It Always Rains in Gotham City

"Dropsical with self-importance, The Batman sets a bold new standard in joylessness...

For most Batmaniacs, I guess, the point will be a simple one: a chance to fix their gaze on Robert Pattinson—on his gaze, that is, smoldering under his mask. Now and then, he doffs it, showing his naked despondency and allowing his hair to fall artfully across his brow, as if he once failed an audition for a boy band and never got over the disappointment.

 

"Were a nice day ever to dawn in Gotham, Batman would be revealed for what he is: a fantasist, too old for his teen-age doominess, with zero social life, a suit of armor that makes it impossible to go to the bathroom, and not enough to do.

--Anthony Lane, New Yorker 

 

To be fair, film fanboy Jim Slotek gives The Batman a "B".

 

Rotten Tomatoes scores it 86 (out of 100).

 

Or, take your pick...

 

Washington Post critic 1:

 

A rookie Batman hasn't  been this strong since Micheal Keaton in 1989. 

 

Washington Post critic 2:

A  joyless wonder ... dark, endless, speechy... 

 

--Image: Leonardo Santamaria