I loved the doom and gloom and the dirty feel of Gotham. Even the bat signal was sort of messy and rigged together instead of shiny and perfect. This is a messy, dirty city full of crime and corruption and you feel it every minute of the film. The use of Ave Maria and Nirvana’s gloom and doom song Something in the Way were perfectly fit here. Batman came about from anger and grief and you feel it here in every moment but you also see he is a mere mortal in parts and has the ability to get injured. He’s still young so he hasn’t totally perfected his part in crime fighting yet. The Riddler is terrifying, not goofy in any way as he’s been portrayed before. He’s mentally ill but even he has a code and almost valid reasons for being as angry as he is although his methods to solve problems are unforgivable. So although he does terrible things you can almost feel for him because of his past. This film fits in with Joker in that way. These characters are given robust backgrounds and we understand how they got to be so angry. This is why these recent films are far above the ones previously set in this universe. RPat almost has a gloomy way about him so he was a good fit for this part. Zoe did a great job as Catwoman and is also given a fitting background story but is brought back from the brink by Batman and winds up not doing what she set out to do in favor of justice instead of payback.

Now the length- this film clocks in slightly under 3 hours but you almost don’t feel the length. It didn’t drag at all. It’s so immersive that you barely notice.