How was Scarecrow a joke exactly? They got a great actor to play him and followed his origin and modus operdandi really well. Hell, even his look was slick.
But, wait, he was in a suit and not in a straw hat and he should have had straw and a pitchfork. Also, the ears on Batman's cowl were three tenths of an inch too short compared to the Year One art.
Movies =/= Comic Books. Hell, they're not even close. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were both very solid movies, but just because they're NOT the Killing Joke or Long Halloween, they must suck, right?