The Complete Batman

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2009)

What we fail to realise is that during our youth we were subject to a style of film that allowed us to mature into it, there isn't one person alive that can tell me honestly that the first time we saw star wars, we understood everything that occurred, we knew what 'the Force' was or even that we saw coming the twists that intertwined before our very eyes. What we were subject to was cinematic history in the making, just like the way we did when we first experienced bullet time in the Matrix and the concurrent disappointment that transpired with the dire and subsequent franchise. What we see with Batman is that happening again. I cannot say in good conscience that Christian Bale is my favourite Batman because he is not. But what I can say is that he is the lead character in my favourite film. Despite the merits that Heath Ledger has as a psychotic and realistic Joker we do not experience the apathy with him that Nicholson brought. The love of a fiend, the understanding of his plight. We do however empathise with his family as they suffered his premature death. Keaton will always be the Batman and Nicholson will always be the Joker but what we have is a movie that will never die and a series of characters that are permitted to develop in a way that the first star wars enthused us to believeit is a wonderful film. A dark film. A film that says to us as comic book and film lovers, this is how it should be