well made

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2013)

I love Batman Begins best of the trilogy that culminates in Dark Knight Rises, but I'm not sure if that is because it's the best of the trilogy, because it was such a striking departure from the awful Michael Keaton films, or because it was the only one of the three I saw on the big screen.
Unlike most people, I felt a bit let down by the second movie, but I quite enjoyed the third. I didn't get the same visceral thrill from it that I got from Begins, but I did find it had a lot of interesting ideas.
First off, I appreciate the concept of a Batman who is too bitter and broken to go on. Superheroes are often a bit too super, but Batman has been hit hard by the previous films and the movie does a good job of showing what a tough job he's taken on. It's pretty brutal.
Another interesting thing is the casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Catwoman has always been the sexy seductress (for me, she will always be Julie Newmar), but Hathaway doesn't really do sexy, and instead plays a tough, cynical anti-hero. It's a little disorienting to see such a different version of the character, but ultimately I liked it, and Marian Cotillard as a philanthropist supplies the sexy that Anne lacks.
Generally, this is a dark, gritty, sometimes disturbingly violent action movie that doesn't let its intelligence get in the way of its thrills or vice versa.
But while I liked it, I wouldn't say it blew me away. It sometimes felt a bit unfocused, as though the movie bit off just slightly more than it could chew. Perhaps that's why I liked the first movie best; I recall it's focus being laser sharp.
Still, it's a very enjoyable film.