You're coming off as more than a little abrasive/angry, for some reason. Anyway, disregarding whatever's up with that for the time being, I'll try to respond to your points.



I didn't "miss the point" (or at least not the one you're trying to explain to me), I just didn't care for its implementation. Batman has been a symbol of the people for all three movies. I don't object to that or downplay its importance. However, in the first two movies, batman was able to be a symbol while being awesome at the same time. He had a steady supply of cool new gadgets and weaponry, he had some sort of pseudo-mystical martial arts training, he regularly took down baddies in creative, fun-to-watch ways, and even threw in a few good one-liners from time to time.

All I'm saying is that Batman the symbol is not incompatible with Batman the superhero, and I'm disappointed that they humanized him to such a degree in the third movie.



Yes, he did come back to be relevant one last time. He wasn't motivated by pride or arrogance and he wasn't looking for recognition, but he thought that his city needed Batman again, despite Alfred (who generally portrays the voice of reason) insisting that he could better serve Gotham by using his wealth and influence. In short, he tried to "be Batman" a final time, and, while he managed to capitalize on what he'd done in the past, he failed to live up to his former self in a big way.



Yes, he was. And that was vitally important. I just wish he'd been MORE than an inspiration. He built a reputation for himself in the previous movies by doing awesome, amazing stuff. In the third movie he does very little except use his reputation. This is great if your main character is a skilled orator trying to incite rebellion, but somewhat disappointing when your character is a futuristic superhuman action hero.



Of course I can see it. What does that have to do with anything?



You're right, and that's a fair criticism. I tried to stay high-level but didn't do a very good job. I still maintain, though, that however poorly I described them, Batman's exploits in this movie were significantly less impressive than those of the previous films. He had one new gadget which did almost nothing that a standard helicopter could not, he displayed no new abilities, he lost most of his fights and he was outsmarted at virtually every turn. As a legend/symbol, he got the job done. As the figure who earned that status, however, he was a pale shell of his former self.



Let's say that discarding the Bruce Wayne identity makes sense for all of the reasons you stated. So now:

1) Why do you fake your own death? As far as I could tell, every baddie who knew his secret identity was killed. There are much easier ways of "getting away from it all" than faking death.

2) Even if you go forward with your crazy plan, why do you let all of your closest friends, who have kept huge secrets for you for nearly a decade, think that you're dead? ESPECIALLY if you just plan to reveal yourself to them later on? This either makes no sense, or reveals an incredibly callous side of Bruce Wayne. "Eh, let them be grief stricken for a few days while I figure out how to be cleverly observed at that restaurant Alfred likes. Oh, and I should probably bring a date..."

3) So you've gone through all the trouble to fake your own death, keeping even your friends in the dark to make sure that your past can never again catch up to you. Why on earth do you now show up with no disguise whatsoever in a highly public place? I mean, in our world, even D-list celebrities have their every sighting posted all over the internet for the world to see. Does Bruce really not believe that he'll be immediately recognized and determined to be, you know, alive?

None of this made any sense to me.



Most comic book movies save the world, galaxy or even universe, so I'm not sure you can back up your last statement very well. As to the rest, yes, what he did was awesome. But it was awesome in the same way that what Abraham Lincoln did was awesome. Lincoln was inspirational, struck a blow for freedom, changed the world, brought a nation together, etc. And yet his life would have been exceptionally uninteresting to actually observe. Now, I'll admit that Batman was quite a bit more interesting to watch than an elderly president would have been. Compared to his previous adventures, though, he was nothing.

And THAT'S what I didn't like. Gotham's story was great and ended well, but I felt like Batman was pretty well neutered. Picture it this way: what if, in Spiderman 3, Peter Parker had never slung a single web, but instead used his science skills to perfect fusion power? He saved the world! He's one of the most important figures ever! HUGE win for all of mankind! Well yes, but at the cost of losing most of what makes him such an interesting character.

Batman is a comic book superhero. Treat him seriously, incorporate his abilities into a realistic setting as best you can, but don't turn him into just another concerned citizen. HE might think that's what he is, but we, the viewers, watch him because he is not.