Could have been great, but disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (27 June 2005)

SPOILERS AHEAD I had high expectations going into this movie but was very disappointed by the end. The main critique I have is the fight scenes. I could not tell who was who, the characters were indistinguishable from one another. The fear of bats concept was drilled into your head throughout the movie and could have been done in 1/5 of the time spent on it. The acting varied from great to bad.
Bale: Loved him in American Psycho and Equilibrium and figured he was a perfect Batman. But, he was great as Bruce Wayne and horrible as Batman. He tried to speak in a dark and menacing tone as Batman but sounded almost comical.
Caine: Good as Alfred and did the most with the character that one would expect.
Neeson: His character was too contradictory. He wanted to kill criminals who prey on the fearful but was willing to destroy a whole city who had many good people living in it.
Holmes: I liked her in Wonder Boys and Go but she was bad in this movie. When she tried to act tough as the DA it was believable at all. Her love connection with Wayne was only alluded to and they just start kissing in the end out of nowhere.
Oldman: I think Oldman is one of the best actors of all time and he was great as usual in a role that wasn't written well for an actor of his caliber. His one liners were good for comic relief also.
Murphy: Well-acted as the shrink/Scarecrow but was barely in the movie. His role should have been greatly expanded and Katie Holmes taking him down was a joke.
Wilkinson: Played his character well but they build him up the whole movie as the mob boss of Gotham and he is written off as a common thug. Why would a person of his power be present at one of his drug deals? If your the boss you separate yourself from the deal as much as possible.
Freeman: He basically did this for the money. A great actor who did a minor role for the big paycheck.