Batman: Descent Into Mystery

Wow, what a tough one to review. I'm a big fan of Burton's Batman movies, but Batman himself I can take or leave. I've never read a comic book, and in fact Batman '89 and Batman Returns are the only two superhero movies I've had any interest in. I never had problems with things like Vicki at the Batcave, the romance between Bruce and Vicki, the Partyman sequence, and so on. Watching this with an open mind was tough to do, but I did my best.

While I can't say I enjoyed this as much as the original, I will give Dwight credit for accomplishing his goals. The edit is very well executed, and despite my enjoyment of the material that has been excised, the movie works just fine the way Dwight has cut it down. It's a very good effort that I have no problem recommending, if for no other reason that it provides a new take on an old(ish) classic.

I should note that I did wish the "To Bill" bit was done after the fade-out, rather than over the final shot of the movie. It felt a little heavy-handed to me.

And one odd note: I was very concerned during the opening credits because either the words or the background (couldn't tell which) seemed to be jumping around a little. However, after watching the edit, I popped in my original DVD, and it suffered the same issue. *shrug*

I give this a solid 8/10 overall, and it's only my personal preferences that keep me from rating this higher. Well done!

As a fan of the comics, the intent of the cut is obvious, but the editor ends up tearing the heart from the original movie and creates a sterile watch.

Firstly, there is no compelling reason to cut the Bruce Wayne / Vickie Vale relationship. Without it, Bruce becomes a one-dimensional character with little development. Without Vickie providing a background to it in her investigation, the death of his parents is utterly without place within the context of the story. The absence of a romantic relationship also creates an oddness in the edit's continuity at times (Vicki goes to the museum and waits for nobody in particular, for example). Alfred is almost pointless if he cannot coax Bruce to pursue Vickie, as is Knox (as the "other" man).

Secondly, the Batman / Joker relationship in this story is shallow without the parent connection, even if that connection is distasteful to a comics purist. Batman passionately beats the hell out of the Joker in the climactic scene in the belfry, with no dialogue in a jarring manner. Without that verbal back and forth, the scene lacks tension. There is little to underpin Bruce's obvious anger aimed towards him.

The editor tries to paint Batman as an invincible monolith, as he sometimes is shown in the comics, but I would argue Batman's best interpretations show him as vulnerable and human. Even when Batman is brought crashing down in the Batwing, we are not allowed to see his injuries as per the original cut, nor his struggle against the Joker's goons in the belfry. There is never any fear that this Batman might fail, which in combination with Bruce's stunted character development, makes him uninteresting.

Besides this, the cut is impeccable in terms of the visual cuts, though the edit is not stellar in terms of visual quality (the blacks were at times pixelated), and the audio transitions on occasion were too sudden, such as when Bruce remembers his parents' death from the preceding scene. The volume of the cut seemed very low.