Greetings, Copper Tops!

So, there’s this little superhero flick that came out last weekend that you may have heard of – The Dark Knight? Some of you may have even seen it. In the off-chance that you didn’t, I sucked it up and took a bullet for you all.

That’s right, I watched the latest Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan, and I passed the savings onto you.

I’ve run into a slight problem with this review that I haven’t run into with my movie reviews so far. Problem is, this film has had a butt-ton of hype surrounding it. A lot of that has been due to the unfortunate demise of Heath Ledger. But that alone has caused almost everyone under the sun to spew gallons of hyperbole about The Dark Knight. The past few months have been nothing but Oscar buzz about Ledger’s final full performance. And since I am a consumer whore (and how!), I’ve been soaking in pretty much every ounce of it – from reviews to interviews to behind-the-scenes stuff. All of that makes it hard to right a proper review without it being tainted.

That’s why I’m going to approach this review a little differently; I’m only going to touch upon certain key elements that I really liked or hated.

Ready?

Here we go…

The Plot:

Likes – I feel it was a lot tighter than the plot of the first film. Obviously, part of that is due to the fact that we’ve gotten the origin out of the way. The plot is grim and gritty. In fact, it feels more like a crime film with a couple of loons dressed as weirdos than a superhero film. I think that’s one of the things that makes it incredible.

Dislikes – At two hours and thirty minutes, the movie just feels too long. There is some fat in there that could have been trimmed. There are points where the plot feels like it’s plodding at a turtle’s pace. The scenes themselves were great. Just wish they had gone faster.

The Acting:

Likes – Do I need to say it? Everyone else already has. Heath Ledger’s Joker kicks ass. He nailed every nuance of the character. I read one reviewer say that Ledger’s Joker makes Nicholson’s from the first Batman film look like Cesar Romero from the ‘60s TV show. I think that is an accurate description. That’s not to say that everyone else did a bad job. Far from it. Every actor in The Dark Knight is fantastic. Another notable performance was Aaron Eckhart, whose performance as Harvey “Two Face” is the most accurate portrayal so far. Even Maggie Gyllenhall impressed me with how much better her Rachel Dawes character was over Katie Holmes. Still, all of these great performances are dwarfed by Ledger. He steals the show here.

Dislikes – To be honest? I really don’t have anything to say here. But if I have to say something… random street witness number three was horrible. Who screwed up on that casting?

Characters:

Likes – There have been complaints that there isn’t enough Batman in his own movie. I disagree. See, the thing about Batman is part of what makes him tick – what makes him who he is – is his Rogues Gallery. Batman wouldn’t be Batman without his villains. Kind of like how clothes make the man. Okay, nothing like that, but you get the idea. Other people groaned at the fact that yet another Batman film has two villains. While I do agree that, in the past, cramming two villains in your Batman flick has often been that film’s undoing, that isn’t the case here. Dent’s transformation is very organic, and serves the Joker plot perfectly. It’s not like before where you have two separate villain plots vying for screen time and then BAM – the two join forces to pee in Bruce’s oatmeal. The Joker uses Dent as a means to an end. And in that lies the brilliance. As for the other characters, each one continues to be captured perfectly by its particular actor or actress. And I was especially impressed by how Rachel Dawes was better used in this film. She wasn’t just a love interest. She was given a lot more to do that helped further the plot.

Dislikes – Like above, not much negative to say here, though I will agree that I wish Two Face had a little more screen time.

Action Sequences:

Likes – Holy crap! The action in this flick makes the first film look like Daddy Day Camp. There were some beautiful sequences in this film.

Dislikes – I would have liked it if the slower portions of the movie hadn’t spread the action scenes out so much.

Odds and Ends:

Likes – The cameos and actors that I was pleasantly surprised to see in this movie – Anthony Michael Hall, Nestor Carbonell (Batmanuel (<=== how funny is that?) from the live action Tick TV show), Eric Roberts. It was great to see these underused and underappreciated actors get some decent screen time in such an awesome movie. Oh, and Cillian Murphy returns as the Scarecrow for a small scene near the beginning of the film; the fact that this movie really felt more like an action/crime drama than a superhero film. No kidding. I felt like what I was seeing on the screen could have been going down in the middle of another film, like Heat. And I loved that.

Dislikes – I’m not one of those folks who can’t stand the gravelly voice Bruce Wayne puts in his Batman persona. I think it’s pretty cool. But, I have to admit that even I was starting to get annoyed by Bale’s throaty verbalizations by the end of the film.

Overall, I think this movie is miles ahead of the first film. A lot of reviewers have been comparing The Dark Knight to The Empire Strikes Back or The Godfather, Part II. It’s definitely a darker film, as almost everything built up in Batman Begins is systematically torn down in The Dark Knight. But this is one of the main reasons why I love this film. That, plus all of the other positives I’ve listed are enough to make the negatives almost unnoticeable. I will say that The Dark Knight is probably one of the best films of the year. I definitely plan to see it again, only this time in IMAX.

Now, if the IMAX showings would quit selling out.

The Don thinks this town needs an enema. Of hugs.

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am and is filed under Donnie Sturges, movies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.