Just didn't have the emotional impact of Batman Begins

Rating: 6/10 (4 August 2008)

The only reason I wanted to watch Batman Begins or The Dark Knight was because Christian Bale played Batman. That's it. I think he's one of the best actors in Hollywood today, and I gave BB a chance because of him. He did not disappoint, bringing the right amount of pathos and heroism to the caped crusader, quite possibly creating the best big screen portrayal of the character ever. I really liked Batman Begins because it made us care about everyone in it, we even feel sympathy for the villain because we get at least a glimpse of why he does what he does, and that he has people he once cared about. At one point anyway, we know the villain in the first film wasn't a complete monster. We care about the minor characters because we see that they care about Bruce and/or Bruce cares about them, and we get to know Bruce pretty well. We feel his pain, his anger, his frustration, and we are uplifted by the fact that this man who could so easily choose to be a villain chooses instead to be a hero. Batman Begins, quite simply, tugs at your heartstrings, while providing some good action and a plot. The Dark Knight is just chaos, in every sense of the word. If it was Nolan's intention that most of the time we wouldn't know what was happening or why, he succeeded. I just didn't understand it, to put it plainly. Maybe, since the Joker was a chaotic villain, the movie was supposed to support that. If so, it did it's job. I also couldn't keep up with all the characters, or their purpose. What WAS the point of the focus on the mob? Why the mob, the Joker, and Harvey Dent/Two Face in the same movie, and Gordon's family being threatened in the same movie? There was just too much going on, too much action, and not enough reaction. Alfred was almost nonexistent..and here's the kicker: so was Batman. In a movie about BATMAN, you'd think Christian Bale would have a bigger part. He did a great job with what he was given, but he was almost a glorified extra. Harvey Dent got to show more of a reaction out of Rachel's death than Bruce did. That's a shame. Nolan really needs to go back to basics and put some heart back in the script. It was almost like BB and TDK were directed by two different people. The two movies certainly bear no resemblance to each other. Where was the heart? Sorely missing in this one, I'm afraid. Nlan went all "style over substance" in TDK. Not impressed. If you're a die-hard fan of any of the actors as I am Bale, or a die-hard Batman fan, it's worth a watch, but otherwise....skip it.