I nearly walked out.

Rating: 4/10 (20 July 2008)

didn't like it. no spoilers here, I won't ruin it for you, you might like it, I nearly walked out, but didn't out of respect for the late Heath Ledger (who apparently did one more film after this which I heard really stank), and also in hopes it would pick up towards the end. personally I was disappointed, particularly in the end, where one character, decided to take the heat for something which I thought was a pointless and unnecessary plot device.
I thought all the actors did a fine job, since when is Gotham in Illinois? in the DC Comics it's a stand-in for NYC,like Metropolis, but has been established as a separate city, in NY or NJ now I think. that area anyway. I was not freaked out watching Ledger, was not thinking about the fact that he was now dead as I watched his performance. I know it was Ledger's swan-song, but come on, it's not that great. Bat's voice was a little too cookie-monster/death-metal, Keaton found the right level of gritty for it. I liked him better.
it was too long, too dark and intense, and had too many holes, which I won't mention so as not to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it. I'm losing faith in the film industry. if I'm going to spend upwards of $9 for a film, I want spaceships, or dragons, anything else I can wait for video on frankly, if it isn't a spectacle, I can wait. but genre films have been letting me down lately. still plan on seeing Iron Man, but actually, now I'm starting to feel like I can wait on that one, even though I suspect I will enjoy it more than I did the last three films I saw in the theatre. (Hancock :| the Hulk :\ ) oh wait I saw Hellboy, that was much more fun. very enjoyable.
I liked the last bat-film, so I had high hopes for this one. I started to wonder what was wrong about 3/4 of the way through, I felt the urge to leave, I haven't had that happen to me in some time. action sequences, yes very impressive, it's all been done, I'm not that easily impressed by your flawless special effects anymore, if they don't serve a story, it's just eye candy, I guess I'm getting tired of lowering my expectations of genre films all the way. I don't understand why so many people are ga-ga for this film. It took me 50 pages of clicking to find a non favourable review, and once I found them, I found more reasons why I didn't like it, which I hadn't had time to think about, but I plan on not thinking about this movie any more. the next Bat film, I will wait for video on if there is a next one.
I didn't like the Joker's make up like much of the film, it was all too realistic, comic book superhero movies have become afraid of being too "comic-booky" to their detriment. I'm not advocating yellow spandex for Wolverine, but I remember when the Batmobile looked like a cross between a Corvette Stingray and a Caddy, now it looks like a Hummer/tank. apt analogy, this movie is like an SUV, too big and consuming, frankly depressing by the end.