Batman Begins To Smell

Rating: 1/10 (30 March 2011)

Sorry to upset die-hard Batman comic book fans, but I really hate and detest this movie. It is an insult to the 'Batman' I love and remember from my childhood. The Burton/Schumacher pictures were marvellous fun because they did not take themselves seriously. All I got from this one was a king-size headache and a sore bottom where I was bored senseless for the best part of two hours. Chris Nolan thinks 'Batman' should be taken dead seriously. A rich man who goes out at night in a rubber suit designed to resemble a bat? Oh, come on! Putting the Caped Crusader in a film like this is like making 'Austin Powers' the star of a Daniel Craig-type Bond film. Worse, the chief villain - The Scarecrow ( Cillian Murphy ) - is another nut, only this one runs round with a sack on his head! Michael Caine's 'Alfred' cannot hold a Bat-candle either to Alan Napier or Michael Gough. The story of this film...well, was there one? All I saw was a lot of fighting with nothing in-between. It has been announced that Warner Bros. are rebooting the franchise once more. Good idea. They need to use the Burton/Schumacher movies as a template for any further entries. This one hit the big screen with all the force of a wet lettuce. Ker-flop!