What’s it about?
Batman reluctantly takes on new sidekick: grown-up and disturbed Teen Wolf, a man bent on revenge having seen his fiancé gunned down by terrorists (and obviously having been orphaned as a child). His sado-masochistic training is going well until the old dog (Gambit, Batman’s ex-Robin, who they all thought was dead) goes all arms-dealery and everything gets mixed up in a bucket with terrorists and CIA and guns. Lots of people die.
What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: This is not Shakespeare, people! Imagine 007 without the gratuitous sex scenes (but with extrinsic boobies), more graphic violence and less puns. The clichés are still there – but the action sequences – oh my! And the final special effects rollercoaster … I had to remind myself to breath.
Thus a new mindless-fun Bourne/Bond-clone franchise is born.
Espionage, grudges, chips on shoulders and 12-year-olds (he looks like a tween but I think we’re supposed to assume he’s an adult) saving the world. Standard American + Israel against the baddies in the Middle East fare. It’s absurd, utterly absurd, but if multiple fight scenes and big explosions turn you on, this might do you. The script is, frankly, embarassing, but a few nice touches here and there in the predictable storyline make it almost tolerable. 2.5 stars