The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight (2008 )

OK, so I caught the new Batman this afternoon and it was very entertaining. Was it the best Batman movie? Possibly. But you have to keep in mind that it was still a movie based on a comic book. And that is part of the problem I had with it. It seemed that Christopher Nolan wanted to make it more of a straight action movie than a comic book (graphic novel in nerd speak). As much as he tried to do so, it would uncomfortably slip into the comic book arena too often. Granted, those moments were some of the parts that worked the best, but it seems he was trying so hard to avoid it.

There will be spoilers a’plenty here, so if that concerns you, stop reading this post.

There is talk of Oscar mentions for Heath Ledger. I think that if he were alive today, most people would say that it was a good performance, but I doubt that many would consider it Oscar worthy. I have to say, this is what I feel about his performance. Very well done, but there will be the inevitable comparisons with Jack Nicholson’s portrayal. That is just not worth the effort. Nicholson did a great job in a movie that was intentionally very much like the TV show or the comic. Tim Burton chose to make the film that way and it worked. Lots of bright color and big, over the top performances.

While watching it, there were several moments or scenes that I could have seen Nicholson doing. I think there was some influence in this. But for most of the rest of the movie, Ledger seemed like an array of Christopher Lloyd, Peter Falk (as Columbo) and Peter Lorre. Some of the lines were delivered in a voice that was directly Peter Lorre. Ledger was a very good villian, but Oscar talk is silly.

Christian Bale is possibly my favorite Batman. But I think I preferred him in Batman Begins. Maybe it was the freshness and the fact that he was NOT George Clooney. I still liked him in this one, but there was a little more over-acting this time.

The rest of the cast was very well assembled. Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman were all very competent. Not exactly exciting performances, though. The interactions between Bruce and Rachel just seemed stiff and akward. It’s almost like Rachel was thrown in to keep questions about Bruce staying in the closet (or cave, if you will) at bay.

There were some seriously bad plot devices as well, but the one that bothered me the most was toward the end when they were transporting Harvey Dent. There was a burning fire truck that forced them to use “lower 5th Street” and trapped them into that battle. Why didn’t they just use the other lanes and stay on the surface? There was even room to get around the firetruck (you could see as they passed it) and continue without change. For that matter, the authorities would/should have closed off the access to the lower street anyway.

The whole killing of Jim Gordon was so apparent, I almost felt insulted when it was revealed. Just annoying to me. There are many other parts that let me down, but I will refrain from listing them. (Plus, I wish I was taking notes. I know that I have forgotten a few already)

The film was shot well. The special effects were done very well and the action was paced about right. Even the main plot was done well. There was a lot there and it didn’t get too gratuitous. One knock, though, I am wondering if Nolan purposely muted the color palette this time. Even the outdoor scenes looked washed out. It may have been overcast while filming, but the city and skyline just didn’t ‘pop’.

The sound mix, for the most part was well done. The only place that I was annoyed was during Gordon’s voice-over at the end of the movie. Some of the dialogue here was lost in the mix. This is usually the way to tie it up, but the levels were just too wonky.

Despite that negatives, I don’t judge movies like this in the same way that I would a serious film. It’s a summer blockbuster popcorn action film, based on a comic book.  And for that, it succeeded.