Sightlines · reception
How The Batman was received
2022 · Matt Reeves · The Batman on Sightlines
The arc
Landed in 2022 to strong reviews and 'finally, detective Batman' enthusiasm, with the three-hour runtime the main sticking point. As superhero fatigue set in over the following years, its stock only rose — it's now routinely held up as proof the genre can still feel like cinema.
What’s debated
Fans endlessly relitigate whether the final act overstays its welcome — and where Pattinson ranks in the eternal Bale-vs-everyone Batman wars.
Its footprint
'I am vengeance' instantly entered the meme lexicon, and emo Bruce Wayne — lank hair, smeared eyeliner, Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' droning underneath — became shorthand for the ''he's literally me'' sad-boy protagonist joke. The needle-drop sent the 1991 Nirvana track surging back up the streaming charts.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd darling and a fixture near the top of modern comic-book-movie rankings — the 'gritty Batman' people actually mean it about.
Did you know? Matt Reeves has said he wrote the film while listening to Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' and modeled his reclusive Bruce Wayne partly on Kurt Cobain — which is why the song bookends the film.
Named by the director
- Chinatown (1974) — Reeves cited it as a key model for the film's noir detective structure and civic-corruption mystery.
- Taxi Driver (1976) — Named by Reeves for its lonely, voice-over-driven protagonist drifting through a rotting city.
- The French Connection (1971) — Reeves pointed to its gritty 70s street-level realism as a touchstone for Gotham.
- Klute (1971) — Cited by Reeves among the 70s paranoid thrillers that shaped the film's tone and texture.
- Last Days (2005) — Reeves cited Gus Van Sant's Cobain-inspired film as the seed for his withdrawn, rock-recluse Bruce Wayne.