The biggest Joke, this film being so praised.

Rating: 1/10 (19 September 2008)

My lack of faith in the audience is justified, how can this film be so highly rated when it's total garbage. Batman was my favourite comic book, the dark tortured hero really appealed to me. But this film really is a mess. Where do I begin? Probably the biggest problem of any bad movie, the characters.
BATMAN The one we're supposed to identify with and feel his plight, is so wooden in this film that I could mistake him for a tree. Christian Bale's Batman seems devoid of any emotion or any internal plight, Plus in a film that is supposed to be about him, Batman seems relegated to a supporting role. In TDK he's merely a goon with a bad case of laryngitis. I know he's supposed to disguise his voice, but it's so over the top it's laughable. This is were Keaton and Conroy got it right, he seldom talks, when he does the voice change is subtle. Not sounding like a goon on a sugar high.
The JOKER, The main villain. Heath Ledger's performance is good with what he's given, But the writing for the Joker is all wrong. Joker in this film is actually a very generic psychopath. If it wasn't for the make-up I would have never guessed it was supposed to be the Joker. The Joker isn't supposed to be a nihilist. Everything to him is a big joke, even murder has to be funny to him. Ledger's Joker lacking virtually any sense of humour, he's more akin to Jack the Ripper who seems to have an obsession with knives and scars. Also what put me off is how the Joker always looks physically ill. Constantly hunched over, waddling about, constantly licking and smacking his lips like his saliva is on overdrive. This simply doesn't work for a clownish criminal amusing himself.
With the exceptions of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, the actors in the film just seemed rather lazy. Like they wanted the film to end as quickly as possible and collect their pay cheque. Why in a film where characters are supposed to be the central focus be so wooden and one dimensional with them. The film flops completely on it's characters The directing was equally sloppy.
A lot of pointless noise and generic action scenes that seem to be put in as filler in order to extend the film to the 150 minute mark. Excessive cuts that make the action difficult to follow and often in poor light where we can't see anything. Equally pointless was the plot, in fact it's more a collection of subplots, none of them with any closure or resolution to them. With the sloppy cuts, it also leaves enough plot holes to sink this film into an incoherent mess.
Yet I hear this film heralded as a masterpiece, I see critics and fan reviews who just gush over this film. Has the standard of film making really reached this low? 20 years ago, a film called Robocop came out. A very silly concept at it's core, but the characters are what made the film work. We could identify with Robocop ironically enough.Tim Burton's despite it's plot flaws, The characters were well created and acted and kept to the spirit of the source material. TDK has no such redeeming features.