Review Detail

9.2 26 10
FanFix November 11, 2012 9803
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I don't consider Tim Burton's "Batman" a bad movie, or even all that badly flawed. There are a few things that I don't like (Prince's songs, the hasty way the Bruce/Vicki romance starts out, and a few others), and a few things I think could have been done better (The 1930s/1940s and 1980s elements of the movie's style and sensibility seem to clash at times; I would have preferred that the overtly 1980s elements be toned down or even non-existent). But those are just nitpicks. Overall, I like "Batman", and don't really have all that many gripes with it. A lot of the things that many people consider flaws with it (Batman killing, Joker being the killer of Bruce's parents, etc) don't bother me. And I like Kim Basinger. So, to me, a lot of the items on the cutlist seemed like unnecessary changes.

Despite all of this, I watched "Batman: Descent Into Mystery" with an open mind. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of moments and lines that I like are removed, but the cuts were made so well that I kept forgetting that anything was missing. Had I never seen "Batman" before viewing this edit, I wouldn't have known that anything had been cut. And even though I have seen "Batman" multiple times, and practically know it by heart, I found myself somehow not noticing some of the changes, and taking a few minutes to notice others. I also was impressed by how well the movie works without the romance. Surprisingly, I found myself preferring "Batman: Descent Into Mystery" to the original movie in many ways, although I still like the original movie, including quite a few of the things that you removed. To me, "Batman: Descent Into Mystery" is more "perfect" than the original movie, but misses a few of the original's greatest moments. All things considered, it's different, but about equally good, perhaps even a little better. It doesn't replace 'Batman" for me, but it's a great alternate version.

I consider this edit mostly perfect, but there a few things I didn't like. One is that without the Bruce/Vicki romance having come before it, the scene with Vicki walking down the street as the Bat-signal shines into the sky suddenly seemed like it was missing something, but having thought about it, that might be just me. The other is something that I consider a jarring and sloppy flaw. At the end, the music rises to a crescendo, the camera pans up over the buildings of Gotham, we see Batman, standing up, looking at his symbol projected into the sky.....then, in big, yellow letters, the words "To Bill, we know better" pop up. I know what the phrase means, and the sentiment is a nice one. But sticking it up on the screen, in big yellow letters, during one of the most iconic shots in cinematic history, comes across as a joke. It takes me right out of the moment, and takes away from the great visuals of the shot. Still, you did such great editing and color-correction work that I decided not to take any points off.

"Batman: Descent Into Mystery" is a great fanedit. I highly recommend it.

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