I can definitely appreciate the dark detective story that this film was striving to be. And it really does succeed in being that. Another positive was the great fighting scenes. Well done.
However, in order to enjoy the dark detective story and the excellent fighting sequences, you really have to ignore A LOT of this film's miscues.
First and foremost, Bruce Wayne loses all credibility in being some billionaire brooding goth emo instead of a billionaire world-renowned playboy. I was almost expecting Bruce Wayne to slit his own wrists and beg for attention.
Second, another huge mistake in this film was reducing the Penguin to nothing more than being a mafia stooge to crime boss Carmine Falcone. To me, that was unforgiveable. The Penguin should be so much more than just a mafia underling. Why is he even "The Penguin"? He doesn't resemble one, doesn't sound like one, doesn't hang around with actual penguins. He's basically named the Penguin just so that the film makers can say that the Penguin is in this film. But there really is no "Penguin" super villain in it. Just some random mafia guy nicknamed The Penguin.
Third, the lazy writing that conveniently makes Selena Kyle the child of Carmine Falcone. No, just no. That's lazy.
Fourth, the Riddler is basically just the real-life Zodiak Killer copy-&-pasted into a Batman movie. Be more original with the film's main super villain.
Fifth, trim down the film length. It is way too long. This makes the viewer lose interest in many scenes that could have been left out without affecting the overall story.
That's a lot to ignore for a film that I really wanted to enjoy. All that drops this film well below the standard of all the great Batman movies that preceded it. Not too bad, but not great. I expected better.
However, in order to enjoy the dark detective story and the excellent fighting sequences, you really have to ignore A LOT of this film's miscues.
First and foremost, Bruce Wayne loses all credibility in being some billionaire brooding goth emo instead of a billionaire world-renowned playboy. I was almost expecting Bruce Wayne to slit his own wrists and beg for attention.
Second, another huge mistake in this film was reducing the Penguin to nothing more than being a mafia stooge to crime boss Carmine Falcone. To me, that was unforgiveable. The Penguin should be so much more than just a mafia underling. Why is he even "The Penguin"? He doesn't resemble one, doesn't sound like one, doesn't hang around with actual penguins. He's basically named the Penguin just so that the film makers can say that the Penguin is in this film. But there really is no "Penguin" super villain in it. Just some random mafia guy nicknamed The Penguin.
Third, the lazy writing that conveniently makes Selena Kyle the child of Carmine Falcone. No, just no. That's lazy.
Fourth, the Riddler is basically just the real-life Zodiak Killer copy-&-pasted into a Batman movie. Be more original with the film's main super villain.
Fifth, trim down the film length. It is way too long. This makes the viewer lose interest in many scenes that could have been left out without affecting the overall story.
That's a lot to ignore for a film that I really wanted to enjoy. All that drops this film well below the standard of all the great Batman movies that preceded it. Not too bad, but not great. I expected better.
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