It's not really that great of a movie

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2009)

I'm so relieved that I'm not the only one who doesn't think this movie is great. I saw this first in the theater, and to be honest, probably would've given it a bit higher rating...if I would've reviewed it then. But........I just watched it again on cable and it doesn't hold up as well outside of the movie theater with it's huge screen, dark room and loud speakers. First off...what I liked. Heath Leadger was fantastic as the Joker and could've done so much more with it if the writing and plot had been better. The movie should've focused on a battle of wits and balls between Batman and Joker. That would've been more interesting. I liked Morgan Freeman. I enjoy his character. I like that there wasn't some big distracting relationship for Batman/Bruce. I even enjoyed some of the explosions. I hate Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce. He just doesn't emote anything. Also...HE HAS THE WORST BATMAN VOICE EVER....EVER....EVER!!!! The movie was way too long and had way too many subplots going. I could've lived without the whole Harvey Dent thing. Why introduce Two Face just to kill him off? It made no sense. Then again, a lot of the subplots made no sense. The movie takes itself too seriously. There's really no humor either. I realize the whole idea was to make it dark, but sheesh, c'mon. There were too many just shoved in there explosions going on. It felt like two movies being rammed into one. It's just too much. Too many things going on that don't really gel together. I guess I'm tired of movies that offer more in explosions and chases than solid story telling and characters you can give a damn about. I honestly could not sit through this movie again. If I do anything, I'll watch it free on demand and fast forward to the Heath Leadger scenes. He did so much with what he was given to work with.....which wasn't any where near what it could have been. All in all...this movie doesn't live up to the hype.