Worst Superhero Movie Ever Made

Rating: 1/10 (18 December 2008)

This is easily the worst superhero movie I have ever seen. Christian Bale, with his lisping American accent is the worst Batman to have ever worn the costume and the digitizing of his voice only serves to make him appear more ridiculous. This movie will bludgeon your senses in its desperation to entertain - it is very, very loud and there is enough broken metal and glass to start a recycling plant. The plot is so fast and frenetic that it rarely makes any sense, and just when it begins to, it is immediately off in another direction. Plot threads start and stop every three minutes it seems. Aaron Eckhart is a fine actor, but whose idea was it that he should walk around in the last thirty minutes with half of his face burned off. Perhaps somebody should explain to the writers that burn patients who walk around exposed like that are highly prone to infection and don't live long. Yet this guy parades around like it's just another day in the park with half his face missing and no bandages. It was as grotesque and gratuitous as it was silly. I guess it's what you do when your movie doesn't have much to say. The movie has an impressive lineup of movie stars - standouts are Eckhart, Oldman, Caine and Roberts. They are all very good but none is good enough to save this misfire. And then there's Morgan Freeman. Is there any movie made these days that doesn't have Morgan Freeman in it? He is so overexposed that he has become a bit of a joke. He is also in one of the most ridiculous scenes in the film where he stands befuddled in front of a bunch of TV monitors. This is another one of many scenes filmed with high energy and no sense at all. As if all of this wasn't bad enough, this thing lumbers on for two and a half very long hours. Aren't we all a little tired of the superhero who is 'conflicted'? When I hear people talking about academy awards for this film, it is a reminder to me of how the industry equates bigger with better. If you want bigger, this might be your film. If you want better, look elsewhere.