Batman: Dead End

This is apparently a short piece of fan fiction--not a piece authorized or made by DC Comics. Despite this and a budget of $30,000 (a huge amount for a fan film--a tiny drop in the hat for a professional-looking film), it is very professional in style and is quite watchable to those who are not fans of the caped crusader (I sure am not a big fan, but I liked it).

The film begins with Batman having a showdown with The Joker--who is very, very well portrayed by Andrew Koenig. He is nothing like the Jack Nicholson version--more like a demonic comic book version. However, one this crook is dispatched, some MAJOR surprises are in store for Batman--ones that I don't want to divulge as it would spoil the suspense.

The bottom line is this is a terrific film--well worth a peek and only taking about six minutes out of your otherwise hectic lives.

Clocking in at only eight minutes this fan film of Batman has more imagination than any previous version of the Dark Knight I've ever seen.

I would have like the film to have been a few minutes longer though. So they could have developed the story more and had less of a cliffhanger ending. The actor they cast as Batman is also, physically, the most believable Batman yet. Michael Keaton was never quite right as Batman and Adam West was just too campy as the Dark Knight.

Some people won't like the crossover of other famous movie characters appearing in the film, but I thought it was fun. The dialogue, what little there is, is a bit hokey, and could have been improved though.

I'd love to see a feature length version of this film! Maybe Ben Affleck and Matt Damon at Project Greenlight should get the filmmakers of Dead End a million dollars in financing so they can add another eighty-two minutes of footage to the story! And viola! We have a Batman: Dead End feature! Filmmaker and fanboy Kevin Smith loved this film so maybe Kev can get financing!

And if you read movie internet message boards a lot of hacks and wannabe filmmakers are ripping this film to pieces. I think they're just jealous cos they didn't have the balls or creativity to make their own Batman fan film.

A good job! Imperfect, but still good!

When you go into these fan made shorts it's hard to have any hope that they will deliver. How do you make something like Batman with a non-existent budget?

Standing at around the eight minute mark this short see's Batman hunting down the Joker on the streets of Gotham. Newly broken out of Arkham Asylum he isn't the only thing that hides in the darkness.

As hard as it is to believe but this is Batman vs Joker vs Aliens vs Predator and it looks fantastic! The sfx are considerably better than you'd expect and the whole thing is constructed so well I'm genuinely upset there isn't a feature length movie.

I'd consider this a must watch for Batman fans and would love to see more by these guys.

The Good:

Looks amazing

Great concept

The Bad:

Batmans costume looks naff

Things I Learnt From This Short:

If fans can make this masterpiece then what's the excuse for Batman vs Superman?

It's about time someone tried to do something with Batman, if Warner won't. It combines three movies I think fans would love to see, though because of this it suffers from lack of time. Very cool idea, it leaves a lot up to the imagination as to how it began or how it ends, or what happens to certain other villians. I thought the villians costumes looked amazing, I assume someone broke into the Fox props department for those. This was short, but darker than even Burton's first Batman movie, though this one relies a little heavy on his script, at least at first. The directing was great, too, there were several well composed shots, which says a lot about an 8 minute film. I loved the fact that Bats was in his classic black and grey costume, which was made of cloth and not rubber. If you have the disk space and the time to DL this, you won't be disappointed.

Don't expect a crappy little amateur film. "Batman: Dead End" puts some of the superhero movies made these days till shame.

The style and atmosphere is even darker and more sinister then in the 2 Tim Burton Batman movies. You can say that "Batman: Dead End" is a more daring movie. The movie shows how the makers can handle several styles and it's the crew that really deserves credit. Everything works perfect especially the cinematography.

But let's not forget the cast. Clark Bartram is actually a very convincing Batman (Better then Val Kilmer and George Clooney anyway) and Andrew Koenig is the perfect Joker his character is actually much more different then from the original movie in a good way. The character is more sinister and psychotic in a scary way instead of an entertaining. The characters are much more closer then the ones from the comic books.

Sure the story is just beyond silly but that's not the point, the crew really showed how they can handle different moments and styles. This little film is filled with wonderful little moments and is a shear pleasure to watch.

Awesome fights, great make-up, wonderful costumes, excellent directing, great cast, most excellent cinematography and a great and daring atmosphere and style, what is there not to like?

8/10

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