If you haven’t watched Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy start there. Those movies are heavily influenced by the works of Michael Mann, specifically Heat, which is a phenomenal film but has a different vibe from The Batman, although I still highly recommend watching it as a crime thriller.

In a somewhat funny coincidence, The Batman takes a lot of visual cues from another Michael Mann film, Manhunter, which I highly recommend because it has an almost identical aesthetic and vibe to The Batman.

The way Reeves structured the film is very interesting; each act could be seen as representative of a different era in action films. The opening has direct references to John Boorman’s Point Blank with Lee Marvin, but also draws parallels to films like The Driver or Le Samurai. The second act has parallels to 80’s and 90’s crime thrillers like Manhunter, Cobra, and Silence of the Lambs. The last act goes full disaster mode, striking visuals similar to the Schumacher era Batman films or late era De Palma, stuff like Batman Forever and Snake Eyes.

The Batman was one of my favorites of last year, as a hardcore movie nerd I found the sheer amount of references downright fascinating. Say what you will about Matt Reeves but the man clearly loves movies and has done his homework.