Lacking many of his later tricks, Bruce Wayne takes on a serial killer and his own doubts about himself in The Batman—Matt Reeves' take on the hero played for the first time by Robert Pattinson. The nearly three-hour running time hasn't turned off critics, who give the film a 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Pattinson should like what they have to say. Four takes:
- Placing Batman in his second year as a vigilante, the film "plays more like a detective thriller than a comic-book epic" to its benefit, writes Peter Travers at ABC News. It's "a mesmerizing mind-bender that grabs you hard and never lets go." Through it all, "Pattinson is brooding perfection," Travers adds. "By returning the Batman to his DC Comics roots as the 'world's greatest detective,' Pattinson distinguishes himself from other movie Batmen and puts him in league with the best of them."