Gotham City’s Grave New World

Holy carrr-ap man...your review didn't even make sense. I've seen the movie, and it was a thrill-ride, start to finish.

Did Die Hard bore you with its limited action as well?

You know, I was all set to write a reply to this review, but I see most of the work has already been done for me.

Mr. Ansen, you *completely* undermine your own review with your last few sentences. They show that you went into the movie with a closed mind and without the intention of reviewing the film based on its own merits. You clearly have your own set of assumptions and expectations of what one should expect out of a "comic book" movie, and as you can see from the responses, it would appear that quite a few people disagree with your somewhat limited perspective.

I'll show you a simple example of how ridiculous those last few sentences were by tacking them on to your review of "There WIll Be Blood":
""There Will Be Blood" is ferocious, and it will be championed and attacked with an equal ferocity. When the dust settles, we may look back on it as some kind of obsessed classic. But this is a western about oil, not "Hamlet." Call me shallow, but I wish it were a little more fun."

This is the worst review I have read about TDK and I have read probably close to all of them on the internet, no joke. Three paragraphs? I've scribbled out better reviews in my sleep.

You're shallow.

Batman is at his core a very dark, violent, brooding figure. Just a comic book? Comic books are the modern mythos, just as WoW is the new golf. This is the new world, David. It's not all wink-wink, nod-nod, isn't that silly kid stuff anymore.

no thank you. i'm sick of batman. 5 movies and countless animation series. batman is over satuated and i do not plan to watch a remake. this batman movie looks totally sucks.

Batman is a dark character in a dark world going up against dark enemies. You're surprised that The Dark Knight is a dark movie? I'm confident this film is going to be the greatest comic book film of all time. The darker the better!

Ok, I'll call you shallow then. I don't mind him not liking the movie, but sheesh, this was not intended to be a popcorn film. Why is there a double standard then with the oscar season films and The Dark Knight? No Country for Old Men, for instance, was dark and grim...yet no one claimed it needed to be a lot of fun. It won best picture. Everyone knows this film will be pitch black and perhaps even depressing. Thinking a comic book movie has to be fun will lead to a bad review. If you know this movie will be like this, you can probably discard Mr. Ansen's viewpoint.

Ok, I'll call you shallow then. I don't mind him not liking the movie, but sheesh, this was not intended to be a popcorn film. Why is there a double standard then with the oscar season films and The Dark Knight? No Country for Old Men, for instance, was dark and grim...yet no one claimed it needed to be a lot of fun. It won best picture. Everyone knows this film will be pitch black and perhaps even depressing. Thinking a comic book movie has to be fun will lead to a bad review. If you know this movie will be like this, you can probably discard Mr. Ansen's viewpoint.

i guess that means you wanted a kid movie ....i for one am happy they are making superhero movies for adults. i loved batman as a kid .... and the tim burton movies were good .....but not really batman ....they just had batman in them....these new ones seem to capture the essence of batman....i agree with farfan ....bale is by far the best batman yet ....and nolans movies ...are too. i can not wait to see this film.

I have to say that after reading this review, I want to see this movie even more. No campiness? No jokes? A gritty, striking, beautiful portrayal of a moral dilemma for the ages? Sounds less like a crap Hollywood blockbuster and more like European cinema, only with incredible action sequences that rarely rely on CGI. Thank you, Chris Nolan, for not meeting David Ansen's shallow expectations. Our entertainment these days is already dumbed-down enough.

Geez... not Hamlet. Of course it's not Hamlet. If you're honestly comparing Chris Nolan to Shakespeare than I question you're crit abilities and techniques. If you added that as a throwaway line to make the point that the comic book genre can't be interpreted as a gritty, dark art form that can make larger existential points about the human condition, you're not giving the genre any credit and I, again, question you're abilities to generate honest, thoughtful critique. If you wrote the line just b/c you wanted some campy summer fun w/o thought and didn't get it, don't ruin you're own critique by basing it on a set of assumptions beforehand. Instead, do us all a favor and review "Meet Dave" instead and leave the serious movie reviews for serious moviewatchers.

I am going to go ahead and call you shallow. The amusing thing is that if it were "more fun" you would comment on its "overthetopness." Let be real. It is about time that someone really makes a superhero movie that is more than a suit, Christian Bale has passion and is, by far, the best Batman. If you want fun take in Tobey in Spiderman.

Hmm...i think Nolan and Bale are taking Batman in the correct direction. More fun? What part of the dark character that Batman and the villians he encounters is supposed to be fun? Fight an anarchic, psycopathic Joker and crack a joke or two along the way so you could feel like its not so serious? Wow, what kind of critique is that? Batman is a complex and dark character that screams internal drama and character development but Mr. Ansen wants it to return to the Joel Schumacher days of campiness? I had hoped people got past the nipples on the bat-suit phase. One or the other folks. I think Nolan has done the best job with Batman hands down. Tim Burton can have the elaborate sets and darkness, but Nolan actually emulates Batman's thematic darkness by the compelling drama around him.

Call you shallow? Done. You're shallow. Go review reality tv programming or something and leave the real movie reviewing to adults. Shallow.

"When you're fighting an enemy who plays by no rules, do you have to abandon your own moral code to vanquish him?" Boy, isn't that a metaphor for something else...

"let's pray we don't become a monster in order to defeat the monster"...

"When you're fighting an enemy who plays by no rules, do you have to abandon your own moral code to vanquish him?" Boy, isn't that a metaphor for something esle...

"let's pray we don't become a monster in order to defeat the monster..."

Sorry about the double post..

To me this kind of review still seems to assume Batman can´t be in a serious work of art, and to me that´s a dated and prejudiced POV. Burton´s movies are also pretty dark if you compare them to most blockbusters. Batman is a dark and gritty character, that´s how he was mean to be pretty much from the start, that´s who he is. I guess some people will never get over the "dressed up like a bat" thing, but then again shouldn´t we dismiss Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde? Kafka´s The Metamorphosis is about a guy who turns into a giant cockroach, for Chrissakes.

To me this kind of review still seems to assume Batman can´t be in a serious work of art, and to me that´s a dated and prejudiced POV. Burton´s movies are also pretty dark if you compare them to most blockbusters. Batman is a dark and gritty character, that´s how he was meant to be from inception, that´s who he is. I guess some people will never get over the "dressed up like a bat" thing, but then again shouldn´t we dismiss Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde? Kafka´s The Metamorphosis is about a guy who turns into a giant cockroach, for Chrissakes.