PicardRex Wrote:I guess my opinion will be in the minority then. Overall I liked the movie, but as a Batman comic book fan, I have issues with how it ended and one of the themes of the movie.
First of all Batman never quits, he is the unyielding, implacable foe who will hound you mercilessly. He has an indomitable spirit. It is these traits that let him not only survive, but actually enable him to best his villains, whether they have drug induced strength or a criminal empire.
Secondly, the premise that it’s the idea that matters more than the identity of Batman is crap. Batman is Bruce Wayne; it takes Bruce’s money, connections, company, and personal tragedy to enable Bruce to have the devotion, resources and skill to be Batman. No one can fill those shoes. The few times in the comics where they’ve tried, it inevitably comes back to Bruce.
Now you might say this is a movie, that it’s a different interpretation, a more realistic vision of Batman and I would agree. Except, for the first two films it wasn’t that different, Begins was essentially Year One and Dark Knight was kind of an amalgamation of Joker and Two-Face stories. Though they were a bit more grounded in the real world, it was still Batman, still had his essence. This one didn’t to me. He was a quitter at the start and quits at the end, with barely any action in between. It was as much Levitt’s movie as it was Batman’s.
So, anyway, there’s the rant, there were other issues, but those two were my biggest problems with it.
You make some good points, but I think the film veered from the character you describe to show a damaged character, someone who is flawed, and can be redeemed (as all good third acts should).
SPOILERS - SORT OF
He believes his greatest strength is no fear of death, but goes through a journey that teaches him that this strength is flawed, he has have a life worth fighting for. As an ending and third act to a trilogy, it worked. The comic may dabble with endings, but everyone knows that comics are never-ending.
Seeing the film a second time, you're right about how much screen time Batman gets, it isn't much. I would say Bruce gets more screen time, and it is still his story, but Blake was clearly a cypher to tell the parts of the story that Bruce/Batman wasn't involved in.
As to the sound mix some people have been mentioning. The first showing I saw was at an IMAX, the sound was terrific, Gary Oldman mumbled occasionally, as he does, but overall everything felt balanced and I didn't see why people were complaining. But last night at the local cinema the sound was seriously off. The mix was all wrong, there were entire scenes (especially towards the end) where the music drowned out all dialogue. My girlfriend wasn't impressed, stating that one scene in particular where Levitt and Oldman were in the apartment, she could see Oldman getting upset, and Levitt getting angry, but she had no idea why because the dialogue was lost. I hope the DVD/BR release will make this right, and not require you to have a professional level sound system to enjoy the film.