Less mature than I remembered. My expectations for superhero movies are consistently too high. I still get excited about them, which is interesting given the consistent mediocrity. I might even say I like the genre, without loving a single movie in it. I get excited, and they're all less subtle and mature than I expect. This must reflect some difference between me and the mass audiences obsessed with these movies. The similarity is the excitement; the difference is the fulfillment. It's largely about the writing -- I'm attentive to writing, which is a weak point for this genre. The Dark Knight with exactly the same story but better dialogue may have been great. Instead it's childish.
The Dark Knight was probably better than Batman Begins, although I'm more attracted to the idea of Batman Begins. The Dark Knight has too much chaos, not enough Batman. It's centrifugal; it needs more digging into the Batman character. But Batman Begins is probably not original enough or epic enough. Both are stunted by juvenile dialogue.
Even back in high school I wasn't impressed with The Dark Knight Rises, so I don't feel the need to watch it now. There are ways to make superhero movies feel real; you can manipulate the materials of reality without affecting its dynamics; and these movies fail, because the dynamics don't feel authentic. This isn't how people would react to singularities like Batman and the Joker. You need a good "straight man" type -- people reacting to absurd situations the way you would. But these movies are unrealistic, ignoring the singular characters: not even the extras are believable. It doesn't feel real. I can't empathize. It's all superhero fiction.
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