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It seems to me that Bill's complaint is that Nolan has made the characters and the setting too nuanced, too well-thought out, and too detailed.
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The script by Nolan and Goyer isn't "Citizen Kane". People go on and on about the psychology of Batman but there's really never been any depth to the character. He's a cut-and-dry character, his psychology is black-and-white. His behavior is as simple as "b happened because of a", there's really nothing to it. He fights crime because his parents are murdered, and the character never deviates from that, he's always going to behave the same way that he always does and there's never a point with the character where he is going to be faced with a choice and 100% of the audience isn't going to be able to predict what his choice will be.
The rest of the script is loaded with kung-fu movie cliches, one-dimensional characters (oh, I forgot, they're played by respected actors!) and a "somebody poisoned the water hole!" ending straight out of the Adam West series.
I guess the problem with "Batman Begins" and everything I've seen of "The Dark Knight" is that Nolan thinks that he can change what it is by taking it too seriously (why so serious?) and turning it into some sort of prestigious film and ultimately I find that more insulting to the source material than anything Joel Schumacher ever did. I mean, you can say what you want about the great Batman creators over the years but I don't think any of them ever thought realism was the way to go. Frank Miller didn't try to make his "Batman" stories realistic.
I've said this before, it comes down to realism vs. believability and Nolan apparently isn't aware of the difference. The character of Batman is fundamentally unrealistic and the more you try to bring the character down to earth the less-believable it all becomes, but Nolan's pretentiousness has overwhelmed his ability to see that putting dynamic characters like Batman and the Joker in "down to earth" setting isn't appropriate. It's like he's trying to make the characters into something they're not.
I'm still looking for that quote where Nolan admitted to not even directly quoting Joker appearances, I'll either edit or post another reply when I find it.
Don't you ever, EVER compare me to "Family Guy," you hear me Kyle? Compare me to "Family Guy" again and so help me, I will kill you where you stand!
Do you have any idea what it's like? Everywhere I go: "Hey Cartman you must like 'Family Guy,' right?" "Hey, your sense of humor reminds me of 'Family Guy' Cartman!" I AM NOTHING LIKE FAMILY GUY! WHEN I MAKE JOKES THEY ARE INHERENT TO A STORY! DEEP SITUATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL JOKES BASED ON WHAT IS RELEVANT AND HAS A POINT, NOT JUST ONE RANDOM INTERCHANGEABLE JOKE AFTER ANOTHER!
(click to see my DVD collection)
Give me the basic characters per se but please for the love of God make it as real and gritty as you can without sacrificing the source material. 