Not for me

Rating: 4/10 (25 April 2013)

i suppose going into this film it was easy to believe that it was beyond criticism. You knew before it was released it was probably going to become one of the most successful films of all time etc etc and at least you do see the money on screen. You see where the huge budget has gone and how expensive it all looks but with most Nolan films, I always seem to end up admiring the achievement rather than liking the film itself. In fact, it was tediously boring for me and seemed to get worse as it went on. To begin with the villain was laughable and indeed I heard sniggers in the audience as his incomprehensible Casio keyboard voice was uttered and whilst hardy looked the part, you had to feel sorry that he'd been turned into such a joke rather than a menacing presence. I also despaired every time Batman showed up as you waited with dreaded breath for Bale to put on that ridiculous heavy breathing voice which really should have been stopped as soon as he first tried it in rehearsal. The whole thing is humourless and takes itself so seriously and the only glimmer of fun is to be had with Anne Hathaway who is definitely watchable in the first half as at least she seem to be enjoying herself amongst the other 'thespians' doing there 'let's treat like this like Richard 111'. Sadly she disintegrates as the film goes on but the whole film gets worse after the enjoyable first half hour or so. There's no doubt that the scene when the city goes through it's destruction is breathtaking. In fact it is a huge achievement to dramatise an act of terrorism in a way that is extraordinary, in these post 9/11 times and the aerial shot of New York where random explosions and the bridges fall to dust really creates a nightmarish vision. However my other issue is Gotham itself. Virtually no attempt was made to create this city and so you know full well you're in New York. Why not just call it New York? This is not a Gotham that has been stylised or created - at least with Tim Burton you got a new architecture and landscape. I suppose it is snobbery to moan about the writing but surely the most enthusiastic of enthusiasts must frown at lines like 'you can't save the world until you start trusting it'. I realise films like these are not about great writing but at the end, I'm left with nothing else either. Glad I saw it but could never watch it again.