This is a good film (May have some spoilers)

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2009)

This is a good film. It's a good action film and it's a pretty good adaptation of some stories from the Batman stories.
This isn't the best film ever, it's not the most amazing film ever. It is very enjoyable. There are things that raise a smile, things that will shock and surprise you. All in all, it's worth it's rating. Films are not all about deep philosophical debates, they are simply there to entertain and this film does just that.
Lots of the negative reviews point out plot holes, wooden acting and start getting in to a discussion about if this should be taken seriously or not. I ask those people...Why so serious? This film isn't asking to be taken as a picture of real life and the eternal struggles that we encounter in our normal life of working in an office or whatever it is we do when not at the cinema.
At simplest it's a battle between good and evil. The hero is a dark brooding figure that installs fear in to the criminal underworld. His alter ego (which is even more of a mask) is a playboy millionaire that struggles with who he really is. Other good characters are the decent cop surrounded by corrupt ones, just trying to do the decent thing and then the whiter than white politician whose determined to rid us of the evil that lurks on our streets.
Then you get evil personified in the Joker. When they do these surveys of the best baddie, this character will be there. The Joker uses peoples fear and greed to manipulate them. His aim is to create chaos and anarchy just for the fun of it. He plants bombs not to simply kill but to bring out the killer in others. Whilst the good guys are cleaning up the evil in the gutter, the Joker is trying to entice it from everyone. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
So is the film too long, for some yes but it was fine for me, there was enough pace to keep it moving and enough dialog to keep it interesting.
For some of the main critisisms I've read through I have to ask, Why So Serious? Trying to over analyse some of the events in a film like Batman is a little daft, it's about a guy that dresses up in a suit and beats up bad guys on a summers night whilst playing with girls on boats in the day...hardly a realistic base for a story now...
If I want philosophy I'll read a book written by a philosopher, if I want to be entertained, I go to the movies. If you want deep & meaningful, save your cash for a movie ticket, buy some classic books and when your bored of that pop this in to your DVD player for some fun.