How many Batmans have we seen in the cinema? The answer is simple, many.
Leaving aside the transpositions of the late ’40s and the iconic but almost parodic Adam West of the ’60s, Batman has had many representations on the big screen.

The first “modern” film dedicated to the Caped Crusader was Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, followed by the sequel Batman Returns, both starring Micheal Keaton – who will return to the role in The Flash by Andrés Muschietti to be released in November 2022 – which have left us a legacy of dark imagery and characterization of the characters (see the villains such as Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Danny DeVito’s Penguin) entered the collective imagination by setting an unmistakable aesthetic and narrative standard.

In the following years came the Batman of Joel Schumacher – played first by Val Kilmer (Batman Forever, 1995) and then by George Clooney (Batman & Robin, 1997) – slaughtered by critics and audiences and that decreed the end of the franchise.

We will have to wait 8 years before seeing Batman in the cinema again. Fortunately, Christopher Nolan will take on the task of reviving the character on the big screen. The British director will create a wonderful trilogy on the character, played this time by Christian Bale, which will start from the origins with Batman Begins in 2005, which will continue with what in my opinion is the most beautiful cinecomic ever, The Dark Knight in 2008 – with a Heath Ledger Oscar winner as the Joker – and then close with The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

Batman will return to screens around the world then in 2016 and 2017 thanks to Zack Snyder and his Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, where to dress the costume of the bat of Gotham will be Ben Affleck. 

The Batman, Matt Reeves‘ reboot of the film series dedicated to the Batman, arrives tomorrow in all Italian theaters and I was lucky enough to see it yesterday morning at the press preview at The Space Cinema in Piazza della Repubblica in Rome.

Unrelated to the DC Extended Universe – the one set on Earth-1 and where the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League take place – the Batman played by Robert Pattinson introduces us to a Bruce Wayne in his second year as the Caped Crusader.

The Gotham City in which this Batman moves is a city totally adrift dark, sick and brutal, where corruption and crime seem to dominate every aspect of everyday life. 

Bruce Wayne is an obsessed and consumed young man, an embodiment of revenge. There is no distinction between him and his masked alter ego, Batman and Bruce Wayne are one in the same, held together by the rage and torment that give birth to a true freak.

2 hours and 57 minutes of film along which the drama, unease and clues of a violent and apocalyptic puzzle accompany us in a unique and intense cinematic experience. A ’70s noir detective story for the darkest Batman ever. 

The film also investigates a central aspect of the character, especially in the comics and that had not yet been explored in previous productions, the Batman detective. Batman is the greatest detective in the world and in this film we learn to discover his skills.

Reeves takes his time delving into the characters. The film’s main villain for example, the Riddler – played by Paul Dano – is a far cry from Jim Carrey’s in Batman Forever, looking much more like Saw, sadistic and insane; Detective James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) seems to be the only character in the film (besides Batman) who believes in justice and tries with all his might to bring out the truth; Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) is a perfect summation of the concept of the antihero.

The Batman by Matt Reeves is a powerful film that dismantles the very concept of superhero, overturning and upsetting almost all the certainties acquired after years of cinecomics all the same.

If you’re a Batman fan you don’t need me to remind you, but for everyone else, tomorrow March 3rd The Batman comes out in theaters, give yourself a gift and go see it, you’ll thank me later.