‘The Batman’ paints it black

The film contains so little light, while upping the level of violence, it could be subtitled “The Unbearable Darkness of Beating.”

Cinematographer Greig Fraser apparently wasn’t given any color crayons as a child.

Precipitation is also prevalent. The score could have included The Beatles’ “Rain” – “If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads.

They might as well be dead.” Instead we get treated to Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” penned by Mr. Mirth himself, Kurt Cobain.

The movie also keeps the audience in the dark – yes, family secrets eventually get revealed – for almost three hours. That’s a lot of lugubriousness. Pattinson even tries his best to out-angst Bale in the title role as The Batman. Interestingly, both actors are Brits, continuing a trend of thespians from across the pond playing American superheroes. I have an upcoming column on this subject.

Anyway, Pattinson has experience playing brooding types with tortured psyches as anyone who has seen the “Twilight” films knows. He won’t make you forget Bale, but he does serve well the grim proceedings dialed up by director Matt Reeves, who co-wrote the film with Peter Craig.

Unlike Bale’s Batman, Pattinson portrays the superhero as more vulnerable. A refreshing change. While the film is not an origin story, it’s clear that this Batman has not yet grown completely into his bat wings. Here, he is just beginning his war on crime and he has a lot on his plate as corruption has oozed into virtually every nook and cranny of Gotham.

But Batman isn’t the only one appalled by the city’s moral decrepitude. So is another masked vigilante. He just happens to deal with his outrage by commiting a series very grisly murders while leaving riddles for Batman to try to solve. Yes, he’s The Riddler played by Paul

Dano, who does justice to psychopaths everywhere. As deranged as he is and as brutal as his murders are, his character suffers in comparison with Heath Ledger’s Joker. But then Ledger set the bar higher than Chicago’s Willis Tower.

The third mask is worn by Selina Kyle as Catwoman. Zoe Kravitz does the honors here in a role played most memorably by Michelle

Pfeiffer and most disastrously by Halle Berry. In “The Batman,” Kravitz acquits herself well, adding a touch of feminine wile to the film’s machismo. Will she help Batman or hinder him? What’s clear is she’s not to be trifled with as she pursues her own agenda. Her scenes with Batman provide a welcome repose to the mayhem.

For good measure, the film features more bad guys, specifically crime boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and his strongman, Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell). Both get to menace with prowess. The film even has drug addicts called dropheads. For comic relief, Adam Sandler makes a guest appearance as Unhappy Gilmore. OK, maybe not.

On the good guy side we have Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), prior to becoming police commissioner, and Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Bruce Wayne’s confidant. Robin is sadly missing in action again.

Reeves, whose resume includes “Cloverfield” and “Planet of the Apes” reboots, deserve credit for at least venturing down different paths in this well-worn franchise. He certainly tests the limits of the PG-13 rating. This film is very violent. Its three-hour running time, meanwhile, may test the patience of the audience. As someone who prizes originality, I’m normally not a fan of remakes, but this one held my interest. The action scenes do kick some derriere. Just don’t bring along sunglasses.

“The Batman” opens in theaters on March 4.