The dehumanizing product of a morally stunted culture

Rating: 3/10 (7 August 2008)

I know people will hate me for giving this movie 2 stars, but allow me to explain why the rating is deserved. I watched this movie twice and my initial impression of it was confirmed on the second viewing. The tagline of the movie is "Welcome to a world without rules." But even someone who likes the movie must realize this is absurd, because the rules of the film are strictly defined from the start. Batman is PERFECT GOOD, and the Joker is PERFECT EVIL. Whenever it's the cops versus Batman in this movie, we know the cops are wrong and Batman is on the side of good. He's just that good. And the Joker is so evil that he doesn't even have a motive. He's there to create a force of perfect chaos which Batman is duty-bound to fight.
To deny that this movie is about terrorism is to deny the well-executed thrill elements such as the videos released to the press and closed-circle moral tests (on the ferries; similar to United 93). These are borrowed directly from the terrorist playbook, and one persistent element, the ticking time-bomb scenario which Batman solves by brutally beating people up until he gets the information he wants, is derived from our fear of terrorism even though ticking time-bombs NEVER happen in real life. When you compare the movie to reality, though, an outrageous discrepancy is made evident. Terrorists are not born psychopaths like the Joker. They are poor, scared people driven to violence only by persistent reinforcement of hatred and duty. That's WHY there are no ticking time-bombs: true psychopaths do not act like the Joker, and terrorists are not true psychopaths.
In this movie, the only mistake Batman makes is when he injures himself swerving his motorcycle so that he doesn't kill the Joker. He is just too good to kill his enemy. Three thousand years of storytellers are laughing themselves to tears in Heaven at our image of a hero. Read Shakespeare. Read the Iliad. See if you can figure out for yourself what kind of travesty this is.
The areas where this film deviates from standard superhero crap only condemn it further. Batman creates a magical cell phone network, which his buddy says a violation of privacy; the film makes his buddy out to be a spineless coward, because Batman needs his magic to do good. Do you see the problem here? Here it is: Batman doesn't exist in real life.
To call this movie the best film of the year, or, as IMDb currently reckons it, the best film of all time, is to admit that we want to believe in a world where good battles evil. It creates a worldview where "good" people will not have to admit their own problems, and "evil" people can be rounded up and beaten half to death without any moral qualms. It is EXACTLY this kind of mentality which has caused the war in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo Bay.
I award this movie eight stars for execution, but subtract five stars for its incorrect, dehumanizing, and morally stunted outlook on human nature. Thus, it ends up with three stars, which I think is more than generous.