Mr. Pessimist has entered the chat!Just got back from watching it.
Pattison might just be the best on screen Batman so far. He does a lot while seemingly doing little. He uses his eyes a lot, and along with the terrific lighting, he's able to emote to great effect, without coming across as emotional. The script helps tremendously, because the way the character is used as a detective allows Pattison to be interesting, imo. His relationship with Gordon is similar to BB, so it's more or less perfect. The suit also works well and looks good enough at times that one hour into the film, I felt the urge to buy a HT figure...damn it!!
Colin Farell was my favorite villain. He should play a larger role in the sequel. Best Penguin so far.
Dano was good, but that mask really restricted his performance, but he still managed to use his voice to great effect. Dano was great once he was without the mask.
Catwoman was Catwoman. The actress is very sexy. That one scene when she's changing into her cat outfit and she's in her underwear was too quick, but sexy. She was likable and somewhat believable physically.
Gordon was about as good as Gary Oldman's version.
John Turturo as Falcone was good too.
Alfred sucked, as usual. In fact, I used two Alfred scenes for bathroom breaks.
The movie had the best Batmobile introduction and sequence ever. I literally shed a tear watching it. It might be the first time the Batmobile is used as a tool of fear. That thing was a beast.
The action was fine, not amazing.
The music was good. I even liked the Batman theme. If judgement day had a sound, it would be that music every time Batman shows up.
The detective part of the story was good enough. I was never bored with it. However, the film is about 20 to 25 minutes too long. I looked at my watch two hours in, and there was still one hour left.
The film is one giant pancake, deliciously good for a good time, but by the end of the film, you are kind of sick of it and strangely satisfied too. The ending or third act is a bit underwhelming, probably because the film is too long, and the main threat is not really in the picture at that point.
In some ways the film is the best Batman film ever, but the length, the main villain, and third act keeps it from being as good of a film as TDK, Batman Begins, and even Rises, from a structure and filmmaking perspective, given that the film feels like 3 hours and doesn't have that high emotional point in the third act.
The Joker cameo still sucked. Context or out of context, it's cringy.
I like the film. Not sure I want a HT dollie yet.
8/10
It's up there with all the Nolan films and best Burton suff.
Pretty much everything you said is the general consensus on this film.
The Pancake analogy worked quite well lol