http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/7184-batmanvsdk

In this video, Internet comedian The Nostalgia Critic introduces his "Old vs. New" series, in which he compares 2008's mega-blockbuster The Dark Knight with Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. After judging the two films in a number of categories, the Critic, in a move that is quite contrary to what seems to be the general consensus, concludes that he regards Batman as a superior film.

Although the Critic sheds kind words on both films and provides a lot of reasons for why he prefers the Burton film, one recurring argument that got my attention was that he asserts that, unlike Batman, which lets its imagery speak for itself, The Dark Knight feels more like a "character study" in which the characters in the film make several heavy-handed speeches about the film's themes. Although I personally would argue in favor of The Dark Knight being a better movie, the Critic nonetheless makes a valid point. For all its strengths, The Dark Knight suffers quite a bit from being too dialogue-heavy and not letting its visuals speak for themselves, one of the great assets of any visual medium. That's not to say that the dialogue isn't interesting, but does get fairly heavy-handed in explaining the film's themes instead of letting the audience decipher said themes for themselves.

Ultimately, I have to agree with the Nostalgia Critic's assertion. A film should express its story and ideas through its visuals, not just through dialogue. After all, that's what separates films from non-visual media such as books and radio. And although I think The Dark Knight is a wonderful and brilliant motion picture, it seems to have forgotten this.