Tl:dr
A 2 part whodunnit movie where batman is the dumbest character and weakest fighter in the entire thing. A movie where catwoman is a better fighter, free runner, detective and vigilante than batman. A 2 part, in total 3 hour long viewing experience that culminates with the worst ending of any dc media ever because it is nothing short of character assassination, batman, the iconic character does something completely out of character, he finally figures out who is the serial killer that he has spent the past 3 hours screen time, ( 1 year in movie time) chasing and he responds to the discovery by letting them walk away because you know that's what batman stands for, right? Shaking hands with a mass murderer and then letting them walk away completely
scot-free , it is the most flaccid ending you could imagine.
The only rational I can think of for this movie existing is if you see it as sometthing to cater to an audience who has always wondered what a lobotomized, sloppy, immoral, unskilled , hypocritical batman would be like.
More detailed: Having seen every DC movie, both live action and animated to date I can say with complete confidence that this is the most unfitting, out of character, awkward interpretation of batman ever to hit the screens.
A 2 part movie that revolves exclusively around the falcone crime family and their evil deeds yet when falcone meets his demise he dies craddled in batmans arms and batman offers him some comfort, an unrepentant crime boss who has proven throughout both parts to be nothing more than a scumbag for some reason in his final moments is treated like some kind of wise, honourable, revered elder by batman, this makes no sense, set aside the main dc universe for a moment, even just in the confines of this stand alone story this makes zero sense, batman has spent the 2 movies trying to come to terms with his families history with the falcones and his own quest to try and right wrongs yet he treats falcone like some kind of cross between a brother that he cares deeply for and a sage offering him wisdom. Its inconsistent and very dumb
Selina is apparently a daughter of falcone, which should be a plot point, but it is not touched on, not even hinted to at all. She mentions in the final 10 minutes of the second part that maybe, maybe falcone is her father, what could and should be an interesting part of this story is completely neglected and then just 1 throw away line of dialogue is squeezed in right at the end and carries no weight whatsoever.
Back to the poor writing regarding batman 1: He has no problem revealing his identity, within these 2 movies he removed his mask outside in public no fewer than 5 times, he has the classic "plot armour" so nobody sees him, but this batman has no hesitation about whipping his mask down in the public eye.
2: He gets smacked around by every 2 bit villain in gotham, he is even under iv's control for months( and somehow despite her controlling him every second and having plants grow all over the wayne estate she never learns that he is the batman) yet the 1 enemy he doesnt struggle against is the joker, his most iconic and longest lasting enemy.
3: He is useless, he may be young here but he is still bruce wayne, he is supposed to be trained in all forms of martial arts, he is supposed to have genius level iq, yet he cant put 2 and 2 together and spends the entirety of both movies chasing his own tail. If it wasnt for 3rd party characters bluntly spelling the story out for him he would never have figured out a single aspect on his own.
4: The ending goes against every single thing that batman stands for. Every interpretation of batman when he is a "good guy" is about him being a symbol, a man standing up against impossible odds to try and make the world a safer place. How does this 2 part movie end? Well let me tell you, it ends with batman finally realizing who the real holiday killer is and he responds to his galaxy brain discovery by letting the killer get away completely scot-free.
They should have stuck to the original storyline where alberto falcone is the holiday killer, it makes more sense, it is more fitting with the theme of crime families and his story ending is infinitely more rewarding than Gilda admitting she is the killer, because of all things a simple trinket from her uni days was enough for batman to figure out a puzzle that he was too dumb to piece together for year and this big "twist" of an ending is completely monotone because as I mentioned batman walks out of her house, leaving her to continue her life without paying for her crimes and thats that. Countless people murdered, countless lives ruined, harvey dent turned into 2 face and the person responsible for all of it barely has any screen time, has a 1 note personality and is let walk free, its ok that she is a mass murderer, she had a difficult experience in her university days so according to this version of batman that means it is acceptable for her to be a serial killer for a while, she is above the law. Remember folks, if you suffer some bad times in your life that gives you the right to hurt and kill other people with impunity, thats what this version of batman believes anyway
I am not some kind of gatekeeper, I have no problem with different takes on characters, I even defend the batman soul of the dragon movie which a lot of people whine about because batman isnt a literal combat god who cant be touched by mortals, (people complained about a movie that shows a young bruce wayne training before becoming batman taking some hits, they completely ignore the point of those scenes because if young untrained bruce wayne could already beat the worlds best martial artists without even breaking a sweat he would not need to travel the world to train in the first place), but thats not what this movie does. It doesnt take a long standing character and explore different possibilities, it takes a long standing character removes all of his skill, all of his intelligence, all of his resourcefulness, all of his morals, his entire ethos and drags it through the mud. It turns him into a knuckle dragging moron that needs people to hold his hand every step of the way and even with him being babysat the entire story the 1 moment where he has the chance to do the right thing, the moral thing, he walks away and willingly aids a mass murderer. Honestly my title sums it up accurately, this movie is nothing more than an assassination of this long standing character.
The only rational I can think of for this movie existing is if you see it as sometthing to cater to an audience who has always wondered what a lobotomized, sloppy, immoral, unskilled , hypocritical batman would be like.
More detailed: Having seen every DC movie, both live action and animated to date I can say with complete confidence that this is the most unfitting, out of character, awkward interpretation of batman ever to hit the screens.
A 2 part movie that revolves exclusively around the falcone crime family and their evil deeds yet when falcone meets his demise he dies craddled in batmans arms and batman offers him some comfort, an unrepentant crime boss who has proven throughout both parts to be nothing more than a scumbag for some reason in his final moments is treated like some kind of wise, honourable, revered elder by batman, this makes no sense, set aside the main dc universe for a moment, even just in the confines of this stand alone story this makes zero sense, batman has spent the 2 movies trying to come to terms with his families history with the falcones and his own quest to try and right wrongs yet he treats falcone like some kind of cross between a brother that he cares deeply for and a sage offering him wisdom. Its inconsistent and very dumb
Selina is apparently a daughter of falcone, which should be a plot point, but it is not touched on, not even hinted to at all. She mentions in the final 10 minutes of the second part that maybe, maybe falcone is her father, what could and should be an interesting part of this story is completely neglected and then just 1 throw away line of dialogue is squeezed in right at the end and carries no weight whatsoever.
Back to the poor writing regarding batman 1: He has no problem revealing his identity, within these 2 movies he removed his mask outside in public no fewer than 5 times, he has the classic "plot armour" so nobody sees him, but this batman has no hesitation about whipping his mask down in the public eye.
2: He gets smacked around by every 2 bit villain in gotham, he is even under iv's control for months( and somehow despite her controlling him every second and having plants grow all over the wayne estate she never learns that he is the batman) yet the 1 enemy he doesnt struggle against is the joker, his most iconic and longest lasting enemy.
3: He is useless, he may be young here but he is still bruce wayne, he is supposed to be trained in all forms of martial arts, he is supposed to have genius level iq, yet he cant put 2 and 2 together and spends the entirety of both movies chasing his own tail. If it wasnt for 3rd party characters bluntly spelling the story out for him he would never have figured out a single aspect on his own.
4: The ending goes against every single thing that batman stands for. Every interpretation of batman when he is a "good guy" is about him being a symbol, a man standing up against impossible odds to try and make the world a safer place. How does this 2 part movie end? Well let me tell you, it ends with batman finally realizing who the real holiday killer is and he responds to his galaxy brain discovery by letting the killer get away completely scot-free.
- So we watched 2 movies, in total about 3 hours, the entirety of which is watching a single digit iq batman bash his head against a wall and run in circles because he cant figure out anything on his own, there are plenty of deaths and a whodunnit storyline at play and it all culminates in an unfitting, out of character, stupid, flat and extremely unrewarding ending where batman throws all of his morals out the window so he can have a friendly little chat with a serial killer and then let them remain free.
They should have stuck to the original storyline where alberto falcone is the holiday killer, it makes more sense, it is more fitting with the theme of crime families and his story ending is infinitely more rewarding than Gilda admitting she is the killer, because of all things a simple trinket from her uni days was enough for batman to figure out a puzzle that he was too dumb to piece together for year and this big "twist" of an ending is completely monotone because as I mentioned batman walks out of her house, leaving her to continue her life without paying for her crimes and thats that. Countless people murdered, countless lives ruined, harvey dent turned into 2 face and the person responsible for all of it barely has any screen time, has a 1 note personality and is let walk free, its ok that she is a mass murderer, she had a difficult experience in her university days so according to this version of batman that means it is acceptable for her to be a serial killer for a while, she is above the law. Remember folks, if you suffer some bad times in your life that gives you the right to hurt and kill other people with impunity, thats what this version of batman believes anyway
I am not some kind of gatekeeper, I have no problem with different takes on characters, I even defend the batman soul of the dragon movie which a lot of people whine about because batman isnt a literal combat god who cant be touched by mortals, (people complained about a movie that shows a young bruce wayne training before becoming batman taking some hits, they completely ignore the point of those scenes because if young untrained bruce wayne could already beat the worlds best martial artists without even breaking a sweat he would not need to travel the world to train in the first place), but thats not what this movie does. It doesnt take a long standing character and explore different possibilities, it takes a long standing character removes all of his skill, all of his intelligence, all of his resourcefulness, all of his morals, his entire ethos and drags it through the mud. It turns him into a knuckle dragging moron that needs people to hold his hand every step of the way and even with him being babysat the entire story the 1 moment where he has the chance to do the right thing, the moral thing, he walks away and willingly aids a mass murderer. Honestly my title sums it up accurately, this movie is nothing more than an assassination of this long standing character.