The Death of Batman

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.

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.

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.

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

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!!!!