Scott Cox

This was a fantastic adaptation of the batman, and Im going to list several reasons why it's firmly one of my favourite live action batman movies alongside Nolans Dark Knight trilogy and Burton's Batman and Batman returns... 1. Perhaps more than any other batman movie, this movie was actually about Batman and his progression from vigilante to hero. That may seem like an obvious statement, but for me Batman has often seemed like a supporting role while the villains drive the show, especially Nicholson's and Ledgers turns as Joker. But here, the batman and his character arc is given at least as much importance, if not more, than the supporting cast. 2. This was the first time we've really seen "the world's greatest detective" doing some real detective work alongside Gordon. We see glimpses of batman the detective in previous films, but here it's on full display throughout. 3. Gotham is a living breathing character in a away that has never been achieved before in a live action batman film. 4. The attention to detail is incredible in this film, in a way that demands more than 1 viewing to fully appreciate. 5. Some of the cinematography is incredible, and there were several scenes that gave me goosebumps, especially the POV scene where an upside down penguin sees batman walking upside down against a backdrop of fire. Despite my 5 star review, the only criticism I would have is the (SPOILER ALERT) scene in Arkham Asylum where Riddler is speaking with a man we assume to be the Joker in their cells. The whole scene felt redundant and "tacked on" as it didn't really add anything to the narrative It's as if Warner Bros said "you have to get Joker in there somewhere" and so that scene was born. Of course, we now have the amazing deleted scene where Batman speaks to Joker in Arkham for help with the Riddler case, which would have added a lot more weight to that final "Joker/Riddler" scene had it been included. However, I can understand why that scene wasn't included, but I'd rather neither scene had been included personally. Joker creates it's own buzz and doesn't need a set up like this to generate hype for any prospective sequels. That gripe aside, this movie is amazing and I cannot wait to see where they go with this.