[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally posted by: Windmill360°. I don't like the way they portrayed Gotham. It had a much better persona in the other movies. It looked like an average city in this movie.

Gotham City in this movie was meant to look beautiful and futuristic in some parts, while very dirty and ominous in others. Most of the city was actually the Chicago skyline, but they added a lote more digitally. As for the portrayal of Gotham in the other movies, I know what you mean. While I loved this version, I really loved Tim Burton's much more gothic/industrial Gotham. However, this one was meant to be more realistic, and threatening as well.

I have to admit though they wen't a little overboard when they added Batgirl/Batwoman in Batman returns (How much help does this guy need?).

I think you're referring to Batman & Robin (1998), in which Alicia Silverstone played Batgirl. That movie was an absolute piece of crap, and almost buried the Batman franchise for good. Batman Returns (1992) was the second Tim Burton film, in which Batman (Michael Keaton) still worked alone and faced the Penguinn and Catwoman (Danny DeVito & Michelle Pfeiffer)

The whole timeperiod thing kind of confused me too with the "depression" they were talking about and such (It was the Great Depression I assume, but then the modern cars got me confused again).

The movie takes place in the near future. The "depression" was of course not the Great Depression, but rather a fictional depression that seemingly affected only Gotham City.

I'd rather have Batman actually fight the villain rather than fighting something intangible. I know, I know it was his first time give the guy a break.

I know what you mean, however, this movie was meant to focus mostly on Batman, and Batman only. In the past Batman movies, they seemed to catch the "villain of the week" syndrome, in which every movie was just another throwback to the old TV show, and the story focused on corny, cartoonish villains. In Batman Begins, I think idea was for the story to focus solely on Batman, and re-establish his importance as a character. Sorry for rambling, folks, I just love Batman that much.