The movie has an odd way of alternating missteps (the grandiloquent beginning, the Bat-ninja concept — sure, it makes sense with the character’s modus operandi, but it’s a bit cheap and doubly anachronic, as ninja belong either to the past or to an American craze of the 2000s, but definitely not to Batman’s original universe — or the end’s weapon of mass destruction, a rather pathetic and technically ridiculous idea) and inspired bits about justice, vengeance or Batman genesis. But the scales tip decidedly on the positive side, and this has to be the best superhero movie I’ve seen in quite a while (even though it lacks the striking, cultish effect of discovering a new character).

[01/14] Compared to this one, the first Batman looks awfully old — you feel like you’re watching an episode from the old TV show, Kerpow! inserts and all. But, on the other hand, Tim Burton’s version was probably more faithful to the character’s spirit — and it didn’t take itself too seriously, which does help when you’re telling the story of a bat-millionaire with improbable gadgets fighting cliché villains and their more improbable weapons (not to mention ninja masters).

Actually, the lack of self-humor is a recurring characteristic of Chritopher Nolan’s movies, isn’t it?