What is this dark knight fighting for?

The Batman is a brand new standalone film from DC and Warner Bros. Directed by Matt Reeves, this film tells a story of a Batman two years into his career as he now faces the serial killer known as The Riddler (Paul Dano) who is set on exposing all of the lies and corruption in Gotham City.

Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) has lost himself in his crusade against crime as The Batman. He barely spends any of his time in the limelight as a billionaire philanthropist and instead devotes himself wholly to the cape and cowl. Assisted by his family butler Alfred (Andy Serkis), he encounters his most curious case yet when The Riddler commits his crimes seemingly to communicate with Batman.      

The Riddler begins killing corrupt officials in Gotham’s government and exposing them for who they really are, all while leaving puzzles for Batman to solve. Alfred tries to get Bruce to go out without the mask more, but to no avail. Bruce is absorbed into this case when each new clue leads him to begin considering his own part in how Gotham became this way and he even comes to doubt the integrity of his family, which leads him to question the whole reason he’s fighting.

Along the way he comes across a fellow masked vigilante named Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) a.k.a Catwoman, who has her own story intertwined with the same people Riddler is targeting and Batman is trying to save.      

Working alongside Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), they together investigate the deaths and mystery in order to stop The Riddler’s killing spree. However, it seems Jim is alone in trusting Batman as at every turn things get heated with Jim’s fellow cops and commanding officers, whose opinions of Batman range from distrust to hatred. The two of them investigate involvement of city officials and major players in the crime scene to determine what is happening.

The two biggest people of interest are Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), a ruthless mob boss with a deep history with Gotham’s elite and officials who seemingly can’t be touched by the law. Also in the mix is Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Ferrell), a.k.a The Penguin, a rising name in Falcone’s gang bent on assuming his own top spot in the world of crime.      

The Batman is a sprawling mystery with new clues at every turn and bursts of action to keep the audience on their toes as the story continues to get deeper and the pieces begin moving closer together toward a solution. The combination of direction and score result in a constant feeling of intensity and an unnerving atmosphere that helps lead viewers into the next scene’s conflicts and clues.

This story provides a great arc for Bruce’s character that results in an incredible journey to watch as he tries to figure out who he is, both as Batman and Bruce Wayne, and moves to discover exactly what he’s fighting for.      

As a crime thriller with great action, score and acting, The Batman is an incredible film that tells an excellent story for the character, while also building the groundwork for this version of the character’s own world and identity, should any continuing films follow. Even if you aren’t a huge Batman fan, if you’re a fan of mysteries or thrillers there will certainly be something for you to get invested in with this film.

The Batman is in theaters only starting this weekend.