Rowan didn't think much of Batman Begins - but I found this comment more interesting than the rest of the commentary:

Promote a highly American ideology and set of values related to justice, social division or justified use of violence. Do American film makers really believe I have the same ideology as a liberal Australian?

I wonder how much of this in films drives overseas perception of the how the US is? For instance, take this movie - they've displayed a thoroughly corrupt, dysfunctional, and violent city. That works for the film (and you have to realize that Batman was born of another era entirely to fully get the setting) - but how do overseas viewers take it? Do they come away thinking that most US cities are like Gotham?

I had this thought while watching a really bad film on cable the other day - Van Damme in "Hard Target". That one portrays a rich guy and his hired guns hunting people for sport. At no point in the film do we see any serious police presence, even after extended gun battles high population areas. Which made me wonder - do people overseas see films like this and think that the US is lawless, awash in crime, etc., etc.? Even if they don't have that conscious thought, I rather suspect that it comes across subconsciously.