The Dark Knight

To really get out all my full grievances with this film I felt I needed more than the Facebook application gives. I also saw and wrote most of this three and a half weeks ago…..laziness has reached new heights.

So yes, this is a good movie. Is it perfect? Hardly. What is great about it is Heath Ledger. I mean there are other cool things. The scenes with the Batcycle or whatever are really cool. I think everyone in the theatre had their mouth open when that truck flipped on its back. Twoface looks sweet also. The Twoface arc was a great addition to the film, but Heath Ledger’s Joker makes this movie.

He has created an incredible character that will go down as iconic. As soon as he performs his “magic trick” in the beginning a tone is set that he isn’t going to be a laughing gimmick of a character. The tape of him yelling at the fake Batman sent chills down my spine. It’s rare to see a performance that is so unique, true, and compelling.

The movie does have its imperfections. The Harvey Dent character in particular rubbed me the wrong way. His transformation into Twoface is largely based in his relationship with Rachel Dawes. I felt worse for Batman losing Rachel than I did Harvey. There wasn’t any development of their relationship from Harvey’s side. Then it became pivotal to Harvey’s motivation for his transformation into Twoface. When he got all upset at people because he lost Rachel I just thought….really?

And, what’s with all the extras that got these stupid one-liners and bit roles? I’m talking about that idiot who “got his hands dirty” and decided not to blow up the other ferry. It just added to an already poor ending of a good film. Like whether we’re a scary prisoner or a disgruntled ferry rider blowing up a boat of people is a bad idea, point taken. Alright, I know that wasn’t really the point of it, but it sent a conflicting message with what happens to Harvey Dent.

The end of the movie is the biggest problem. It’s a jumbled mess. What fill the mess are Batman’s poorly produced fight scenes. It’s like Adam West was used as the stunt double to fight. The fight scenes are treated as a hurdle instead of what could be one of the highlights of the movie. The last fight scene causes the biggest problems. The people are deciding whether or not to blow up their boats, Commissioner Gordon is leaving to save his family, the hostages have clown masks and guns, and then Batman comes and slowly punches his way through the building. I felt overwhelmed and bored at the same time. It all wraps up with the theme that in order to defeat evil you must be evil (die a hero, live to be villain) which I don’t really agree with.

All that said, I think that ideas the Joker brings are interesting. We don’t have a problem with a gang member dying, but we panic when a little girl is killed. That idea is big problem in our society. Like we only care about evil when the context is closer to us.

Don’t get me wrong as a whole I really liked this movie especially as a summer blockbuster. I just wouldn’t go around painting my face claiming I just saw the greatest movie ever.

P.S.- I saw this on IMAX first and came out thinking, “I guess the IMAX was worth it.” Then I saw it again on a regular screen, and seeing the scenes in IMAX are just so much more impressive than 35mm.