The even Darker Knight

The latest bigscreen Batman do-over drops Gotham's Caped Crusader into a Se7en-esque serial killer flick with thrilling results

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THE BATMAN

Filmmaker Matt Reeves ventures into the darkest corners of Gotham City with his cinematic reinvention of the Dark Knight, pitting Robert Pattinson's fairly green Batman (the story is set during his second year fighting crime) against a psychotic version of the Riddler (Paul Dano), who has far more in common with the Zodiac Killer than Jim Carrey or Frank Gorshin.

Running just shy of three hours, this slow-burn murder mystery might not sit well with those who prefer their comic book movies full of non-stop action. On the other hand it's nice to finally see a version of DC Comics' 'world's greatest detective' who looks equally at home when surrounded by old books as he is punching people in the face.

Helping deliver this fresh-feeling take on the source material is a superb supporting cast, particularly Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin (who seems to be doing an impression of Robert De Niro as the Penguin). Then there's the movie's surfeit of film noir style, which gives it another point of difference from the majority of recent comic book adaptations. More of this please, Warner Bros.!