Despite already having a magnificent trilogy for the character in the Nolan Dark Knight films, Matt Reeves’ reboot is unpredictable, fascinating, and masterful — even reaching the heights of Nolan’s films. Robert Pattinson delivers an incredible performance as a man who fights crime but also finds himself as Batman due to his own misery and demons, and the film explores Batman as a sign of fear towards criminals, as well as a detective and antihero. But gone is the glamor of Bruce Wayne’s rich life — Pattinson portrays a lonely, depressed man who can only find meaning for himself by going out and finding a fight. He gives off the vibe of Ryan Gosling’s reserved, morally ambiguous performance in Drive, and I’d also compare this most to Pattinson’s role in The Lighthouse. Zoe Kravitz surpasses past portrayals of Catwoman from actresses like Anne Hathaway and Michelle Pfeiffer by making Selina Kyle feel incredibly human and as interesting of a character as Batman, instead of being part of the story just for him. Paul Dano is menacing and terrifying as the Riddler, but Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as the Penguin, under so much convincing makeup but still delivering a scene-stealing performance. Andy Serkis is also great as Alfred and Jeffrey Wright is another standout, wonderfully cast as Gordon and his relationship with Batman is very interesting to watch grow.

But this movie isn’t only packed with great stars. Reeves’ direction, as well as award-worthy cinematography and score (Michael Giacchino — known for The Incredibles, Inside Out, Up, Spider-Man, and more — delivering his best live-action score yet), brings to life a riveting, nail-biting crime mystery noir atmosphere reminiscent of cynical murder mystery thrillers like Se7en and Zodiac — even more grounded than The Dark Knight, which feels like a crime epic but still had a larger scale than this. This dark, mysterious atmosphere makes the film nail-biting and never slow, even at 3 hours. The conspiracies and mysteries that unravel are intriguing and the fights are gritty for a PG-13 superhero movie. By the last hour, it genuinely becomes difficult to tell what is going to happen next, which feels rare for blockbusters of this size today, due to the darkness that envelops the characters and their world.

The Batman is more than up to the task of delivering a mind-blowing reboot that surpasses expectations and earns every minute of its runtime. It’s packed with memorable performances, a meticulous atmosphere, and edge-of-your-seat tension, ultimately making one of the best superhero films of recent years that has to be seen on the big screen.