Why so serious?

Rating: 1/10 (10 August 2008)

I fail to see how people are actually taking this movie seriously.
Batman is meant to be an enjoyable superhero/comic book blockbuster, but that is all. The film makers feeble attempt to make things more 'serious' by throwing in the cringing ferry and solar phone tap scene were embarrassingly unnecessary and came off as patronising to the audience.
Furthermore, the use of real NY style sky scrapers for Gotham City (in some far from subtle way of making more 9/11 America comparisons) ruined the distorted and macabre atmosphere of Gotham city that Tim Burton had translated so well onto screen. The fictional comic book edge was further lost by showing us the Joker's violent followers from behind to expose their masks. While all this might have made the movie fresher and more realistic- why keep the entirely unbelievable and cackling Joker character? Instead, Heath Ledger's excellent performance feels out of place with the rest of the movie.
And while Heath did play the joker very well, it is not exactly difficult to play a cartoon, fictional and face painted psycho. If you want to see a real Oscar winning performance of a psychopath, watch Monster (2006). If he gets the Oscar sympathy vote for this I would have no more respect for the Academy and it's flawed voting process.