The Batman Becomes Second Best-Rated Live-Action Bat-Movie on Rotten Tomatoes

The Batman bypasses every Bat-movie except one to become the second-highest scoring live-action Batman on Rotten Tomatoes, where early critics’ reviews have given the Matt Reeves reboot a fresh score. The rating, which will fluctuate as more reviews and reactions release following Monday’s ended embargo, currently sits at 90% from 144 counted reviews. When not accounting for the 100% scores of animated films like Batman vs. Robin and The Dark Knight Returns, The Batman trails only the 94% earned by Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight in 2008. 

For comparisons, The Batman beats out Nolan’s 2012 trilogy finale The Dark Knight Rises (87%), 2005 franchise reboot Batman Begins (84%), 1992’s Tim Burton-directed Batman Returns (80%), 1966’s Adam West and Burt Ward-starring Batman: The Movie (79%), and 1989’s Batman (72%) with Michael Keaton. The only Bat-movies rated rotten are 1995’s Batman Forever (39%), 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (29%), and 1997’s Batman & Robin with a franchise low of 12%.

The Batman has fared better than the Batman-less spinoff Joker (68%) and the Gotham City-set Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (79%). Set in its own standalone Bat-verse separate from the DC Extended Universe, The Batman is scoring on a similar track to Wonder Woman (93%), Shazam! (90%), and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (90%). 

The Batman is “a stunningly fresh vision of the Batman character, world, and lore that ultimately got muddled and lost along the way, but still manages to pull together enough … to offer fans a doorway to a more promising franchise future,” writes ComicBook‘s Kofi Outlaw in a 4 out of 5 star review. Read the full spoiler-free review here and see our review roundup for first reactions to The Batman. 

Starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as GCPD’s James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and Colin Farrell as Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot, The Batman opens exclusively in theaters on March 4.