“The Batman,” directed by Matt Reeves, was released on March 4 and has hit the theaters with a huge success. Reaching $128 million off its first weekend. The movie is the second biggest debut during the pandemic, under “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $260 million.

As someone who watches the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, I wanted to venture out, and the hype for this movie made me head to Hollywood Blvd and grab some wings and a grinch dip to experience the movie myself and see what the excitement was about, and I was not let down.

But before I fully review I have to open up. The DC movies confuse the hell out of me. Whether it’s the multiple changes of actors, or random reboots of movies with some of the same actors and everyone else changes, to the pure chaos of how the movies are released, I am just pure confused at the DC franchise.

Maybe it’s because I have become so accustomed to watching the MCU movies and seeing a big story revealed throughout each movie. Having a superhero movie where it’s just that, a superhero movie telling a certain story, is odd for me.

But “The Batman” might have made me a DC fan from the first five minutes of the film. I won’t spoil any big plot points, but I will be describing the basic gist of the movie, so you have been warned.

We follow Batman (played by Robert Patterson) as he tries to uncover a lucrative murderer who has been killing people of power in Gotham. With the help of his friend James Gordon (played by Jeffery Wright) and a sly Catwoman (played by Zoë Kravitz), they all try to unmask this killer and uncover the secrets that Gotham has swept under the rug.

The whole feel of the movie was not what I was expecting with a superhero movie. I am so used to the bright, vibrant colors the MCU has in their movies which are very different from “The Batman.” The dark atmosphere throughout the movie brought a sense of fear that I’m sure the residents of Gotham felt walking through the streets. The few times the movie wasn’t at night, the film still felt gloomy and dark.

The dark gothic towering buildings, trash piling the streets and lack of light source was not the only thing that made me feel on edge during the movie. The soundtrack throughout the film created such an eerie sensation that allowed the viewers to absorb the uncanny messages that the Riddler would give to Batman.

All of this suspense and grappling storytelling made the three hours feel like a minute. I knew of the movie’s run time before entering and felt a bit worried that, like all longer movies, I would lose interest midway in the movie and have to wait for an action scene to get me feeling rejuvenated. That wasn’t the case for “The Batman,” the movie kept me asking myself questions and wondering what was going to happen next.

I think overall the movie is definitely worth watching even if you aren’t a DC fan. The film had such beautiful cinematography, but what ties it all together is the story, and while I know very little about Batman, I can’t wait to see how this franchise continues itself, which alludes to what seems to be a sequel. 4.9 Batman signals out of 5.