I'm so glad you brought this subject up - I completley agree. I'm a huge fan of the Batman comics and of the Tim Burton movies, but I think that 'The Dark Knight' and 'Batman Begins' were actually pretty boring, 'Batman Begins' especially, was so slow, and 'The Dark Knight' was more like a crime thriller. I thought Heath Ledger did a good performance, but I far preffered Jack's version of the Joker in 'Batman', and I wonder if the tradgedy that happened didn't go along way into everyone saying how amazing his performance was.
With the 'Batman' character, they've got him right, and they've got him wrong - the TV series, IMO, was horrific. Then we had the amazing 'Batman' and the outstanding 'Batman Returns' - and those two movies are the only ones that got the mixture of darkness and comic book combo artistically correctly IMO. 'Batman Forever' was okay, and then there was that terrible 'Batman and Robin' with Arnie destroying the character of Freeze, and Uma Thurman destroying th character of Poison Ivy - but that was because it wen't so camp and back to the TV version of the characters.
These new Batman movie are way too dark - even for me as an adult, it loses all sense of the comics' and the characters and becomes like a Bond, or Bourne movie - I also think the Bond movies are boring now. You go to the cinema to be entertained, not to be forced to see the brutality of life constantly.
Where was the Joker gas??? His acid flower??? His origin smile and bleached skin? These are the Joker - he didn't have his mouth slashed open, he didn't use a knife or gun primarily - the movies have left the comics behind and are making it all about realisim and Batman, when really the entire character of Batman - is that he doesn't want to be the centre of attention - he broods in the dark and does his 'job.'
And what's with that moronic voice Christian Bale puts on when he's wearing the suit??? I spent most of the movie trying to understand him. Michael Keaton started that, but you could hear what he was saying.
It's not so much that the movie's have gone darker - it's that they've crossed out any fragment of the graphic novel, made them into crime thriller's, and pretty dull ones for a large magority of 'Batman' fans, of course you always have fans of the character who will adore anything involving him, but I have been very dissapointed in the recent two movies.
Bring back Burton! He, IMO, is the only director to get the character right, dark but still comic book.

I do NOT like the new Batman movies. This is not the Batman I know. The new movies are all action and fancy gadgets. No real detective work. The new Batman is more like a metropolitan JAMES BOND in a hood and cape. Batman is the Dark Knight Detective, not just a DARK KNIGHT. In "Batman Begins" there were more explosions and destruction of the city than I have seen in a decade of Batman stories. Also, since when did Ras Aghul become Batman's teacher and mentor? It never happened that way when he first appeared in Detective Comics. This motion picture Batman is nothing like the Batman of the comics of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. This Batman is more egoistical, self-centered and not nearly as good a detective. This Batman is just a shallow hollywood action figure in a familiar cape. This Batman is not much better than a self appointed vigilante for the people. He is not the many-layered and multifaceted character I have come to know over 25 years of reading Batman and Detective Comics. A classic Batman story from the comics is far superior two this hollywood incarnation of the Caped Crusader.

Hmm, I have to admit that I never read any of the comics or watched the TV series. But I did love the movie with Micheal Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Jack did an amazing job of the Joker in that movie..loved it. After this first one with Micheal and Jack, I stopped liking the Batman movies. They were just too, well comic-book-y. I didn't like that.
I was really worried about Heath Ledger being the Joker because I wanted to compare it to Jack. But I thought he did a good job and it fit with the new movie. I love love the new Batman movies. I love how they are more dark. THIS is how I have always pictured Batman and thought he should be. But, I love dark and 'violent' movies too. Like I said, I never read the comics so I didn't have that start with Batman. My start was with Micheal Keaton and I fell in love with Batman and then was disappointed for so long with the movies after that. Until these last 2 movies that is.

Real life is violent. Violence in movies is not real. As far as the last three Batman movies being too serious they are serious because that story deserves to be. Bruce Wayne is a real man, nothing supernatural has happened to him, he became Batman because he wanted to and Bruce Wayne remains human when he is Batman. I love Batman (Micheal Keaton was a great Batman and a good Bruce Wayne) and liked Batman Returns (havent seen the others yet) but the Christian Bale Batman movies are many steps (GIGANTICALLY HUGE steps!!!!!!!) better than those movies. As far as the Batman television show (i saw the ones with Adam West) it's just too ridiculous, yes I was enjoying them when I was very young but I grew up then I never was able to watch more than one second of that stupid show. I have never read the comics so I cannot comment on that. Batman Begins will probably always be my favorite movie and Christian Bale playing Batman will always be one of my favorite things (theres only 3 things i better love than watching him play Batman).