There Are People In The World Who Consider This Good? Sad.

Rating: 2/10 (21 December 2008)

The movie gets one star for Aaron Eckhart, who is the only actor to bring the film to life. The other star goes to the bat-cycle, which is the only cool device/gadget in the film. Everything else is a disappointment.
Christian Bale -- Could somebody please wake him up. Heath Ledger -- "De mortuis, nihil nisi bonum." He avoided the snarling giggles of Nicholson and Romero and is a bit funny now and again, but I do not remember the Joker being a sado-masochist. The character remains a cartoon villain. Michael Caine -- An eighty year old butler. Pathetic. Sorry to say, but they really needed a younger man for the part. Script. -- a half decent first draft. Three or four more drafts and it might have amounted to something. With the exception of Dent, none of the characters are worth caring about. That's its major flaw. Production -- Dazzlingly cruddy. All the sets and props underwhelm. No real style is established. Cinematography -- Only one nice shot in the movie, when the Joker blows up a hospital. It is nice, but not great and only marginally memorable. Every other shot looks like a cheesy CBS crime show.
I'm glad I waited until the last week of its run in the $2 movie theaters to see it. I would have hated to think I wasted $10 on this. I won't be getting the DVD. Please, do not give it to me for Christmas.
I once got fired from a newspaper for giving a bad review to Tim Burton's "Batman". In retrospect, every "Batman" has been worse since then. Burton's first "Batman" is looking better and better all the time.
I should mention that the film fails to establish meaning in its narrative. It constantly strives to do this by having the characters speak in deep voices and intone such nonsensical lines as "If you stay around long enough, either you die a hero or end up a villain." By saying such trite nonsense in serious tones, you don't make the movie serious, only seriously trite and nonsensical.
I was bored after the first half hour and the next two hours seemed like three or four, as I hoped, in vain, the movie would become interesting.