The Dark Knight Review

The Dark Knight – Review

 

Well, finally, the biggest movie of the summer so far has landed, and I was there, 10.30am at the dome with all the other saddoes desperate to see if The Dark Knight lived up to the hype that has surrounded this movie for such a long time now.

 The marketing campaign has been an absolute triumph, never before have I been as hyped to see movie than for this. I think I was as excited for the 24/7 as I would be for the 25/12! And the dividends have paid off for such a protracted and skilful campaign, as the movie has broken box-office records in the states, and will probably go on to be the highest grossing movie of 2008. But… is it any cop?

 Have a look at the posters and advert for this movie that have reviews on them, and you’ll see a plethora of 5/5s and glowing praise from every corner, so there was no doubts that when the lights went down in the cinema that I was going to be in for a treat, but would it live up to my expectations? I have been cruelly hurt this year by Indy 4, I had seen mixed reviews, and hold a great affection for Indy, so in my heart of hearts I just wanted to love it, and for it to be ace. It wasn’t. It sucked. It was like having a child, only to find out that they were an idiot and you just hated them, despite knowing that you should love them (that may be a bit strong, but you get the idea). So my expectations were set high with Dark Knight, I loved Batman Begins, and am a big Batman fan in general (not in a major geek way, I’ve read a lot of his graphic novels, but don’t subscribe to the comics, and couldn’t tell you every minor detail of his history but…still a fan), and when I read that The Dark Knight was the “Empire Strikes Back of comic book movies” my heart skipped a beat. So the lights went down, 153 minutes later they came back up and how did I feel?

 This film rocks, in many ways, but… it’s not up there with the greatest movies ever made as some reviewers may have you to believe. There’s a lot to love, but I just left the cinema with too many niggles, it just didn’t sit right with me.

 I’ll start with what’s to love.

The Joker. The Joker OWNS this movie, every time he appears he just tears the screen apart. He’s exactly how the clown prince of crime should be, a primeval force of evil nature, out to destroy and cause as much mayhem as is (in)humanly possible. The key thing is, is that they’ve avoided making it his origin movie, and this works so well. He’s a terrifying mystery. Who is this man? Why does he look so fucked up? What does he want? The best part is, in many movies, you follow the bad guy as he plots and schemes his dastardly deeds, as well as the good guy, who is out to thwart him, but not in the Dark Knight. He just pops up, causes havoc in every scene he’s in with growing brutality, then he disappears off the radar again, leaving you and Batman wondering when and where is he going to strike next, but more importantly what will he do next? This is down to the writing of his character, but more crucially down to Heath Ledger. If you ever saw Brokeback Mountain (I did, and I loved it, I think I’m man enough to admit that), then Ledgers nuanced performance as the tortured soul Ennis Del Mar would have proved to you what a terrific actor he was, but then you put that next to his portrayal as the Joker, and it just goes to show what a terrible waste of a life, his untimely demise has been. What would he have gone on to do in the future? To have seen him just reprise his role as the Joker one more time, would have been a cinematic event in itself, but is sadly something that we’ll never see. To bandy his name around for a posthumous Oscar, to me is a little bad taste, stinking of promotion for the movie at the expense of his memory, but his performance is truly awesome. You need to see it to understand how much he IS the Joker. It’s the one thing I know that will draw me back for repeat viewings of this movie for sure. I mean since when has anyone been Oscar nominated for a comic book film, come on, we all know the truth, it probably would have been unlikely, the Oscars just don’t do that sort of thing.

 What else rocks? The Bat-pod. Super badass bike for Batman, though looks impossible to drive to me. The action sequences are incredible too, better than the action from the other summer comic book films, so far, from this year (Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk), and why is that? Erm could it be a little thing called CGI, Batman uses it minimally, the other two were practically drawn by hand in a computer somewhere. Decent performances from all the actors involved. Aaron Eckhart staking his claim as leading man material, Michael Caine providing some light relief in places and Gary Oldman on form as usual. Some nice sequences and ideas in the story, the hobsons choice moment for Batman is a killer, as is the opening sequence which I can’t wait to see in Imax.

 So what sucked?

 The biggest problem I have with the Dark Knight is the plot. It’s overlong, over complicated and fairly muddled throughout. The Joker saves it from being a confusing mess. It seems like they had a lot of good ideas for what should go in, but then, just went and stuck it all in without being a bit more ruthless. There are whole sub-plots which seem never to strike the right cord, the story of Gordons team having a turncoat amongst them, keeps coming up, but in the end, you don’t really care enough about them to even be bothered. The other Gordon storyline, which comes around halfway through (I won’t spoil it for you here) is also confusing and very unrealistic. Would they tell his wife? (you’ll see).

 My other beef with the story is Harvey Dent. Two-Face is a great character with great potential as the movie villain. Dents fall from grace in this movie seems a little forced, and the tipping point comes out of nowhere. This also, in my opinion, stems from his relationship with Maggie Gyllenhaals character Rachel. This never feels real to me at any point, there doesn’t seem to be any chemistry and somehow her character comes across as underwritten. I never really cared whether she prefers Harvey or Bruce, so a few of the films key moments just struck a dull note with me. So Harvey (no surprise here) ends up being Two-Face. The special effects for which, are great, but to me, a little jarring, as from going from hardly any CGI, to CGI heavy was a little annoying. But then it seems like, the scriptwriter (Jonathan Nolan), didn’t know what to do with him next. Apparently in David Goyers script for Batman Begins, he originally outlined two sequels, with Two Face being the primary villain for the third film, which I think would have made more sense for two reasons. Firstly, they rush an ending in for Two Face, so he never really is the villain In Dark Knight, more an afterthought. But secondly, it would have made a great part 3. Seriously, where they going to go next (presuming they make one)? The Penguin would be a strange choice, he’s much more difficult to realise in this gritty realistic Gotham of Nolans Batman. Catwoman? A cat burgler as the main villain for the whole film? Mr Freeze? Not likely. Poison Ivy? Even less likely. Two Face was perfect material, but, (spoiler alert), he aint gonna make it to the sequel. They should have had the climax centre around the Joker, and have had Two-Face slink off into the shadows, ready to cause mayhem in the third movie.

 Other niggles were the mobile phone/sonar part of the story, bit too science fiction for my tastes. Going to Hong Kong? Not necessary. Rachel Dawes character has changed completely from serious earnest lawyer to flirty flighty minx in the space of one movie.

 What to say about Batman himself? His new suit is badass, he does some seriously badass stuff, and is not afraid to push the boundaries to get his results. He even does some detecting for once. More please! His scene with the Joker in the interrogation room is a personal highlight, just distilling what we should expect from Batman and the Joker into one violent little scene. One thing though… the Bat-Voice?? Bale…SORT IT OUT. It sounds silly. It sounded silly in Begins, even worse in this one. Get some strepsils or something.

 

So in conclusion…

 Go see this movie, you won’t see a better summer blockbuster this year. Forget everything I’ve said, I’m just nitpicking what is undoubtedly up there with the other great superhero movies, and go enjoy a supreme badass of a movie…

 Just don’t expect The Empire Strikes Back of superhero films! (See earlier blogs for the reasons!)

4.5/5

 

 PS A note on the trailers. Bit disappointed there was no Watchmen, but I can wait for the Imax. Hellboy 2 looks amazing, Del Toro really knows how to flick my switches when it comes to special effects. 

But the biggest turkey of the lot I saw, was the trailer that got the biggest laughs, which just goes to prove that 85% of people are idiots. The trailer for “Don’t Mess With The Zohan” which you can watch in all its pathetic glory here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28IUYMaCPZw

 

Til next time folks.