale’s Batman, we are gifted with a full new look at the infamous caped crusader in the new blockbuster, The Batman.

Helmed by director Matt Reeves, known for his work on the modern Planet of the Apes movies, The Batman sees a vision brought to life, something that feels both akin to it’s comic book genre and a 1940’s noiresque detective movie.

Founded through a Kurt Cobain-influenced Bruce Wayne/Batman, Robert Pattinson zooms in on the depressive nature of the character and those connected to him, wrapping the story in a tight ball of isolation and stigma to the city of Gotham that the billionaire orphan has sworn to protect.

In search of Paul Dano’s Riddler, a version that is closer to the zodiac killer than the former green-suited and insignia-labeled style of the character that had up to now been heavily followed, Batman comes across killing after killing to slowly zone in on this new threat to the people of Gotham.

Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman seems to be the truest-to-life run of the character among the three larger than life figures, with the cat, the bat and the sadistic killer who has a weird obsession with duct tape. Being tightly coiled to a world of crime and conspiracy, Selina Kyle, Catwoman’s true alias, works under the nose of two noted crime figures in the hierarchy of Gotham, Carmine Falcone and the Penguin.

As characters roll in and out of the story, each playing a part in unraveling the riddle of who runs Gotham, the Batman is not only explored through the questions he must face, but further challenged by the role he serves to the city, a role that he has bestowed upon himself to justify that which he is, a nocturnal animal. The psychology of a man dressing up to beat up thugs, devoting his body, mind and identity to upholding this ideal is the shield to Bruce Wayne’s reality.

A tragedy that is the life of Bruce Wayne pushes him to a point of seclusion from the world around him, choosing to come into the light of civilization wearing an outfit that allows him to move past the confines of his lavish life. Being the Batman is comparable to a leisurely form of therapy for Wayne, and Reeves makes it clear that this is more a Batman movie than anything else, showing the audience the bat way more than the man.

The movie itself is striving for a lot, and while the debate over a 3-hour runtime seems to be the largest question connected towards this movie’s success, the film is able to tell a story that may stretch at times, but never pulls the viewer out of the trance that is the world’s greatest detective. The potential at hand with The Batman could offer a progressive story that combines the aspects of the bat that we have been previously been drawn to, matched with the vision of Reeves that only a true fan of the character could create.

This take on the character may prove to be the most fitting display of the crime fighter we’ve ever gotten in film, and in truth, it is one of, if not the most exciting project in mainstream media at the moment. The Batman did a lot and will likely be the only thing people will be talking about for the rest of March, but the value that is at hand here is truly something that not only reinvigorates the idea of blockbusters in modern movies, but shows how much people want to see the dark knight embody the darkness.

“It’s a big city. I can’t be everywhere. But they don’t know where I am. They think I am hiding in the shadows, but I am the shadows”- The Batman