When I first heard that director Matt Reeves was making The Batman with Robert Pattinson, I thought, “Why? I don’t think we need this.” And about a second later, I was looking forward to another superhero movie being made. The truth is, if it’s a superhero movie, I’m going to see it. It doesn’t matter who the actor is or who the movie is about. I’m going to watch it. Watching superhero movies on the big screen takes me back to being a kid, perusing through my stacks of comic books. So, I shook off my first impression of The Batman and began looking forward to seeing the film.
Since Batman doesn’t need another long backstory, the movie jumps into Batman’s second year of being a vigilante. Occasionally, the audience relives moments of his past through dialogue about his parents. Thankfully, we don’t have to relive those scenes again. Everyone knows by now what happened to Bruce Wayne’s parents. Jumping into a young Batman fighting bad guys was a good choice. Unlike other Batman movies, this film dives into “The World’s Greatest Detective” version of Batman. And then for 3 hours, audiences get to watch Batman solve a mystery.
Let’s get into why you’re reading this post: Is The Batman appropriate for kids?
As I often do, I’ll drop in a parenting disclaimer here. Parents know what’s best for their kids and what is appropriate for their children. Kids are different and have different levels of tolerance. And most likely, if you are a superhero-loving family, you’ve already decided if you will take your kids to see The Batman or not.
Here’s what you can expect:
There is an intensity to The Batman that might be too heavy for some kids. In my opinion, it’s darker than all the other Batman movies. In other Batman films, the villains, even though are violent, have a comical sense to them. They can still be found in your kid-friendly comic book. The Riddler in The Batman is a different level of intensity. He’s more out of a serial killer movie than a DC comic book and brutally murders people. The Penguin in the movie is more in line with what you’d expect from a comic book movie. The scenes with the Riddler will scare many kids.
As you would expect from a superhero movie, there’s a lot of violence. A LOT of violence. Some fight scenes are quite graphic and are up close. There’ are also a lot of gunfights and explosions. Pretty much what you would expect.
There are more swear words in The Batman than I can recall in other PG-13 superhero movies.
Sex and nudity; there is none. Catwoman is seen briefly in her underwear.
Gore: There’s a lot. The Riddler tortures his victims and the scenes can be hard for sensitive viewers.
If you let your kids watch the Snyder Cut version of The Justice League, then they might be okay watching The Batman. I will not let my 10-year-old see The Batman in the theaters mainly because of The Riddler’s intensity and ultra-aggressive violence. I’ll wait to show him the movie at home where the smaller screen lessens the potency and I can skip and fast-forward some scenes.
My final thoughts:
I enjoyed the movie, and I appreciated the detective noir aspect of the film. There are glaring plot holes in the movie, but they didn’t ruin the movie-going experience. Robert Pattinson does a good job playing Batman and Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, and Zoë Kravitz are great at portraying The Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman. Farrell is fantastic and unrecognizable as The Penguin. The movie is long, at just under 3 hours, but it didn’t seem too long. If you love superhero movies, you’re probably going to enjoy The Batman.
The end credit scene is more of a teaser than a scene. Those that wait around till the end credits are done rolling will probably be annoyed they waited so long. I was annoyed.