The Death of Batman (2003) User Reviews

"Not a Good Idea"

[00blivion · 1/10 · 21 April 2007]

The first line of dialogue in this indie short is Batman saying "Not a good idea" and that accurately sums up the whole project. The original concept, writing and approach to the character in 'The Death of Batman' are not good ideas and, in fact, the entire short is a extremely bad idea. This short has nothing to do with the other fan-based indie shorts, 'Batman: Dead End,' 'World's Finest,' and 'Grayson,' which are essentially mock-up trailers for films that fans would like to see developed and are intended for presentation at comic conventions. Whereas those three shorts are created out of a spirit of fanboy reverence and earnest enthusiasm for superhero movies, 'The Death of Batman' feels like it was made by a person expressing severe angst toward the concept of the superhero. I hesitate to use the word disturbing to describe this short because that word suggests an emotional impact that a skilled filmmaker could achieve, in the way a horror movie or an art film can be both disturbing and rewarding. 'The Death of Batman' is disturbing without being rewarding in the slightest. I think I understand what the director had intended; Batman as a Christ-figure (the short's last image is a stained-glass image of Jesus). So the less-than brilliant rationale for this indie short appears to be that for the Dark Knight to work, cinematically, as a Christ-figure he must be brutally tortured and die. The director seems focused on every type of taboo that could never make it into a studio superhero movie, such as having the hero tortured, sexually assaulted and then pointlessly killed with a heroin overdose. Personally I like a darker Gotham than most and I have imagined what an R-rated Batman movie might be like, however 'The Death of Batman' is unrewarding even in simply seeing it as a for-adults superhero story because all of its extremeness and shock value is all it has to offer. This short is nothing more than somebody's perverse imagining of Batman's death with no redeeming character insight and a failed Christ comparison. This is not a funny short, as others on this sit have suggested - it is not amusing or entertaining or even thought-provoking.

If you are someone who cares about the character of Batman, this short is only an upsetting and angering experience– Do yourself a favor, DO NOT WATCH THIS SHORT. I don't mean that as in a trekkie telling you not to watch 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' because it fails to meet certain expectations or do not watch 'Batman & Robin' because it's a waste of time, I mean that if you watch this short could ruin Batman for you. I wish I had never seen it.

Uh....NO

[BatStarIndyFreak · 1/10 · 24 February 2004]

I guess I can see the point this guy was trying to make, but first why did it have to be Batman who ended up making a mistake? Couldn't a cop or DA also make that same mistake? Furthermore, this is a hard sell when it comes to Batman, given his continuity as known by fans. We're talking about a man who saw his parents killed right in front of him as a boy; got hell from all his trainers as he prepared to become Batman; saw a close friend's double personality destroy him; after failing save a girl from drowning, got addicted to a steroid pill for which he had to lock himself in the cave for a month to recover from it(hence the unbelievability of the heroin addiction part); had his second Robin brutally murdered; had another sidekick (Barbara Gordon) paralyzed at the hands of the Joker; saw his other best friend, Gordon, stripped naked, tortured, and tormented with pictures of his daughter, also stripped, just after she had been shot and paralyzed; after going a week with less than a day's sleep rounding up all of Arkhum's inmates after they had escaped, got his back busted by steroid-laced madman; saw his beloved city have its own Black Death from the "Clench" virus, then further carnage when it got leveled by a near 9 point earthquake.

With all that, why would Batman give in after finding out he unintentionally sent an innocent man to the slammer, then sent into a heroin trip, and raped? The man's been carrying guilt over his parents, Harvey Dent, Jason Todd, Barbara, Gordon, and recently his former mechanic Harold. What would be so special about this thief that he would take his own life, believing his crusade was in vain? If you want to do one better than Alan Moore (Watchmen) in debunking the whole concept of a hero, this ain't how you do it.

Horrible movie!! Avoid like the plague!

[Deadpoolinc33 · 1/10 · 8 February 2005]

This is without a doubt one of the worst damn movies I have ever had the misfortune of seeing. Batman a heroin addict? Batman getting beaten up by some common junkie punk? Batman getting zapped in the testicles w/ a stun gun? Then, to top it all off, batman is beaten, drugged & raped for over a month? What the hell is wrong here?

This whole movie revolves around Batman (apparently) sending an innocent man to jail for 5 years. The guy then spends the next 2 years on the street. His motive for revenge is that he was a clean-cut guy on his way to college until Batman wrongfully had him sent to prison- where he was beaten, raped & became a drug addict.

After all the villains Bats has faced, a nobody gets the best of him? NO F'N WAY!!! But, in this piece of garbage, that's what happens. The guy shoots himself in the head on front of Batman (why he is upset by this, I have no idea), the next day, Batman is found dead in the Gotham river due to a drug overdose. Of course, it had to have been the Joker along w/ at least 200 other criminals to pull this off- according to the news.

After all this crap, Batman's true identity is never revealed. The scum bag just wanted to rape Batman & get him addicted to heroin.

Do yourself a favor: Have sex w/ Rosie O'Donnell or drink a gallon of Drano 'cause that would be a helluva lot more entertaining & tolerable than watching this movie

The Death of Batman

[LifeMi · 1/10 · 19 February 2007]

Batman (Christopher Stapleton) is in the midst of a massive clean-up of Gotham's underground drug circuit when an encounter with a thief (Trip Hope) leads Batman into the fight of his life The only good aspects of this film are that the direction is good, the film looks pretty good, and the basic underlying ideas are unique. I mean, superheroes aren't perfect; they make mistakes too. What would happen if a superhero made a mistake and ruined someone's life? What if that person was in a situation where he or she could try to get revenge? Is vigilante justice justified? Do people have the right to take the law into their own hands? Unfortunately, these ideas are lost and muddled, because the film keeps switching teams; one minute it's about vigilantes being wrong, then the next minute they say the hero is needed; then the villain gets all of the sympathy, making you want to hate Batman, and then when it ends, they want you to sympathize with Batman. If that's not bad enough, the dialogue is clunky, and the lead actor (Trip Hope) couldn't carry a school play. Also, a lot of the torture scenes don't feel like they have any intelligence or thought behind them; they were just put there for shock-value, and it ends up being more of a disgusting, juvenile filmmaker effort than the thoughtful, disturbing film that it needed to be.

And what the filmmaker does to Batman is unforgivable. It's obvious the filmmaker either A) Doesn't understand Batman, B) Doesn't Like Batman, or C) Wanted to make a mockery of Batman. Either way, he succeeds on all three levels. As a result, we get a pathetic, weak Batman who goes against everything that nearly 70 years of history has taught us about him. This Batman is not the selfless, stoic, heroic crime-fighter who fights crime to avenge the deaths of his parents; This Batman is a selfish, cocky, weak brat who takes pleasure in fighting crime and has no will power to fight back. To take a page from the American Godzilla movie, this is B.I.N.O (Batman In Name Only) All in all, this movie is arguably the worst on-screen interpretation of Batman EVER. Yes, even worse than BATMAN & ROBIN. And it's a shame too, because there's a lot of great ideas in this movie and, as the title suggests, this film could've been really interesting. But in the end, with a muddled screenplay, poor actors, and B.I.N.O, we get a film...oh heck, it ain't even worth being called a film. Please, if you have any sense at all, go check out BATMAN '89, BATMAN DEAD END, or BATMAN BEGINS for true, respectful portrayals of Batman

Does not do the character justice

[ClowsTHEGAME · 1/10 · 22 December 2003]

I know this film is meant as open minded, but it should not have been made. As a Bat-fan this film did disturb me, but they've got the character of Batman all wrong. He is a master escape artist and second to none in self defense. The performance of Batman is exemplary, but the execution is not there. One of the things that make Batman great is how he keeps surviving to fight the never-ending fight. No real Batman fan should see this because it's depressing and disheartening for our favorite hero.

terrible

[april251940 · 1/10 · 4 June 2006]

This movie is horrendous. The actors, although some of them veterans in the biz, were terrible. It is completely unwatchable with the story making zero sense. I watched half of this movie and had to physically walk away from the screen. NOT RECOMMENDED!!! I found this film through a search for Christian Bale, who plays remarkably in Batman Begins and his sister is Mrs Wayne in this horrific movie. Please do not watch this movie, there are now 28 minutes of my life that are forever lost among this movie and I am not happy about that! I would rather watch paint dry than to watch this movie again. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! BATMAN FANS WILL BE ANGRY AFTER WATCHING THIS!

What In The Hell?!!

[lincolnmrk66 · 24 March 2004]

This has got to be the most rediculous and STUPID Batman story ever. I came away from this "film" angry and disturbed, no doubt, the emotions hoped for by this poor excuse for a writer/director. It is obvious the writer/director has an enormous homosexual Batman fetish, or something. If you want to make a homo-erotic, superhero film, make up your own character, do not defile a decent character loved by so many. Batman is a symbol of strength, justice and integrity. It's a good thing Bob Kane is not alive to see what has been done with his beloved creation. Every copy of this "film" should be burned and buried. However, the actor playing Batman was very talented...too bad it could not have been done with a little more taste. Nice try...but ass-raping Batman...that's really sick!!!!

Holy sodomy, Batman!

[eddienick96 · 1/10 · 27 September 2005]

This was the most ridiculous piece of wasted media I have ever seen. Warner Bros. and DC comics should team up, and sue the writer/director of this garbage. Come to think of it, anyone who has ever been a fan of Batman, should sue this guy. First of all, he has Batman being felled by a scrawny junkie with a stun-gun and a well-placed kick to the Caped Crusader's groin. (I guess the old body armor doesn't extend south of the utility belt.) Then, the little thief chains up the Dark Knight, gets him hooked on heroin, and SODOMIZES him! Hey, guess someone finally found the secret entrance to the Batcave! (rimshot) The actors did what they could with really bad dialog, and I'm sure everyone worked really really hard to get the project done... But, why?

This will take your innocence

[withasixgun · 1/10 · 15 July 2008]

I'm no ultra hard-core batfan, but love Batman I do. This film just left me feeling a little sick.

I heard about this from someone who was drunk at the time, and expected some sort of satire. At first, with such horrendous acting and Bats getting crotch-zapped (while wearing a rubber suit?) there was no way this wasn't a joke.

As it became clearer that they were honest to goodness serious, everything just got confusing. There's so many ridiculous plot holes that I won't even go into them, but the director seemed to address a few of them by simply having the junkie protagonist or antagonist or whatever he was supposed to be make mention of them. "How ironic that it was I and not the Joker to catch you." "You're not trying very hard to escape, master escape artist." The contradiction of Bats's basest character elements is never explained further than that.

I'm not a fan of rape in general, but seeing it happen to Batman, and especially in such an irrelevant and syntax-lacking way, is something to shake you. It's like seeing Mr. Rogers, or the Power Rangers, or the Street Sharks, or whomever your childhood heroes may be getting...well, getting raped, I guess. And it begs the question (particularly being that this is a "fan" video) who walks around daydreaming about what it would be like if Batman got raped? Why was this thought in place? This was 28 minutes of my life lost. I wish I could explain that in clichéd heroin metaphors.

Probably one of the worst piece of Crap films i have seen!

[TheDarkestLotus · 1/10 · 5 October 2005]

Spoilers* Terrible terrible! Horrible piece of Crap! (And I'm not a by any means a picky guy, there are only a handful of movies i don't like, or don't appreciate in some way). Not only is the thing poorly written, it is just a bad idea! Its supposed to take a real spin on the whole superhero concept, but fails miserably. It has some whiny junkie capturing Batman then proceeding to beat him, inject him with drugs, and rape him. Then the guy who captures batman reveals that the Bat sent him to prison wrongfully cause his car broke down in front of some drug bust. Junkie shoots himself, Batman breaks and kills himself by intentionally O.D. ing on heroine. Forget all that just take into account that batman is stun gunned in the groin by the junkie and thats how he's captured. Interesting that batman is stunned through a rubber suit huh? Considering electricity runs through rubber so well. Further batman plays with the guy by beating him up, oops cause thats how batman always operated, by feeding his ego and beating up some worthless junkie while the Joker is on the loose. Terrible waste of time, and a crappy waste of money for the writer director that i wont even bother learning the name of. For great comic shorts particularly pertaining to Batman. Check out Batman:Dead End, or Grayson. Any fan, or someone with sense at all will avoid this trash P.S. Don';t let the open minded bull-crap fool you. This movie was just a bad idea. Nothing open-minded about it, It only guilts people into saying its good so that they feel smart of have an open mind, at least thats the only reason i can think of for someone to like this crap.

Should never have been made

[oldschools · 1/10 · 3 April 2007]

Batman is a detective; he wouldn't make a mistake by thinking the punk was part of the gang that he had busted. and batman couldn't be taken down by a tazer. it wouldn't work on his suit, plus bruce wayne is prepared for eventualities. batman/bruce wayne isn't cocky("I hate it when they put up a fight"). even if a tazer had some effect, it wouldn't make him unable to make a move against the punk. bruce blames himself for his parents death so he wouldn't kill himself because a punk took his own life, or kill himself because he was raped/got aids. and he certainly wouldn't OD. he wouldn't lower himself to that level. the film's story is dark(the only good point), but too dark to the point of lame in how it portrayed batman. the person who made the film obviously hates batman and wants to discredit the character(and is probably more of a marvel fan). it should not have been made.

Hilarious!

[PDNickz · 10/10 · 25 January 2006]

A spectacularly funny throwback to the 60s-era Batman camp that we all know and love. Terrible acting and camera-work and lighting abound (one of my favorite scenes involves all three, perfectly combined to reveal what looks like a Lowell Omni aimed right into the set from outside... no pretensions with this production, my friends!), the editing is awful (including several pointless cross-dissolves and even a page-turn at the beginning...a PAGE TURN!)... just about every aspect of this video is just terrible, which is what makes it so spectacular.

Batman tied up with plastic chains and anally violated? Awesome! An incredibly fey heroin addict proclaiming that he'd "rather die" than go back to prison, charging at Batman with all the fury and might of a disoriented senior citizen? Brilliant! Batman hitting the floor like a sack of potatoes after taking a stun gun to his bat-codpiece (and, WHAT a codpiece, I might add!)? Hilarious!

I'm a little confused, though, as to why the makers of this particular video production would want to make it so uninteresting and almost bad to the point where I couldn't stand to watch it again. I prefer my camp to have some sort of rewatchability... the Death of Batman is just utterly unwatchable. Granted, on the initial viewing it is probably the funniest thing I've seen in a long time (I particularly liked how Batman is constantly followed by a smoke machine and spot kicker), but as soon as I tried to watch it again things like the horrible cinematography and the lack of sound design (and forget about a final mixdown) banged the nails in the lid on that one.

All in all a brilliantly bad endeavor, worthy of Adam West's nostalgic cavortings. Granted, if I made a movie like this with any sense of legitimacy about it and it turned out looking like this I would probably electrocute myself in the nuts, overdose on heroin and throw myself into the Los Angeles river.

But, thankfully, the Death of Batman is a movie completely aware of it's own pointlessness and revels in it. ... Unless, of course, it was supposed to be taken seriously. But, come on... no one could be THAT terrible of a moviemaker, right?

Good Dark a change to see that batman can make mistakes.

[drewgisby · 7/10 · 4 April 2012]

This film was dark edgy and really really good.

Batman movies are dark yes but this has batman getting tortured physically and mentally. He is trapped by a thug who he put in jail a few years ago who wants revenge for batman ruining his life. throughout the story he is tortured, gets shunned, gets addicted to heroin, and tries to fight it but he knows he is going to lose. As the crime rate rises in Gothem the news police and even people who hate the bats are praying for him to come back while batman is getting beaten.

At the end when Batman gets free and the thug kills himself Batman is found dead beaten and drugs with him his suit everyone in Gotham is in sorrow. a memorial service is held an Batman is buried with no one knowing his identity.

The Death of a Franchise

[nithin-dominic-koshy · 3/10 · 24 December 2007]

After Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher, here comes one. A franchise died in 1997, but this one sort of personifies that. The premise was good, the cast was good and the darkness quotient was fine. But the director should not have been explicit about certain matters. The ending should have been refined. There was no consistency in Batman's character and no effectiveness in the combat and counter-combat sequences. Other than that, this had the makings of a tolerable film. And please, do not make Batman appear so ineffective. There should have been a fight. Or if the director wanted to kill Batman with a whimper rather than a bang, he succeeded.

Bold, explicit and very disturbed

[batmanorigins · 5/10 · 8 October 2003]

This short film is far removed from the campness of Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin. The film is meant to be a sort of conclusion to Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns. It questions heroics and what happens if the heroes get it wrong. In this case, very wrong. The performance of Christopher Stapleton as Batman can't be faulted, it really seems like it could be Michael Keaton himself under the mask. And Trip Hope has the near impossible feat of convincing the audience that he is almost in the right to be capturing Batman. Murky and very morally dubious, this film is best suited to open-minded fan of the film who aren't put off by a title which pretty much sums up the end of the film. Though fans of Burton's film will most probably delight in an even more depressing and dark incarnation of the Bat.

Amazing!!!

[Flibajab · 1/10 · 5 November 2006]

Oh my God! It was a miracle this movie was made! You have not lived until you have seen this movie. You have not lived until you have seen Batman violated! Whoah! This cowboy needs to hold his horses! I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning. I was looking for something on Batman Begins only a couple of hours ago and I found something in the list: The Death of Batman. Curious to see what it was, I checked it out. I read some reviews and some posts; the vast majority seemed to hate it, but some seemed to like it (probably recovering from some horrible experience, like loss of limbs or death of entire family). I tell you now this movie deserves to be neither liked nor hated, but to be loved. Loved! I looked the title up on Google and went to the movie's site. I clicked on Movie and it to me to Youtube. I watched the 28 minutes of bliss.

I didn't feel that way at first, though. At first I couldn't believe how awful it was! The acting was just terrible! But I've kinda always had this philosophy (it only works with some movies, unfortunately): Acting doesn't matter if you have special effects. I had to change that philosophy for this movie: Acting doesn't matter if you have nothing else. There are no special effects in this movie; there is no good acting, no good writing. By rights this movie should be condemned to hell.

But, wait! There is one little detail I am forgetting. A little scene that changes it all. A scene I like to call... The Butt-Rape Scene! During an Entertainment News report about Batman being the sexiest man in Gotham, be sure to look up in the top-left screen (you don't see any parts, but you know what is happening.).

I don't like gay sex. I really don't like it when it's forced on someone. I am no pervert. But after the god-awful performance from everyone in that film, you can't tell me he didn't deserve it! I laugh at his well deserved punishment! It was awesome! This scene happens about 11 or 12 minutes in, so after that it goes back to suck. But, this movie has achieved a new level of suck that I call Supa Suck. I can't offer the makers anything but kudos. They made a movie more entertaining than an old man strung up on a flag pole, forced to dance the jitterbug.

Oh yeah, and Batman dies and no one wonders why Bruce Wayne is never seen again.

Incredible.

Complete Trash

[flint_fireballs · 1/10 · 9 February 2007]

Anyone who's seen any of these Batman fan-films knows they're dime-a-dozen. Every one of these directors has their own take on the Dark Knight. Everyone's gotta add their own little twist, evidently. That's great, I understand the concept of adding a little to an already well-known franchise to make it your own. This director decided that killing off Batman wasn't flashy enough, so he adds anal rape! Sounds great, huh?

Apparently some whiny criminal, who enjoys blaming everyone else in existence for his problems, captures Batman with the ole taser to the peepee trick. I guess years of training couldn't possibly prepare Batman for a slow-moving junkie with a taser. And really, why would Batman even bother to protect himself in that area?! Once chained up, the criminal is kind enough to share his drugs and some man-lovin' with Batman. See that's the part where the crook gives Batman a taste of the hard life that he endured because of Batman. Because we all know that once you go to jail, you are immediately hooked on drugs and have sex with men. And it's always Batman's fault. I guess the director figures anyone who goes through injustice is entitled to act like a raging lunatic.

Yada yada yada, a bunch of pointless & poorly delivered speeches happen, the criminal does everyone a favor and blows his brains out, and Batman uncharacteristically kills himself because the director thinks this is a brilliant plot twist. Then you see Batman lying in a coffin in full costume. It's hilarious.

In short, the director probably never bothered to research anything about the character. He probably found a second hand Batman suit laying around, and thought he'd show everyone his awful take on Batman. This may sound harsh, but this film is really that bad. Aside from the absurd plot, the acting is embarrassing to watch. Every line, especially from the criminal sounds forced. If you walk away from this crap feeling anything other than disgust, you have issues. No amount of BS film student excuses can save this film. It's just poor taste in every form imaginable.

The director's message in this film seems to be: "If your life is difficult, you should blame others and take drugs. It will be justified."

The Death of Batman - Movie Review

[MattBrady099 · 1/10 · 25 August 2016]

I know this a fan made movie, but good god is this cheap. Watching this 29 minute film was the most awkward experience ever.

So Batman somehow gets captured by a petty thief who then chains him up for the next 30 days, and that right there is the biggest error of this film. Batman is smart and always on his feet, and I don't think chains and some random druggy will stop him.

What kind of fan made film is this? Batman literally gets raped, beaten and addicted to drugs. Batman is a little bitch in this and is way too emotionally triggered by everything that the thief says, which is really hilarious to watch.

What a load of crap. I've seen fan made movies filmed in someones back yard more believable than this.

What was seen cannot be unseen. NEVER WATCH THIS, EVER.

[anonymousmindbreak · 1/10 · 22 January 2018]

Its a Disturbing, Terrible Writing, POOR ACTING AT A SMOSH COMEDY level, and its a crime against all Batman fans its the worst movie i've ever seen and if i wish i could take it back and DON'T WATCH it, but now is too late. Anyway you have been warned. avoid it like its a EXTREMELY CONTAGIOUS DISEASE.

Courageous idea, but lack of talent prevails

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 27 March 2016]

"The Death of Batman" is a live action short film from almost 15 years ago that runs for slightly under 30 minutes. The writer and director is Donald Lawrence Flaherty and looking at his work here I cannot say I am particularly disappointed that he has not been prolific in the last decade. The film offers little in terms of story, directing, atmosphere or acting, although the latter is probably really only due to the weak script. It is a bit ridiculous looking at who is the one to kill Batman. Not a super-villain or anything, just a common criminal. And the title is also a major problem. There are only two possibilities: Either it is a major spoiler or it is a major lie in order to bait people to watching this. No idea what they were thinking with that one. Still I don't think the film is as bad as its rating suggests and I guess it was voted down by some rabid Batman fanboys, but sadly it is also not much better. Some irony for sure that Christian Bale's sister appears in here. I guess we all know who got the talent in the family. Overall, this one is only worth watching for Batman completionists. Everybody else can skip.

Watch at your own peril

[kmtw93 · 2/10 · 7 May 2013]

The Death of Batman

As I am not a fan of Batman I guess it made it easier for me to watch so maybe I can give a more neutral perspective. If I were a fan then this would be insulting, I would hate to see a movie where one of my favourite movie characters gets his balls tasered, gets raped and forced to take heroin.

The extra's performed far better than Trip Hope, who would be better named Trip Hopeless. His performance was terrible, he said his lines like a child soap actor and his facial expressions were wrong. Christopher Stapleton's performance however, was decent; he did well with what was obviously a bad script.

During the scene in which the thief finds the taser, it was badly shot but also he did not need to voice his thoughts, just seeing him pick up the taser and take the stuff would have been enough. It just made the movie seem ever more cheesy.

The fight scene was acted out well by Stapleton, the contrast between both actors experience shows greatly, but it was ruined by the taser scene. Who gets tasered yet can still move their arms and legs? You would instantly fall to the ground. Obviously the director had no knowledge or this, or he chose to ignore it.

Throughout the movie there are cheesy lines, bad acting from Trip Hope and the cameraman just could not keep still. At the scene where the thief shoots himself, for some reason his corpse has a smile on its face and the effects… well there were no effects, just a gunshot.

The only reason it doesn't get one star is because of Christoper Stapleton's decent performance.

Christopher Stapleton is the best Batman ever.

[batboy1964 · 10/10 · 29 December 2003]

This is the first Batman film that has a point. It's not just another stupid action sequence with a bunch over the top performances by a bunch of silly villians. This film deals with real issues and the true consequences of vigilante justice. The actors do a great job with special kudos going out to Trip Hope as the Thief and to Chris Stapleton, who is the best Batman ever! Lets hope these talented actors get the notice they deserve.

I love the idea but the execution was bad.

[treize-15879 · 6/10 · 17 September 2020]

In the story, Batman gets overconfident with a small-time criminal and gets knocked out by a surprise attack. I love this idea. That Batman has gone up against the best and would get taken down, not by a great opponent but by being careless. This is kinda what happened in Batman Beyond.

Then The criminal gives Batman drugs to get him addicted. I love this idea as well. That Batman who has stayed on the straight and narrow would have no tolerance to drugs and it may have a greater effect on him than someone who had used drugs sparingly in the past.

Then the criminal reveals that Batman sent him, an innocent man to prison. The criminal car broke down in front of a meth lab. He goes to the lab for help and that's when Batman swoops in to take it down. Seeing a guy standing in front of a meth lab, Batman assumes he must have a connection to it and arrests him. This guy who had followed the law but was born on the wrong side of the tracks get caught up in the system. He can't afford a private lawyer and gets stuck with a bad public defender and gets 5 years for a crime he didn't commit. Great Idea.

Batman is a guy who has put away thousands of criminals in his life. The chances of some of them being innocent are quite high. Batman's job is to get the criminals, the police and DA's job is to send them to jail. I can see how Batman would never check to see if anyone was innocent, has that's the job of the DA and the police. Batman also wouldn't understand how an innocent man could get stuck in jail because of the system. Batman is Billionaire, Bruce Wayne. If Bruce was arrested he would have the best lawyer to prove his innocence. Batman's doing everything right, but the people and the system are doing a few things wrong and Batman being rich would never know this unless he had looked into this himself or he was told of the problem.

Finally, Batman who has been weakened by guilt, sleep deprivation, hunger, thirst, and weakness of given heroin, takes a final dose left by the criminal and dies of an overdose. I love this Idea. Batman has no real frame of reference for how much heroin is left, his tolerance for it, and he can't think straight due to his malnourished body. This wasn't a suicide, this was a first-time junkie not knowing how much was too much. Batman was in a bad place and unfortunately, drugs were there to take advantage of his weakened mind. If just a few of the events in the story happened differently, like Batman not being malnourished, Batman not being overcome with guilt, sleep deprivation, the amount of time he was exposed to heroin, he people would have walked away without taking that final dose.

THE BAD

The acting was ok but hammy, the directing was fine beside parts were they took us out of the main story to focus on random reporters and talk show hosts. I think this was to contrast Batman's current situation, but this didn't work. The dialog needed a lot of work. This sounds less like how two people would talk and more like how a new writer would want his dialog to come across has deep and meaningful. And that wasn't needed. You already had a good idea. Let that stand and hold back on dialog and let the actors act. Not everything needs to be communicated in a dialog.

This story would make a great one-shot non-canon graphic novel. If DC's best writers and artists came forward to do this, then the story could be great.

A little background into me to explain more why I like the story more than others. I'm a black guy born and raised in the hood. I'm a life long non-drug user and I don't have a record. I avoided all criminal activities and yet I'm been caught in the system too many times

I was late to high school one day and was pulled out by the police and my assistant principal. I was told that I matched the description of a kid who was smashing windows earlier that morning and they wanted me to confess to the crime. They tried to say that I was late for school because I was committing the crime and I only went to school to have an alibi. The way the cops talked to me was not as a 15-year-old who could be innocent but as a hardened criminal who in there minds were guilty and were wasting there time by not confessing. I luckily took public transportation to school and told them to look at the cameras on the bus and train. They left to go check and I never heard from the cops again about that incident.

I have been in handcuffs over 20 times in my life and I have no record because I did nothing wrong. I used to work at Target and I would stay past midnight to tag items. The last bus left at 11:00, I had no money for a cab, and I only lived 30 minutes from my job so I would walk him. I would get stopped by cops all the time. I would be put in handcuffs and they would check my ID to see if I had a warrant. All because I was a black guy walking after midnight. I had my target badge with me and I'm wearing their colors (Tan and Red). But the cops wouldn't let me go until after they checked my ID and search me. I worked for Target for 6 months and I would get a tagging assignment that would keep me past midnight once a month and I would get stooped by the cops every single time and every single time they would handcuff me, check my ID, and search me. I got tired of being harassed by the cops and give Target my 2 weeks.

I have so many stories to tell about the system but I won't waste everyone's time but I once was arrested for a crime I didn't commit and my defense attorney could not care less. I'm lucky I had an eye witness who spoke up for me and I was released. But not for that, eye witness I probably would have had a record for a crime I did not commit.

Rashly written script and idea

[gheipranav · 3/10 · 11 February 2007]

I understand the movie was fan based and the script was written with prior knowledge of the batman comic, cartoon and movie series. The character of batman is highly complex and possibilities to play with are infinite. However, this mortal human being is and immortal character whose sanctity is profaned by killing him on the screen.

As mentioned in the above post, he has several instances where guilt from the death of several close partners and family has built up over the years. As the character has been developed by other script writers, we have come to realize that he, after a while, does not blame himself completely for all these deaths. Though they are the reason why some changes have been brought about in his actions; introspection leads to the development of wisdom on account of which he is able to continue fighting crime, even when he is incapacitated by old age.

His strength does not lie as much in his physique as it does in his internal character. Years of training cannot have him addicted to a drug. The very concept of this is unimaginable. Rash decisions(heroine) and the usage of several of those tag lines in the beginning is not the Batman developed in detail over the years. Moreover, we saw no use of any gadgets by the dark knight. Gadgets are what bring him at par with his colleagues Superman, Spiderman, etc. They are the reason he cannot get himself into a situation created by an ordinary, off the street criminal.

On the whole, credit must be given for the making of a decent short. However, the idea and script are rashly written giving no thought the brilliance of this character developed by writers over this millennium.

Not what people think it is. It is so much more.

[cainanite · 10/10 · 23 July 2012]

People love Batman, and they don't want to see him humiliated, broken, and defeated. They don't want to see him die. Batman represents something people see as noble and immune from criticism. They think the kind of justice he parcels out is a model for the real world. He is something to aspire to.

The very things that make people mad about this film, are the very reasons this film had to be made.

The kind of blind justice that Batman represents is really not something noble. It isn't a virtue to punish people with no rule of law. There is a reason we have police, and due process. Those things safeguard against what a person like Batman would do, and the damage he would create.

The Death of Batman uses the Dark Knight as a metaphor to confront those ideals that people think are laudable. It highlights the need for considerate justice, and a solution to suffering that goes beyond just locking up bad-guys. That is the metaphor that is easily missed by people who don't know real suffering, and have never felt real hopelessness. It is missed by fan-boys who just love Batman.

In this film Batman is taken down, not by a super-villain, or the type of bad-guy, like The Joker, that we tell ourselves justifies mindless punishment. Instead, he is taken down by a nobody, a minor player, and a mere ant under the wheels of justice. Someone who doesn't deserve a second look. Someone who is just as Batman calls him, "Scum". It isn't for the Titan of Justice, Batman, to give this thug any consideration. Tie him up with the rest of the crooks, and leave him to his fate.

The problem that Batman represents, is that there are no people who are just scum, or ants under the wheels of justice. There are only real people with real problems. All of them looking for a way out, and a path to a better life. Batman cannot realize that, until it is too late.

In this film, Batman has to be made to suffer the way the victims of his mindless pursuit of vigilante justice have suffered. He needs to see what his mission has really done. He needs to be confronted with what makes his version of justice wrong for the world.

This film accomplishes what it sets out to do, masterfully. Its only misstep is its anticipation of an audience than can understand the metaphor. From reading other reviews of this film, it is clear it has missed the mark, by expecting too much of its audience.

The film isn't attacking everyone's favourite character. It is attacking the idea of mindless justice. Batman is merely the vehicle for that to happen.

Batman, once he had suffered what his victims had suffered, had been beaten, raped, addicted to heroin, and reduced to crawling on the floor, still thought he was right. He still thought his form of justice was correct.

Only when he was finally confronted with the truth, that he had created that suffering for other people, did he finally break. Batman had created victims of innocent people. He had destroyed their hope, and ruined their lives, as completely as what had happened to him as a child, when his parents were gunned down in front of him. He was truly as guilty as the criminals he sought to protect Gotham from.

At that moment, he knew. He could barely get the words out, "I'm Batman." He finally felt the lie in those words.

Mindless, blind punishment only creates more victims. It is not something to be lauded. It is not something to aspire to. It creates victims of us all.

That, is what this film was saying. Only with Batman's death, could hope finally return to Gotham.

Batman didn't commit suicide. That wasn't the point.

The point was, mindless revenge, and blind justice need to die, for compassion to live.

It was the idea of vigilantism that killed the symbol.

The metaphor worked for me, and I think this film was amazing. I'm sorry so few people can see that point.

Symbols are hard for people to understand. This film creates a powerful symbol.