Its all about duality.....

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2002)

First let me say that this film was made to be seen on a theater screen. Watching it on video doesn't cut it, as you lose much of the atmosphere of the film: you lose the massive, implacable hostility of the city and the sweeping drama of the underlying themes, and are left with a rather crummy and inexplicably shallow comic-book plot.
That having been said--this is an awesome movie! It explores the duality of human nature: each of the four main characters has a face they present to the world, and a dark, hidden side. Batman, rich playboy to the world, haunted crime fighter by night--he recognizes the similarity to himself in the Penguin (publicly a martyred hero, privately a bloodthirsty child murderer) and Selina Kyle (publicly a mousy frump, but with a hidden identity as Catwoman) and even Max Shreck (publicly a successful businessman and philanthropist, secretly a power-mongering, ruthless, amoral egoist.) And just when it seems like everything is simple, the strange pathos of the Penguin's death scene forces us to wonder which was his true nature after all. And Catwoman's departure is equally ambiguous and unsettling.
This deeper story takes place amid a surrealistic world of intimidating architecture, killer clowns, and penguins bearing missiles. Below a surface plot which is as 'comic-book' and improbable as can be. With strange elements of humor and violence where you least expect them. And one of Danny Elfman's best scores!
If I had to air some gripes with the movie, the main one would be that some of the dialog sounds as if the actors are making it up as they go along. (Maybe this was intended...the most noticeable instance was when Shreck had to make his speech without his notes.) And the violence and gore were really pushed beyond what was necessary.