Over long, rambling, episodic, pompous. Nice effects though.

Rating: 6/10 (14 August 2008)

Seeing it rated as the third best movie of all time by IMDb voters, and ranking up huge box office, I thought I'd give it a swing.
I mostly wish I hadn't bothered. Like most super-hero movies nowadays, it's one gigantic battleship of a movie, weighed down by its humongous budget and massive running time. How many sub-plots do we need? How many conflicted characters, staring into the depths of their pompous souls? Visually - great. And the vfx crew have to be credited for some of the most seamless and impressive work ever done, on the city, the batmobile, the bat bike etc. Brilliant stuff.
But the story, the script, the pacing - all pretty blaah. Did I give a damn about any of the characters? Did I really care what was going to happen next? Nope. Did I actually know what was going on half the time, what with the various criminals, their money, the money laundering guy, the Joker, the various Police Departments (what the hell is "County"?). No, no, no. Boring. I was actually looking at my watch.
The one intriguing episode in the film - with the ferries - is shoved in three quarters of the way through the film, and unceremoniously dumped once it has served its purpose in sticking other bits of the film together.
So, all in all, I wish I'd spent the time some other way.