Batman begins was great. Definitely the best character play of Alfred I?ve ever seen, and the way Gordon is executed was both compelling and made me mildly sympathetic to the cause (you?ll note that I haven?t mentioned the star himself).
So what of the second movie?
Maggie plays the girlfriend far better than Katie ever did, probably because she didn?t try to fill K?s shoes, and because she wasn?t Katie (and thus generating a bucket load of media hype over what is otherwise a minor role).
As Nick said, the hype machine grabbed onto Heath?s death. Don?t get me wrong it was sad to see him go and he certainly did make a compelling role. But (there?s always a ?but? with me) I feel the hype surrounding this actually killed the movie for me. It?s like the gamer-hype about Duke Nukem Forever. The amount of hype this movie generated left me going in thinking it was going to cure cancer, discover the secret to immortality, and literally blow my socks off in the seats.
It did none of these.
Batman was his usual lispy self and I really felt the whole ?dark knight? aspect of the movie was under played. I wanted to see him ready to join the joker, to wreak havoc on the hypocritical ham-beasts in the precinct, and there was nothing like this.
The Joker was a severe disappointment. Sure he pulled off evil, and I have to agree with Nick when he says he was the best joker ever, but as good as the Godfather Part 2? Never. And what of these cretin?s suggesting the Joker was the new Hannibal Lecter?! Not only did this come across as complete and utter crap, Heath?s performance was nowhere near as intriguing, or absorbing, as Sir Anthony Hopkins (although while we?re on the topic of biased I?m a huge Hannibal fan).
The final bit for me, and one that I?m rather mixed on, is the SFX in this movie. They actually ARE special. That scene with the truck being blown up and flipping rear over front? Real. That was an actual truck and left me with a real WOW feeling, which was completely ruined by the ?bat-bike? which, like the batmobile, felt out of character with the comics. Batman is a gadget geek sure, but he?s also a high tech gadget geek. He doesn?t drive a tank! He drives a tricked out two door sports car with more awesome in it than? well? anything.
Movie gets a one out of me. I expected so much more from it and all I got was a supreme feeling of ?eh?. If you?re a hard core fan, definitely check it out. The rest of you? well that?s just up to you isn?t it.
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