Batman: Descent Into Mystery

It's hard to say how much better this film is than the original. The pacing is tighter, the tone is darker, yet you still get a cackling maniacal Joker, a tormented Bruce Wayne, and a brooding Dark Knight. What's missing is everything that wasn't Batman - every moment that made you think "Wait, would Batman do that?"
Ironically I had just watched Tim Burton's original Batman, listening to Kevin Smith's analysis from his "Fatman on Batman" podcast. Every point he made against the original is fixed here. If you loved the original, as I do, you owe it to yourself to check this out. You'll end up loving it twice as much.

Like many reviewers, the 1989 Batman is a special one to me. It's the first superhero movie that I remember getting swept up in the marketing campaign for, and feeling crazily excited to see 'the real' Batman at last. I had the t-shirt, the making of book, the comic book (as featured on the cover of this edit!), and the toys, all before being allowed to actually see the film. The batwing was particularly cool. So, in short, I loved and still love Batman '89, flaws and all. It may even be my favourite Batman movie, although I certainly acknowledge many aspects have dated.

As for this fanedit, it is edited superbly. Dwight Fry's fine eye for detail is at work here, and it is clear that an enormous amount of thought and effort went into creating an extremely professional edit. There were no jarring cuts, and the whole thing flows smoothly. But overall, I missed many of the parts that were cut for a couple of reasons.

First, I think the movie has suffered in terms of character development and depth of relationships in this edit. Dwight has successfully removed the aspects he wanted to (vale/bruce relationship, joker killing bruce's parents etc), but to me this left the film feeling more hollow rather than more streamlined. I can buy that Vicki would be attracted to an intelligent, mysterious and dark Bruce Wayne - Remember she is no ordinary girl, and has been out in war torn areas as a photographer. She's attracted to darkness, hence her desire to learn more about Batman in the first place. And of course Knox is the everyman, who clearly has no chemistry with Vale whatsoever. So I don't agree that the love story feels shoehorned in to this movie.

Did Vicki need to see the Batcave? No. But again, it's an important character moment for all three of them in Burton's story - Especially for Alfred, who is really short changed in this edit. I missed the levity of their date scenes, particularly the scene in the kitchen between Bruce, Vicki and Alfred. I am pleased that you cut Bruce sleeping upside down though... That was always ridiculous.

Secondly, many of the scenes felt too rushed to me, particularly the climax in the church. While I understand the reasoning behind most of the cuts, this scene no longer felt worthy of the 'final battle' scene. It was over in a couple of punches. More true to the character? No doubt. More enjoyable? Not really.

If I was able to relate more to the understandable Bat-fan desire to see batman a) become more recluse/mysterious and b)not murder anyone, I think I would have enjoyed the edit more. As it was, I missed seeing Batman blow up the goons in the factory, and throw that guy down the stairwell at the top of the church. And I missed the lovely character beats that have been cut which may have strayed from Batman's origins as a character, but are essential to this particular telling in my opinion.

Overall, I commend Dwight Fry on his fantastic editing skills, and completion of his vision. He has accomplished his goals, and I would happily recommend this to anyone who wants to see a version of Batman closer in line with the comics, and anyone who doesn't have such a nostalgic connection to the original ;)

PS. Blueyoda's The Killing Joke is yet another masterpiece from the best editor I know. A beautiful and mesmerising work. Thank you for including it!

Mission Accomplished! This Fanfix did exactly what was promised. The forced romance was seamlessly removed and Joker is no longer the Wayne's killer. Much better than the original as far as story line goes. I felt like I was reading one of my old Batman comics; the story kept moving forward at a good pace. It had a good flow and tight story. I've read through the cutlist and agree with everything that was done, except the small nitpicks listed below. I forgot how many cringe-worthy moments were in this film until I reviewed the cutlist. they are definitely not missed.

Best cut was definitely the removal of the museum desecration scene with Prince theme music. Joker gets right down to business and comes off as more menacing.

My nitpicks:
- I wish the editor had removed the part where Jack/Joker's hand comes out of the chemical vat and claws the air. I always hate that when the hero or villian reaches out of the water or from underground and either claws the air or makes a fist. Its so cliche.
- I like when Bob tells the thugs to "check his wallet." That to me is a nice non-forced, genuinely humorous moment. Wish it was still there.

I watched this on a laptop, so I don't really have any comment on audio/video quality. Everything seemed fine to me. Editing seemed well executed and I saw nothing to complain about there.

Great job on this edit. This shows a perfect example of what a fanfix edit can accomplish.

Well, I just watched the best version of Batman '89 tonight. Guess which one it was? Oh, ok, this one! Not only was the romance removal a good decision, but Bruce (who is used quite sparingly!) is no longer a "reclusive, asocial, insecure-acting creep." Sounds good to me. He's supposed to be far removed from the Batman persona, not slightly less Batman-ish! ;)

Overall, the story is nice and tight and loses nothing from the cuts, which were all perfect. The movie looks and sounds great. Give it a whirl! :)

P.S. I was happy to contribute to this project, even if it wasn't with the edit itself, but with the supplements. Heh.

So I watched the original Batman just to refresh my memory before I watched this. I avoided the cutlist before watching the edit. I have to say I like the majority of Dwight's choices here. Excellent job on the opening credits. No silly love story (why does every movie need to shoehorn in a love story?!). Drastically cut down Prince music! My only gripe was the cutting of "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight" but i don't miss it, i just didn't mind that in the original.

I'll have to look over the cutlist to see what changes I didn't notice, the editing was seamless so I'm sure I missed some things.

Overall an excellent firstling. Audio and video quality was good and you clearly accomplished your goals with the edit. Nice work Dwight!